In a Facebook group with nearly 5,000 members, many of which are NC State students, “beep” is the magic word. 

For a newcomer to the NCSU Beepers Facebook group, the feed may seem mystifying. It’s a flood of posts in which the word “beep” assumes the role of a verb and a noun: “beep from pine state to stanhope,” “beep from tin roof to paloma,” and an occasional “anyone beeping?” 

Piper Borras, administrator of the group and a fourth-year studying marketing, said beeping is simple — students drive students. Unlike mainstream rideshare services like Uber, the NCSU Beepers group caters to the student population by offering cheap rides, known as beeps, by students, for students.  

“Instead of just having one price for Uber, say $15 to go downtown, a beep could be ‘Oh, well I charge $3 a person’ or ‘I charge $5 a ride,’” Borras said. “So you’re gonna get to choose the best price. It’s affordable.”

Borras said when she’s driving, called “beeping,” she’ll post to the Facebook group. People can comment on her post or text her directly to request a beep. Others in need of a beep will share a post to the group, and drivers will comment to accept the request.  

There’s no guarantee you’ll find a driver, so it’s smart to post in advance, said Nick Guy, a fourth-year studying business administration. 

“It’s kind of a gamble,” Guy said. “The best thing you can do is reserve it like you’re reserving an Uber.”

Guy said he’s beeped occasionally. He said the busiest nights for beeping are weekend nights, when there’s high demand for a ride to or from bars in Glenwood South.  

“It’s a night where you can make some quick cash, and you can do three or four rides back to back,” Guy said.

Recently, more students are beeping, so prices have gone down to stay competitive, Borras said. She’s found charging more than three to four dollars a person means you won’t be competitive in a saturated market. 

“I think the most I ever made in one night was $350, but I was going crazy,” Borras said. “I mean, I was zooming from one place to the other — it was hard.”

Guy said he’s never had a bad experience beeping, but that’s always a risk.

“Sometimes, it’s not worth the money,” Guy said. “Because there’s always the risk of, you pick up somebody that’s drunk or they f— your car up or somebody throws up. Because people don’t care. Like if they’re coming off Glenwood, they don’t really care about what they do in your car.”

Borras said some of her most memorable moments from beeping are picking people up from bars.

“When you pick up drunk people, they’re obviously funny,” Borras said. “I’ve found weird stuff, like somebody left like a dill pickle in my car, and somebody left an actual hot dog in my car.” 

The most unique thing about the NCSU Beepers group, Borras said, is the opportunity to build connections with other NC State students.   

“I’ve had people get in and they choose the music and we’re all — me included — bumping and singing,” Borras said. “It’s not like an Uber. It’s like, we’re all students at NC State, and it kind of unifies the experience a little bit.”