When I was a first-year at California Lutheran University, I did not have a car. This was not strange or unusual. I knew quite a number of students that didn’t either. Flash-forward to my junior year and that fact remains the same.

It becomes easy to feel trapped in the little “Cal Lutheran” bubble because it is almost impossible to get off campus if you do not have a car.

Universities across the country have started partnering with Uber at the benefit of their students and I believe that Cal Lutheran should try and do the same. 

In January of 2015, the University of Southern California began offering free Uber rides nightly from 7 p.m. to 2 a.m. These rides are offered within an estimated eight-mile radius of the main campus. 

According to USC’s transportation website, “this program is intended to help meet the high demand for transportation near campus, especially on weekend nights.”                                                         

 According to the navigation information given by Google Maps, there are various places within an eight-mile radius of our campus that students would be able to go if our school adopted a program such as this one. These places include, but are not limited to, The Oaks Mall, AMC movie theater, Janss Marketplace, Regal Cinemas movie theater, Borderline and Target. \

Marianne Jang who is a sophomore at Cal Lutheran does not have a car on campus and can relate to the difficulties of needing to leave. 

“Paying the full Uber price gets expensive for a college student on a budget, and having some kind of discount could benefit those without cars and also those without licenses, and just save everyone money overall,” Jang said.

USC is not the only school that has teamed up with Uber to give discounts to college students. According to Uber, universities such as the University of Florida, the University of Missouri-Kansas City, the University of Central Florida, the University of Arizona and Northwestern University have all partnered with Uber as well.

If Cal Lutheran did this, students would likely feel safer in that they would not have to worry about driving at night or driving under the influence. They would also save money. I spent over $100 on Uber during my first year here. If future classes can have the opportunity to potentially save that money, that would be a wonderful thing. 

Krystal Rhaburn

Reporter