Five Starr Shuttle — the Party Bus’ parent company — officials are giving students a way to get back and forth to clubs without driving drunk, Lynn Burke, vice president of marketing for Five Starr Shuttle, said.
“We’re working with some local clubs downtown, and we’re trying to coordinate a night during the week where we pick up students and take them from campus to the clubs and back,” Burke said. “What we’re trying to do is to stop the drinking and driving and to give students an alternative.”
The bus is called The Bar-Hoppin’ Party Bus, and will run between 9:00 p.m. and 2:00 a.m. on the designated night, according to Burke. Students can call before 11:00 p.m. on other nights if there are 10 or more people wanting to take the bus.
Burke, a parent of four college students, said she has noticed that a lot of students drink and drive and subsequently get in accidents.
“We’re just doing something to try to prevent that,” she said.
Burke said the cost to ride the bus will be $3 each way and the two pick up points on campus will be in front of Bragaw Residence Hall and University Towers with one additional pick up point in front of Avent Ferry Complex.
Olgha Davis, a graduate student in biomedical engineering, said she thinks having a bus to take students back and forth to clubs is a good idea.
“That way, you don’t have a lot of drunk people driving,” she said. “It is probably a lot safer and it is cheaper than a cab.”
Sarah Collman, a freshman in biological sciences and international studies, said she would consider taking the bus because then she wouldn’t have to worry about who is going to drive.
“Drunk driving is really dangerous and anything to prevent it is a good idea,” Collman said.
Marshall Gaddis, a sophomore in statistics, on the other hand, said he probably will not use the bus.
“I don’t think there will be a large impact [on students],” he said. “It will just be a convenience for those who already go [to clubs] downtown.”
However, Gaddis said he thinks having a bus to take students back and forth to clubs is a good thing.
“It promotes their health and doesn’t force them to drive while they are intoxicated.” he said.