KnightLYNX launches Friday

A safe-ride program at UCF is no longer sitting in neutral.

Friday will be the official launch of KnightLYNX, the first-ever safe-ride program to come to fruition at UCF.

From 8 p.m. to 3 a.m. on Fridays and Saturdays, UCF students can use their student IDs to access the free service for safe transportation to and from various stops in the UCF and Waterford Lakes areas.

"This is a great moment for student government and a stepping stone that many administrations have tried to conquer," said the program's director, Adam Brock, "and I'm proud to say that I was a part of the administration that did conquer it."

Each bus will have 28 seats with a maximum capacity of 42 people. The service will have two routes for students to choose from: the Green Line and the Blue Line. The Green Line will stop at apartment complexes and shopping centers located off McCulloch Road and Alafaya Trail and will not go past Central Florida Boulevard. The Blue Line will stop at apartment complexes and shopping centers off Alafaya Trail, Colonial Drive and Waterford Lakes Parkway.

"We come from a community where our primary source of transportation is taking your own car," said Brock, who thinks the service will help teach students about public transportation. "[Students] might have to go to a city where they rely on public transportation and they do have the experience with KnightLYNX to know exactly what a transfer point is, how to get from one route to another and how to stop at a stop that's not part of the same route."

SGA President Michael Kilbride said the service will especially benefit students who don't have cars.

"We have a lot of students who live in local apartment complexes who rely on the shuttle system during the day to get to class because they don't have a car," Kilbride said. "This is really a connection to the community for the UCF students as well as a safe ride alternative late at night."

Leading up to the launch, Brock and other members of SGA have been tabling in front of the Student Union handing out promotional T-shirts, magnets and key chains.

Brock said the best part about tabling for the program is that students are sticking around to ask questions about the program and not just running off to class after snagging a free T-shirt.

At the most recent Transit Advisory Committee meeting, John Lewis, the CEO of LYNX, said he understands the need for the service and is excited to be a part of it.

"One issue that is a very high priority for UCF students and faculty is enabling the students to make safe transportation from campus to entertainment," Lewis said. "[Another] of the issues they are very much aware of is the prevalence of students who have been driving under the influence and some of the issues associated with that."

Community relations supervisor Sgt. Troy Williamson is also hoping it will reduce the number of driving under the influence incidents.

"I want to see it work," Williamson said. "If it stops at every apartment complex and people don't drive off, that would be an ideal solution."

Williamson said if everything works out, it will allow the police department to devote more of their concentration to other areas.

For the next couple of weekends, Brock will be concentrating on getting feedback from students who use the service.

"I'm prepared to do whatever it takes to get this program to work," said Brock. "Once this semester ends, we're going to evaluate the program, see if there are any problems with those days, see if we can maybe expand to another day or create a different route."

Monitoring the program for the next month or so will help determine whether or not the $105,000 requested Activity and Service Fee budget for the next fiscal year is approved.

"Student government has been working for the past several years to work on a program to provide safe transportation for students in the local area at night," said Kilbride. "Hopefully the next administration will be able to continue this and make it a successful program year round."

Lewis, who worked for the GRTC Transit System in Virginia before coming to Orlando about eight weeks ago, said Virginia's system had a partnership with the University of Richmond and Virginia Commonwealth University.

"I expect nothing less with our service with UCF," said Lewis. "We're really looking forward to introducing the next generation of public transit riders to our service."