USG considering Cruiser resolution


In an effort to decrease the number of students walking home alone at night, the Undergraduate Student Government is considering a resolution that would push for longer operating hours for Campus Cruiser.

Cruising · Currently, Campus Cruiser runs until 2:45 a.m., but a USG resolution, if passed, would recommend extending those hours. - Mia Robinson | Daily Trojan

Many students have voiced concerns about Campus Cruiser’s hours; Cruiser currently runs from 5 p.m. to 2:45 a.m. on the University Park Campus and from 5 p.m. to 10 p.m. at the Health Sciences Campus.

Dawan Robinson, a junior majoring in aerospace engineering who worked as a Campus Cruiser driver during his freshman and sophomore years, said he has experienced instances when he was off campus and would have liked to use a Campus Cruiser, only to realize it was past 3 a.m.

“I’ve been in a conversation with friends, not looking at the time very well, and I wish I could use Campus Cruiser because I’m pretty far away and don’t want to walk,” Robinson said. “On those occasions, the extra time would be very useful.”

USG began looking into the issue last semester, when a survey of presidents and vice presidents of student organizations revealed 87 percent of those surveyed felt Campus Cruiser service could run later into the night, especially on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays.

Based on the survey and other research, Helen Moser, USG’s director of campus affairs, and Wilson Kyi, a residential senator, have drafted a resolution recommending the extension of Campus Cruiser’s hours until at least 3:45 a.m. The Senate is scheduled to vote on the resolution Tuesday.

“We’ve been talking about this for a while, and to move forward. We felt we needed an official document letting the administration know this is what we want,” Kyi said.

Moser said the initial presentation cited schools such as Yale, Berkeley and the University of Chicago as models.

“You look at these schools, some of which are in neighborhoods similar to ours, with programs similar to ours, but some of them run 24 hours, or maybe an hour later than ours does,” Moser said.

Tony Mazza, director of USC Transportation, noted that there are options for students looking for a ride after 3 a.m. These options include the trams, which run 24 hours Monday through Friday, and the Leavey Library shuttle, which offers rides from Leavey.

“Students can also call [the Department of Public Safety] to schedule a ride from the Leavey Library driver or contact Yellow Cab,” Mazza wrote in an e-mail.

Mazza said USC Transportation has been considering offering Cruiser service later into the night, but that it could put a strain on Cruiser drivers, all of whom are students.

“We have been looking at creating some kind of on-demand service for students after 2:45 [a.m.], yet we don’t want to encourage students staying out after 3 a.m.,” Mazza wrote. “The reality is it is hard to find students who want to work from 3 a.m. to 6 a.m. Our Leavey Library shuttle shifts are the most difficult shifts to fill.”

Still, Robinson said that based on his time as a Cruiser driver, he is not sure this would be an issue.

“They already have student workers who work past 3 o’clock, anyway,” he said. “And the only thing I can think of as a drawback are students who have class at 8 a.m., but those aren’t the students who would sign up to work that shift.”

Beyond extending hours, many students say they would like to see further revisions to the program.

“I’ve called, and it wasn’t too late — I just couldn’t get a cruiser,” said Blake Davidson, a freshman. “It was a Thursday night, and the wait time was like an hour and a half. So I just ended up walking. They should have a cancellation option, so if someone decides they don’t need a cruiser, the cruiser doesn’t still show up instead of picking up someone else.”

Heather Ritchie, a freshman majoring in theatre, said she would like to see Cruiser offer service to more locations.

“I would revise the places they offer services to,” she said. “They refuse to take people to New-North because it’s on a tram stop, but that’s one of the biggest freshman dorms.”

In addition to its desire to represent the concerns of students, USG is seeking to alleviate the stress imposed on DPS officers, who are often obligated to escort students once Cruiser shuts down for the night.

Moser said the resolution, if passed, will mark the first step in what she sees as an ongoing process to streamline the late-night service offered to USC students.

“If this is successful, and if students communicate that they want more later on, we might push for more hours,” Moser said. “The point of this resolution is to really show that we support this as USG, and it’s also something students support.”

