Even with Public Safety's efforts to make their Nighthawk service greener and more economical with new cars, the shortened pick-up radius is proving to be a problem for some students and departments on campus.
Because juniors and seniors will no longer be able to live in the residence halls next year and some have more of a commute to school, Housing and Residence Life has been pushing to extend the service radius, which is currently set at six blocks.
Jenna Teijeiro, junior criminal justice and physchology major and an RA for Campion 5, said Housing and Residence Life announced it wanted to expand the radius and times of Nighthawk for the next year.
Alicia Mauldin, sophomore international business major and an RA on Campion 2, heard about similar plans.
"I think they are doing it to compensate for juniors and seniors who have to live off campus [not in residence halls]," Mauldin said.
Public Safety is currently working on ways to better serve students' commutes to campus.
"We are working on logistics to expand successfully," said Mike Sletten, director of Public Safety. "[We] will work on test-driving area distances this summer."
Some students feel that the current pick-up radius has crippled the Nighthawk's effectiveness.
"In the past I've been frustrated by the range of the Nighthawk," said Trevor Brown, freshman psychology major, "Six blocks isn't that far, and by that point, it's not even worth it. You might as well just walk back."
Due to the loss of seating in the smaller Ford Escape hybrids Public Safety started using at the beginning of the year, the department had to initially cut back on the allowed number of students it carried at one time.
Nighthawk policy now allows the drivers to fill all the seats with four student passengers.
But even though the number has risen since the beginning of the year, some students are still critical.
"I think that they should definitely get bigger vehicles, so they won't have a huge waiting list," said Sonya Ekstrom, freshman pre-major. "The one time that I called them there was this huge waiting list. I think that hinders the safety of students."
Another aspect of the Nighthawk's operation that Sletten is looking to improve is the available run-time of the vehicles. Currently, the Nighthawk runs from 6 p.m. to midnight during the week, and until 2 a.m. on Fridays and Saturdays. To extend those times Sletten said the department would need to hire more drivers.
Though looking into possible changes in the Nighthawk's radius and running time, Sletten has been satisfied with the Nighthawk's overall operation over the past school year, particularly with the new vehicles.
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