University Comparisons
Model System
We explored a number of transportation options at universities across the United States, some of which are described in the tables below. However, we have chosen to highlight North Shore Community College, a small college outside of Boston, Massachusetts, with around 7,000 students. They have no public transportation to one of their campuses where over 4,000 students take classes. To solve this problem, they have explored various options, including a shuttle system, but have found their partnership with Uber to be the most successful.
Set-Up
This partnership with Uber allows students to take a discounted Uber ride to or from campus that is billed to the university up to $10 per ride. When they selected this option, the Vice President of North Shore Community College met with an Uber representative, and they signed a contract for their partnership.
Student Experience
Students can sign up for the North Shore Community College Uber system program using their university email address at www.northshore.edu/uber. Their email goes through an approval system that determines if they are an active student at the university. After they are approved, they can create their account on the business section of their Uber profile. When on their business Uber profile, students can search for a ride and if their pick up or drop off location is the college campus, then the discount of up to $10 is applied to their ride. If a student tries to use their account to go anywhere besides campus, then the discount will not be applied, and it will be charged to the student. If two or more students are requesting rides to or from similar locations, then Uber suggests a carpool.
Cost and Monitoring
Uber creates an invoice for the university to pay monthly. North Shore put all of its $100,000 transportation budget toward this initiative. However, they have never gone over $30,000 a year. Uber allows them to see statistics of how many students are using this service and how often. On average, they have around thirty unique riders per month and provide 200 rides per month.
We explored a number of transportation options at universities across the United States, some of which are described in the tables below. However, we have chosen to highlight North Shore Community College, a small college outside of Boston, Massachusetts, with around 7,000 students. They have no public transportation to one of their campuses where over 4,000 students take classes. To solve this problem, they have explored various options, including a shuttle system, but have found their partnership with Uber to be the most successful.
Set-Up
This partnership with Uber allows students to take a discounted Uber ride to or from campus that is billed to the university up to $10 per ride. When they selected this option, the Vice President of North Shore Community College met with an Uber representative, and they signed a contract for their partnership.
Student Experience
Students can sign up for the North Shore Community College Uber system program using their university email address at www.northshore.edu/uber. Their email goes through an approval system that determines if they are an active student at the university. After they are approved, they can create their account on the business section of their Uber profile. When on their business Uber profile, students can search for a ride and if their pick up or drop off location is the college campus, then the discount of up to $10 is applied to their ride. If a student tries to use their account to go anywhere besides campus, then the discount will not be applied, and it will be charged to the student. If two or more students are requesting rides to or from similar locations, then Uber suggests a carpool.
Cost and Monitoring
Uber creates an invoice for the university to pay monthly. North Shore put all of its $100,000 transportation budget toward this initiative. However, they have never gone over $30,000 a year. Uber allows them to see statistics of how many students are using this service and how often. On average, they have around thirty unique riders per month and provide 200 rides per month.
Other University Transportation Options