38 replies
  1. some dood
    some dood says:

    wow tucker reed i think you’ve touched on a touchy subject! thats the most opinionated response comments i’ve ever seen for a DT article! and in a matter of dayssss

  2. Current Student
    Current Student says:

    “If you hate your job so much, just quit, drop out, and go to a university that DOESN’T care about its students, since you want that so much.”

    Okay. No one signed up for this job under the pretense of having to work that late. If the school cared about all of the students it would realize that the accomodation of students so that they can participate in more reckless behavior is not worth the strain that would be put on the STUDENT workers. As for the boycotting idea, that wouldn’t last 5 minutes, becasue the students at USC are much too spoiled and lazy to actually walk the places they need to go. There should be a day when cruiser is completely shut down, and maybe students would see how fortunate they actually are. Extending cruiser hours wouldn’t be about “safety” or “caring for students” – it would be about keeping the people with all the money happy.

  3. 7 Semester Cruiser
    7 Semester Cruiser says:

    Hi Student,

    I am a cruiser and a student too! Actually, I have worked at Campus Cruiser for over three years, and I love my job and my co-workers. I would like to point out that, most likely, the reason why the majority of comments posted in response to this article is because we are the ones that are directly affected by the resolution’s passing.

    I would also like to point out that the majority of us don’t hate our job, we just don’t like being exploited, unappreciated, and disrespected, as you have done in your previous comment.

    Who said anything about the University not caring about its students? We’re not saying that the University doesn’t consider the safety of its students; we’re saying that viable options already exist after our hours. The school and students cannot afford to throw away money at redundant services. The fundamental misunderstanding is that Campus Cruiser is not a convenience service to pander to the students’ whims.

  4. Current Cruiser
    Current Cruiser says:

    I worked the leavey library shift (3am to 7am) once or twice a week last semester, and I got 3 to at most 8 calls a night from DPS dispatch for students requesting rides. Maybe that has changed during this semester, but when I worked it, most of my time was spent sitting behind leavey and occasionally taking a late-night studier home.

    So before USG tries to “alleviate the stress imposed on DPS officers”, they may want to investigate just how much stress is imposed on DPS officers. It doesn’t make sense that DPS doesn’t ask for more help from an idle leavey driver if rides are in such demand after 3.

    Also, DPS does not need to feel obligated to escort students once cruiser shuts down. The trams run 24 hours. If a student doesn’t feel safe waiting or is not on a route, yellow cab is available. There is no cruiser or DPS to babysit us in the real world!

    • Another Cruiser
      Another Cruiser says:

      I second this! Real world, darlings! In case you forgot, you already graduated from high school! Hopefully, you are not living with your parents here – so why act as if you deserve special treatment, need to be protected and coddled? Would you like Cruiser to read you a bedtime story too as you teeter on the edge of ethanol-induced unconsciousness? This just in: Cruiser rides come with complementary teddy bears.

      If you really think you are entitled to such free rides, call your mommy!

  5. Student
    Student says:

    Notice how the only people who disagree with the resolution are the employees of campus cruiser. That is a big LOL.

    All you cruisers are doing is making yourselves look cold and heartless. If you hate your job so much, just quit, drop out, and go to a university that DOESN’T care about its students, since you want that so much.

    I say we all boycott cruiser so they don’t get the users they hate so much and then the school will cut funding to it, and then these losers will be out of a job.

    • Cruiser
      Cruiser says:

      I am proud to offer this service as it currently stands, and I am very happy with my job.

      But no, I don’t want to stay up until dawn so that you can party an hour later. Not so much heartless as exhausted.

    • cruiser 1
      cruiser 1 says:

      Please do everyone a favor and boycott cruiser, because then we wont have to deal with your pathetic drunk arse. Our budgets wont be cut because we still have people who are in need of a ride and not the retarded calls for 10 guys going from one side of the row to the other. most calls we take on Thursdays through Saturdays are for drunk people in a group of 4 or more. In that case it is not for saftey.
      Also you have no idea what Cruiser is like. work a day and put up with people like yourself.
      Cruiser is a great job so ef you.

