The Night Safety Transit continues to grow and provide SIU students the option to safely travel to and from campus locations.

With the massive influx of calls from students each night and the winter approaching, the service may be faced an assortment of hardships.

The service has been providing students with transportation for almost three decades and was created to transport students on and off campus. When the service first started, it was only available for women, said Jeffery McGoy, Assistant Dean of Students at SIU.

As of August 2013, it was decided to switch the transit service provider from the Department of Public Safety to the Dean of Students office, which also oversees campus departments such as Center for Inclusive Excellence and Students’ Legal Assistance.

Since the recent transition of being a Department of Public Safety service, there have been major changes to the service.

McGoy said they are receiving anywhere from 15 to 30 phone calls a night and have expanded hours and routes, which resulted in a large increase in calls.

“We have quite a few females riders but we have seen an increase in males who use the service,” he said.

Katherine Sermersheim, Interim Dean of Students said two significant changes for the transit are the explanation of service hours and offering rides to other on-campus locations.

Despite the growing number of calls Night Transit receives, many students are unaware that this service is being provided for no charge.

La’Nesha Craig, a sophomore from Chicago studying social work said she found out about the Night Safety Transit about a week ago when her roommate was complaining that the amount of time it took for the van to come was way too long and she had to walk.

“I would like to use the service but I am an impatient person and I do not have the patience to wait,” she said.

Sermersheim said the funding sources only allow transit to have one van running, but the university will continue to collect data and can make recommendations to add another van or alter hours if needed.

“With the cold weather I can anticipate as a result we will have more users, so we encourage students to use the Saluki Express when it is running and its off campus routes they have available,” she said. “I know everyone wants speedy taxi-like service but the purpose of Night Safety Transit is to provide the safe transportation.”

Craig said since learning of the service and asking around she has learned a few negative things but also a lot of positive things and can only imagine the service getting better.

“We will continue to evaluate the program and serve students to the best of our abilities,” Sermersheim said.