RamRide Vs. Taxi Cabs
RamRide is a success for students, but for cabdrivers the
program may not have been such a good idea.
Larry Johnson, operation manager for Shamrock Yellow Cab, said
he saw a decline in service the first weekend RamRide was
available.
“Everybody who worked said it was slower than usual,” Johnson
said.
He said he didn’t know whether it was RamRide affecting business
or not.
“Being the manager, I want all the business,” he said.
For the most part he’s got it. Shamrock is the only taxi service
in Fort Collins.
Johnson said cab fair for Shamrock would not change due to
RamRide competition. Shamrock charges $4.50 for the first mile and
$2 for every additional mile.
Despite the prices Shamrock offers, theater and speech
communication junior, Karla Fremaint said she would no longer
consider using cabs while at CSU.
“I think that (cabs) are useless to me now, because RamRide is
free,” Fremaint said. “I know cab drivers have a job to do, and
that’s how they make money, but I personally won’t be using them
now.”
Fremaint, 20, said she likes the concept of RamRide, and feels
when she turns 21, the program will provide for a more enjoyable
evening knowing she won’t have to search for a designated
driver.
While Shamrock had a drop in clientele, RamRide has seen an
increase in program users. The program gave 562 students a ride
home Halloween weekend, an increase of 80 students since its
opening weekend, according to Kyle McCarthy, RamRide director of
operations.
McCarthy said he hasn’t heard any complaints from Shamrock.
“This is actually kind of surprising,” McCarthy said. “I thought
they’d have been all over us by now.”
McCarthy said he is impressed by the outcome of RamRide.
“I think this is the best service (the Associated Students of
CSU) has ever done,” he said.
Although over 1,000 students have used RamRide the past two
weekends, Sergeant Chris Wolf of the CSU Police Department said
there isn’t any evidence the program prevents DUIs.
“We still had four DUIs on Halloween weekend,” Wolf said. “Of
the four DUIs, three of them were students.”
He stated last year, CSU had one DUI for the entire Halloween
weekend.
Wolf recommended the program be checked again for DUI prevention
in six months, in order to be able to see any change.
Still, Wolf said the program sounds fairly successful.
“If someone uses (RamRide) that was going to drive, then it’s
probably a good program,” he said.
According to McCarthy, almost all RamRide users have said
something about their previous DUI experiences.
“Almost everyone who got in the car said something like ‘This
means no more DUIs for me.’ A lot of people who used the service
said they’d had DUIs before,” McCarthy said.
On average, Wolf said the CSUPD see three to six DUIs on any
given Friday.
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