It has been almost three years since Colorado State University’s RamRide launched its smartphone app in March 2015 and brought a new way for students to request rides.
RamRide, a free, safe, non-judgmental ride home dedicated to improving the safety of CSU and the Fort Collins community, has served 325,454 patrons since 2003, with 14,899 patrons served in the Fall 2017 semester and over 30,000 served last year, according to Savanah Vowers, RamRide’s student program coordinator.
“Since the app was introduced, RamRide has experienced a steady increase in the amount of people utilizing it,” Vowers wrote in an email to the Collegian. “Downloading and using the RamRide app is an easier way to request a ride due to its user-friendly interface and ability to save your home address as your drop-off location.”
Improvements for the app were a focus of former Associated Students of CSU President Josh Silva and current ASCSU President Michael Wells’ campaign during Spring 2017. The Silva-Wells campaign planned to improve the app, so it would operate more like Uber or Lyft.
Vowers wrote that the RamRide team has had several positive conversations with the current ASCSU administration about the possibilities of RamRide’s future.
“ASCSU has been a great support in helping us partner with The City of Fort Collins’s Transfort department, specifically the Gold Route,” Vowers wrote. “We are looking forward to a continued partnership with them this semester.”
In addition to the number of patrons that RamRide served, Vowers wrote that the number of volunteers has greatly increased as well since 2015. Currently, RamRide has 19 vehicles operated by 2,500 volunteers each academic year.
“RamRide provides a lot of opportunities for student volunteers to serve their fellow peers, bond with each other, and fundraise money for their student organization,” Vowers wrote. “In the fall 2017 semester, 50 unique student organizations volunteered with RamRide, allowing RamRide to continue to thrive.”
As a student fee-funded program, full-time students pay $6.07 for RamRide during the fall and spring semesters, according to Vowers.
“We believe that our current funding model (which includes student fees and fundraising) is a sustainable model for keeping RamRide as a program that requires no out-of-pocket costs,” Vowers wrote.
Collegian reporter Yixuan Xie can be reached at news@collegian.com or on Twitter @YixuanXie1.