    • cruiser
      cruiser says:

      I don’t know if you realize that if all of the funding is cut for campus cruiser you will have to walk your spoiled butt around or even take the tram. cruiser is here to help I don’t understand why you are trying to bring it down.

    • Campus Cruiser
      Campus Cruiser says:

      Wow. What a comment. I’m sure USC, the loving school you praised so dearly, is proud to have such a compassionate member among its student body.

      We don’t hate our jobs. We hate the people who think we are taxi drivers or some sort of servant. You can come ride along with me and see how your peers treat us.

      Better yet, if you’re so down with the extra hour, I volunteer you as our first new G shift cruiser. You think you can handle it?

      And about the “spoiled” comments…it’s more that students feel super entitled to clog up our system with calls from 23/portland to 23/toberman (real call) or a d pi to pacific at 6pm when it’s not raining (real call) or 2800 Ellendale to 2632 Ellendale (real call)…or the best one I got tonight…

      Gamma Phi Beta to TKE.

      Like it has been mentioned, we are about promoting safety — but safety is more needed for kids going to Catalina St. from Leavey every night, not to drive your partying ass home from TKE to Gamma Phi Beta.

    • Cruiser
      Cruiser says:

      cold and heartless? cruisers? never!
      we truly enjoy our jobs dude!
      maybe its the people we pick up like yourself that are cold and heartless. having us pick YOU up while you cant hold your liquor and are stumbling around, looking like a dumbass is definitely worthy of some merit on OUR part.

      I would really love to see you do our job just for one day. that’s all. one typical, 6 hour shift on either a thursday or saturday night. see how people we pick up treat us. then maybe you will reconsider this boycott and maybe give us some credit for the shenanigans we deal with and the hooligans on the row we are constantly harassed by. and forreal how hard is it to just make sure to call in before 2:45am? get your lazy ass off that nasty frat house couch and either walk your own pansy ass home or call a cab! its THAT easy? wowza!

      and honestly, this boycott you’re proposing wouldnt last a day. you lovely human beings are used to having that sense of entitlement for every service that is provided, especially campus cruiser. so really, good luck with that proposal.

      i suggest you learn to use some of those morals your mama taught you and give us, your fellow trojans, some appreciation and love!

      love,
      the cruiser losers who save your ass from getting run over on the row!

    • cruiser
      cruiser says:

      of course we disagree with the resolution. if your job made you work to 4-5am wouldnt you argue about it?
      we’re not the cold and heartless ones. we pick you up even if you’re stumbling around in the streets. we dont hate our jobs its the people shouting at us because we were late or yelling because we wont take them down the street that we hate.

      boycott us. do it.

  6. Student
    Student says:

    I completely agree with one of the remarks posted earlier that the university should not be responsible for students partying/drinking/whatever until dawn. To spend money on students who engage in such activities is absolutely wrong and I would be extremely upset if my tuition or USG student fee went to providing a service for those students. This is absolutely ridiculous to consider extending hours past 2:45am. I don’t even think that it is safe for the drivers to drive that late. There should be no pity for students who stay up that late to party or whatever. If you need to pull an all-nighter stay home.

  7. Student
    Student says:

    87% of all students want us to extend our hours. I didnt see 87% of USC in the USG meeting today. I did see 25+ pissed off Cruisers who wanted their voice to be heard, but as it turned out, very few of us were allowed to talk because our hands werent raised or it wasnt fashioned into a question.

  8. Current Cruiser
    Current Cruiser says:

    This is just the USG blowing smoke because they want to try and put forth a new idea to make themselves look good and make themselves seem like they have relevant say over decisions within this university. Every once and a while we get an article highlighting something “big” the USG plans on doing just to remind us that they’re still there.

    Bottom line is this isn’t going to happen, and in the unlikely event that it does, USC will soon realize what a big mistake it was to let a few young students decide to extend mandatory work ours for other students who already work until 3AM and drastically increase the cost of a SUPPLEMENTAL transportation service.

