By Marissa Bruno
Staff writer
Two weeks ago, seniors Sinead Coleman and Bryan Jackson proposed their student carpooling service to the Student Government Association (SGA) and will find out Monday how the SGA votes on this plan.
Coleman and Jackson presented a program called Zimride that promotes sustainability and a safe opportunity for students, faculty and staff to create a social carpooling network. Universities like Elon and Cornell use Zimride.
“We got very positive feedback from the SGA,” Coleman said. “A lot of people in the room were familiar with the Facebook network I created.”
The SGA discussed whether or not Zimride would be considered in its budget. Zimride projected the total will be $25,000 dollars during a three-year contract in addition to a $2,500 installation fee to upload its software on campus. Zimride would send a public relations or marketing team to build up the program and present it to Bonaventure community. Contact would be made through the Bonaventure email network. The cost could be a part of a small student fee estimated at about $3 per student. The university community can either save money or earn money by signing up for Zimride, Jackson said.
“You can compare this program with the bus rides to New York City that can get costly,” Jackson said.
If the Zimride program earns the SGA’s support, Coleman and Jackson will look for a department to represent the program in their absence. They have already received support from environmental club Tread Lightly, which Coleman serves as president.
“I can run the Facebook site, but I can’t continue the whole service away from campus (after graduation),” she said. “We’d talk to departments like (residence life), orientation or security. This can also serve as another way to recruit students who live far away.”
Zimride addresses safety concerns and would launch a secure network which monitors a network exclusive to the Bonaventure community.
Jackson and Coleman took action to lay out their next steps to launch their service with Zimride.
Coleman, a Connecticut native, originally created her own Bona’s carpool network on Facebook to look for her own ride. In her last semester at Bonaventure, Coleman looked for another service to continue and expand her service that has helped students find rides for breaks. Coleman said she received a lot of positive feedback for her idea, which inspired her to search for a larger program.
Coleman and Jackson contacted Zimride toward the end of last semester and immediately worked on the project.
“This could make a lasting impression that could be so helpful for students,” Coleman said. “We are promoting sustainability and community building as we connect students from similar areas.”
The pair began to seek students’ feedback on the program to get a feel for students’ reactions. They introduced the idea to Tread Lightly to promote the sustainability aspect of the service, which supported the program.
Coleman expressed the need to help students who look for ride around breaks and those willingly to make some money off the extra room in their vehicles.
“It’s very community building of us to offer this service,” Coleman said. “It even represents Franciscan values.”
Coleman and Jackson also founded a sustainability coordinating committee in their support as they wait to hear SGA’s response.
“You don’t realize until you’re driving to Buffalo and you think, ‘I can probably make money off the extra seats in my car,'” said Coleman.
To learn more about the service, go to www.zimride.com.
brunomc10@bonaventure.edu
