K-State SafeRide program thrives, KU's is discontinued

KANSAS (KSNT) - Kansas State University's SafeRide program helps thousands of students get free and discounted late-night rides every year, while the University of Kansas is beginning its first semester without it since 1986.

SafeRide is a program operated by Lyft or other ride-hailing services that is paid for, or at least subsidized, by student services fees as a part of tuition. The programs generally run Thursday through Saturday from 11 p.m. to 3 a.m., and they allow students to get around town safely after long nights.

"SafeRide is a way for groups or individuals to get around safely at night without having to rely on a designated driver," said Samantha Suchanek, chair of the Student Services Fee Committee at Kansas State University. "It's a good tool to have and only costs students less than $1 out of their student services fees."

The program costs about $50,000 to operate every year at K-State, that's just 0.003% of the $15 million allocated for student programs. Although the program has $50,000 to spend on SafeRide, they only spend about $3,000 every month, often leaving money left over for next year's budget.

This money provides students with a $7.25 discount on their rides around Manhattan. The money is only spent when a ride is called, and if the ride is $7.25 or less, then it is totally free of charge.

"The program averages around 400 riders every month," Suchanek said. "It is a lot safer than the SafeBus program we used to have."

The University of Kansas recently discontinued their SafeRide program in favor of SafeBus. It was discontinued due to an almost 60% decrease in funding from the Student Senate in the spring of 2025.

KU's SafeRide program was entirely paid for by the university, costing students about $12.30 per semester as a part of the services fee. This made all rides totally free for students. The Student Senate lowered the fee to $5 per student, forcing the university to cut down to just one SafeBus route that operates 10 p.m. to 1 a.m. from Monday to Thursday.

The new SafeBus route operates exclusively on campus, traveling to and from around the Kansas Union to Becker Drive. This new route is more to be utilized for getting home from campus late at night, rather than providing students a safe ride home after a night on the town.

"Our (K-State's) SafeRide program has been a great success," Suchanek said. "This year we will do our three year assessments to determine whether the program needs more or less funding, but so far it's been great."

Suchanek said K-State's program is fairly new, but they still help an average of 4,000 students a year get to where they need to go safely. Whether it's a ride to the airport, or a ride home from downtown Aggieville, programs like this make sure that students know they have options when they need to go somewhere late at night.

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