  9. Another Cruiser
    Another Cruiser says:

    This article is RIDICULOUS. I can only second everything that other cruisers have said, emphasizing

    (1) USC DOES have a 24-hour transportation service

    (2) Common courtesy goes a long way. Say please, thank you, and have a good night to your Cruiser. Do not lie and pretend you’ve put in a call when you haven’t. DO NOT FLAG US DOWN IF YOU HAVEN’T PLACED A CALL. Do not adjust the music or the air conditioning without asking; this is not your car. Realize when your Cruiser is on the radio and be quiet so they can talk to Control. And please, don’t step in our car if you’re two seconds away from spewing your innards. Guess who has to clean it up? And this is supposed to be one of the top schools in the nation?

    (3) FREAKING WALK. Those Ellendale to Ellendale calls are absurd and an insult to the students who honestly do need a ride to/from shadier parts of the neighborhood. If it would take you less time to walk to your location than it would to walk from one corner of campus to the other, DO NOT CALL A CRUISER.

    I do agree that we might extend our boundaries – but not our hours.

  10. 5 Semester Cruiser
    5 Semester Cruiser says:

    A few things here coming from a cruiser that has worked for 5 semesters.

    1. Students that are out past 2:45am are those irresponsible students that are partying late and getting drunk, extending hours past 3:45am will just make us Cruisers (who are all students) pick up more drunk students. And for those of you who have never worked for cruiser, working 4-8hrs picking up drunk, smelly, rude, and loud students is not the highlight of my time here at college. So you students out past 2:45am use a tram, DPS, or Leavey Shuttle to get home, it’s your responsibility to know how your getting home before you go out.

    2. Why is USC encouraging cruiser drivers (STUDENTS) to be up past 2:45am driving around South Central LA, a city with one of the highest crime rates in the nation. I assure you sitting outside alone, in front of a house west of campus at 2:00am waiting upwards of 12 minutes for someone to either show up or not show up is not at all SAFE or FUN.

    3. If you expect me to work til 5:00am, I expect to get paid some 5:00am money..say a $10/hr increase in pay for working past 3:00am and also i’m going to need some other incentives.

    4. How about some USG members ride along with a cruiser for a 6 or 8hr shift on a Thursday night, and you let me know about extending those hours.

    5. This idea sounds great in theory, but the problem is none of the people pushing for the change have any idea what it means to be a Campus Cruiser, so don’t try to change the way we do things for your benefit because I assure you after working 5 semesters I have stories about sooo many students here, including some of our friends on USG!

  11. Senior
    Senior says:

    Campus Cruiser has made countless improvements over the four years I have been at USC. What more do people want? The decision to support this resolution was based on a survey. Give me a break–of course students are going to say they want more hours on a survey. That doesn’t mean that it is feasible. Perhaps the “research” USG should have done was on the reality of extending cruiser’s service by an hour…or “researched” the fact that students do have methods of transportation after 3 am.

  12. Another Current Cruiser
    Another Current Cruiser says:

    Wow. As a cruiser AND someone who works in journalism (not the DT, thank you very much) I am outraged by not only this ridiculous display of spoiled whining on the part of the students quoted in this article, but by the lack of transparent and informed reporting that plagues this article.

    First of all, why not interview some CURRENT or DEDICATED cruisers? There’s a ton of them who really take this job seriously and would have provided a nice counterpoint to all the “OMGGG THEY MAKE ME TAKE THE TRAM” business going on here.

    Secondly, USC should not be responsible for its students’ bad decisions. If some dumb girl finds herself wasted at a frat house at 3am, it’s not Cruiser’s responsibility to get her home. It’s HER responsibility to be responsible enough to get home in the first place. Cruiser is a free service provided to students BY OTHER STUDENTS. It’s not a right, but a privilege and a nice bonus to those students who don’t live on tram routes. If you’re out on the row past 3am, take the tram back to campus.

    For all the calls we get of people saying they “don’t feel safe” taking the trams alone, I have some choice words for you:

    1. You’re not alone. Many students use the trams at all hours of the night.
    2. What’s any difference in boarding a bus with a bunch of students than getting in a car with a bunch of students. (This always makes me scratch my head.)
    3. On our busy nights (rainy nights, Tuesdays, Thursdays, Fridays, Saturdays) taking the tram can be much faster than a cruiser. I don’t get the people who complain about our wait time of 30-40 minutes and then yell at us even more when we tell them if they take the tram, they can get there in less than 15 minutes.

