By Abby Wargo
News Editor
Students who have lamented the lack of transportation services like Uber and Lyft in Chestertown are finally getting some wheels. The Student Government Association has partnered with Campus Drive, a new ride-sharing app that exclusively serves college students.
“The SGA has been working on improving our transportation services for a long time now. While Safe Ride is a great service we offer, it’s been overwhelmed and congested, so this app is meant to help relieve some of that,” said senior May Kiros, president of the SGA.
Unlike Safe Ride, Campus Drive can be used to get around Chestertown during the week, as well as traveling farther away, such as BWI or Middletown. Rides from campus to downtown Chestertown cost around $5.
Kiros said that she hopes that this will be the first step in improving WC’s transportation services.
“I hope that students will take more advantage of downtown Chestertown with this service, as well as remedy any issues for students traveling long distances,” she said.
Students who wish to use the app need only to download the Campus Drive app from the App Store and register as a rider. Once registered, students can choose different ride options to suit them. Riders are eligible for free rides through the Campus Ride Leaderboard, which is available on the app. The most frequent campus riders will receive free rides at the end of each month.
To drive for Campus Drive, you must be at least 19 years old and be registered on the app as a rider before signing up as a driver. The registration process requires pictures of your driver’s license, vehicle registration, and vehicle insurance. It also requires your license plate number, your Vehicle Identification Number, and your bank account information. Students may begin driving once they receive approval, according to the website.
Once a ride is requested, drivers have 20 seconds to accept. Drivers are not allowed to have others in the car while driving students. Riders can tip the driver if they would like to, and have three minutes to do so after their ride is over. Drivers receive the full amount of the tip, according to the website.
Campus Drive is a small start-up company based out of Egg Harbor, N.J. The three co-founders all attended Mount St. Mary’s University in western Maryland, where they found it hard to coordinate transportation for off-campus social activities, according to their website. That’s when they came up with the idea for Campus Drive. Soon after, they discovered that there was a high demand for a ride-share program that provided safe, convenient, and reliable transportation for college students.
Campus Drive reached out to Washington College’s SGA last year, along with multiple other colleges that they believed would benefit from their app, Kiros said.
If students have issues or questions, the SGA’s Secretary of Student Services and Campus Properties as well as Student Affairs have an open line of communication