SAFEride cab services reduced the number of free rides given to University of Wisconsin students from four rides per month to six rides per semester to address budget concerns and cut down on non-emergency rides.

Student Services Finance Committee Vice Chair Michael Romenesko said the changes were made to SAFEride cab services because the program was becoming more and more difficult to finance.

According to a statement from UW, while SAFEwalk and SAFEride buses are funded through transportation services, SAFEride cab is funded by segregated fees collected from students.

Romenesko said the cost of the program has been increasing every semester, mainly because of a small group of students who regularly abuse the SAFEride cab service, which is intended only for emergencies. He said these students were using the service as a free cab for the night.

“We were finding people were using SAFEride cab as more of a convenience form of transportation,” Romenesko said.

He added the program would no longer be financially sustainable if this continues.

UW Police Department Sergeant Tamara Kowalski said she thinks it is unfortunate the program had to be reduced.

“Unfortunately budget cuts are a thing of our future,” Kowalski said.

She encouraged students to take extra care to stay safe when going places after dark due to the reduced number of rides, adding students should do as much walking during the day as possible. She said if they must walk after dark they should make sure to have a walking buddy.

She also stressed the importance of monitoring alcohol use. She said students who choose to drink must be especially vigilant when traveling after dark.

“What we would like to say to people is ‘plan ahead,’” Kowalski said.

UW senior and SAFEwalker Eric Bieganski said he thinks students may be calling for more SAFEwalks, but the bigger issue will be communicating the policy change with SAFEride cab users.

“I don’t think it will have any effect on our jobs, though,” Bieganski said. “We’ll continue to go about our nightly responsibilities and take care of SAFEwalks as they are requested.”

According to Romenesko, only about 150 students went over six rides last semester and he hopes cutting out these extra rides will be enough to keep the program running.

While Romenesko encouraged students who have time to plan ahead to use the other SAFE services, he said he wants students to still use SAFEride cab when needed. He said SAFEride cab was created to be used when there was no way to plan your commute ahead of time.

He gave the example of a review session that ran much later than planned, not allowing a student to catch a bus or be picked up by a friend.

Romenesko said it is cases like this, where something unexpected happens and students find themselves in a bind, that the use of SAFEride cab is justified.