Traffic Tech #88: Assessment of Year-Round and Holiday Ride Service Programs

Number 88                                                             March 1995

ASSESSMENT OF YEAR-ROUND AND HOLIDAY RIDE SERVICE PROGRAMS

Ride Service Programs (RSPs) provide transporta-tion home to individuals who have been drinking. In 1987-1988, there were over 300 RSPs operating in the United States, delivering a total of some 25,000 safe rides annually, averaging 841 rides per program.

Integrated Research Services conducted a research study for the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration to assess the effectiveness of two existing RSPs. I'm Smart is a year-round, for-profit organization located in Onondaga County, New York (Syracuse area). The program provides member clients transportation home in their own

vehicles. An I'm Smart staff member drives the customer while another staffer follows in a separate vehicle. Member-ship is available to corporations and alcohol-serving establishments for a fee.

SoberCab is a holiday program that gives free rides home in Minneapolis and St. Paul between December 25 and January 1st. The program is operated by a Council of Hospital Corporations, which contracts with a cab company. For both of these programs, the study sought to determine the extent of community awareness, level of use, characteristics of users, and efficiency of the program.

Surveys conducted by the Syracuse Department of Motor Vehicles showed that over 50 percent of individuals knew about the RSP in their community. However, the same surveys indicated that drivers do not mention using an RSP as an alternative to driving impaired very often. Designated drivers, asking others for a ride, and staying overnight as a guest were the most frequently mentioned transportation alternatives in the surveys. Five percent said they had called an RSP. In a University of Minnesota telephone survey, 83 percent were aware of SoberCab. Among those aware of the program, three percent had used the service. Still, I'm Smart has provided over 2,000 rides per year, and SoberCab averaged approximately 700 rides during the last two Christmas-New Year's periods.

I'm Smart and SoberCab customers were interviewed in alcohol-serving establishments. Eighty-one percent of the respondents who had used I'm Smart reported drinking in bars one to two days per week. Almost half of those who had used SoberCab reported drinking in bars three or more days per week. For both groups, the average number of drinks typically consumed was six.

Drivers who use the I'm Smart program are likely to be very impaired, since they have overcome their natural resistance to letting someone else drive their car. Therefore, this program is probably most effective for seriously impaired drivers. The majority of the interviewed SoberCab customers said they did not drive to the drinking location; thus they were not likely to drive themselves home. We were not able to determine whether these people would have driven if a cab were not available.

For I'm Smart, drivers' logs showed an average wait time of 21 minutes between receiving the call and picking up the customer. The average wait time for SoberCab was estimated to be 20 to 30 minutes, but may be as long as 45 minutes to an hour. In 1992-93, twenty-nine percent of calls to SoberCab resulted in a cab being sent but no pick-up was made.

Large proportions of the general population recognized each of the ride service programs. Although surveys and interviews indicate that individuals tend to use other alternatives, ride service programs do appear to prevent some individuals from driving after drinking.

For a copy of Assessment of Year-Round and Holiday Ride Service Programs, contact: Amy Berning, Office of Program Development and Evaluation, NHTSA, NTS-32, 400 7th Street S.W., Washington, DC 20590, (202) 366-9591, or send a fax to (202) 366-7096.

U.S. Department of Transportation
National Highway
Traffic Safety
Administration
400 Seventh Street, S.W. NTS-33
Washington, DC 20590

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