Southeast Missouri State University’s Safe Ride program allows students under the influence of alcohol to get a free ride home Thursday through Saturday from 9 p.m.to 2 a.m.

The rides are provided by the Cape Girardeau County Transit Authority, or CTA, as long as students provide their Southeast student ID.

Rides from the CTA are able to go from any bar and restaurant in Cape Girardeau to the student’s home. Typically, this would be at residence halls on the Southeast campus, however, CTA will be able to go to students’ homes off campus, as long as it is in the Cape Girardeau area.

Dr. Randy Carter,Southeast Assistant Dean of Students said there are two goals of the Safe Ride program, “It’s a way to prevent people from obviously getting behind the wheel when they’re drinking and driving … but, it’s also a way for people to assume personal responsibility.”

Safe Ride came about the after the W.I.N.G.S. shuttle route discontinued its evening routes in the downtown bar district of Cape Girardeau due to low ridership.

During the 2015-2016 academic year at Southeast, Safe Ride had 427 total rides in fall 2015 and 303 in spring 2016.

Free CTA rides for students are funded by alcohol and drug-related student fines issued by the Office of Student Conduct.

“We turn those funds into something positive and try to help students be safe,” Dr. Carter said.

Safe Ride plays a large part in the university’s Responsible Redhawk and Bystander Intervention programs. This is in large part due to the cost and consequences of DUIs that can impact a student's future.

While the university does not condone underage drinking, Safe Ride doesn’t ask for age, only the student ID. The program operates with students’ privacy in mind; only the CTA driver verifies the student ID itself and the payment due from the ride is sent to the university.

“The goal we have in mind (working with the university) is to keep the streets safe and also keep the students safe,” Thomas J. Mogelnicki, Executive Director at CTA, said.

Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights were chosen as the nights for free rides, as students may choose to drink slightly more than usual on those nights.

Students are to be aware that rides take 15 minutes to arrive and are encouraged to have cash on them on nights that aren’t under free ride, as CTA does not accept credit or debit cards.

The program is an initiative through the Alcohol and Substance Abuse Committee, the committee on campus that works with the prevention programs at Southeast.

The Safe Ride program at Southeast came about through the University of Missouri’s Partners in Prevention, a program that assists schools in prevention- related activities.

Southeast discusses bystander intervention in the Southeast Step Up program. Carter said, in regard to Safe Ride, students witnessing another student attempting to drive while under the influence of alcohol are highly encouraged to step in and call the CTA to get that student a ride home.

For the time being, the Safe Ride program operates only with CTA, however, the university encourages students have a plan for a designated driver in mind and to always have a plan when going out to drink.

With the issue of students and alcohol being a focal point issue on university campuses throughout the country, Dr. Carter said in regard to any general day when drinking is involved, “calling CTA is a much better alternative and it’s only about $7.50 or $8 for the ride.”