    USG is making a big mistake in even CONSIDERING extending cruiser hours. We are not hired staff with benefits like the tram drivers. We are students. We have personal lives. We have homework. Our world does not revolve around taking you to the 9-0 (we don’t do that, by the way, so stop asking) or giving you a round trip to Leavey at 2am. A lot of students treat cruiser drivers really poorly, and articles like this only reinforce the bad treatment these hardworking students get from their more “entitled” peers.

    So, proposed steps?

    1. Give this writer a severe Journalism 101 review.
    2. USG should remind students that they can call USC Taxi or DPS post 3am, or that they should secure rides with friends.
    3. USG should consider extending the cruiser service route, not the hours. More students are living in the areas west of Hoover (24th and 23rd streets) and have to walk in pretty poorly lit areas to catch rides. It makes me feel really horrible for them, more so than the people who complain about taking a tram from New North to TKE.

  13. Cruiser
    Cruiser says:

    I have given rides to FEW people who truly understand and appreciate the service the university provides. Not only is it a service UNLIKE any other thats FREE, other university services that are comparable to USC’s campus cruiser most likely dont have as big a clientele as the row people, freshmen, etc that USC has.
    Although USG likes the idea of a mere extra hour of work, resources are scarce for providing willing students for those time slots.
    There is a leavey shuttle that takes students home from 3a-7a and this position alone is the most difficult to fill.
    USE THE AVAILABLE RESOURCES THAT USC ALREADY PROVIDES. 24 hour trams. DO IT. All the whining about taking a tram?? Save your breath because it is just as reasonable a service as cruiser.
    CABS? They take discresh!! What more do you need!
    DPS! They can take you home too!! WHAT??!!

    People, really, be considerate. All of campus cruiser is student run. We do have lives too ya know. And working for cruiser is usually just a means of paying bills. We dont necessarily enjoy taking your belligerent, drunk, and rude friends home. A little appreciation and thanks goes a long way.

  14. Cruiser
    Cruiser says:

    This is unbelievable. It shouldn’t be the school’s responsibility if students want to be out past 3 am, and there’s absolutely nothing productive that they could be doing at such a late hour. If a student feels the need to party until dawn, they can take a cab. We’re adults, we should be responsible and be able to think ahead.
    As a cruiser, I love my job, but I am required to work at least one shift until 3 am, and I have to say those really wear me out. If I had to extend that to coming home past 4 am (because on those late shifts I can never get home until at least 3:30), it would mean getting to bed at 5, and that’s just too much to ask of a student. Cruiser is a supplement to our 24-hour trams, which I take and are an excellent service. USC has the leading cruiser service in the country, I can’t believe that students are really complaining about it.
    It would also be nice if a current cruiser had been interviewed. There is a lot of missing or incorrect information here, and it’s very biased. This plan is absurd, and the reasons as to why should have been reported.

  15. Cruiser
    Cruiser says:

    According to his profile, Dawan drove for Cruiser a record-breaking two whole months…two years ago. Great references!!

    And something I don’t think is stressed enough – Is USC really encouraging its students to be out late? Nothing good happens after 3AM.

  16. Cruiser
    Cruiser says:

    there is already a leavey shift, which one or two cruisers work from 3am – 7am, shuttling students from campus back home. this shift is ALREADY extremely difficult to fill, even just finding one cruiser out of 130 to work it, so what makes you think we’ll have a full 30 person shift after 3am?

    if you are going to write an article about campus cruiser, at least check your facts. every comment on this article so far has proven that.

  17. Current Cruiser
    Current Cruiser says:

    FYI university of chicago (where i went to in high school) doesn’t have a campus cruiser service per se. It oonly has a program where you are allowed to ride local public transportation for free with a student ID.

    Once again, get your facts right.

  18. Cruiser
    Cruiser says:

    1. This isn’t an issue of getting a ride, it’s of getting a FREE ride. If you can’t manage to get a ride on the university’s dime after 3, you have the responsibility of taking a cab. It’s not by any means our problem that you’re out that late and didn’t consider any way of getting home.

    2. We are a supplement to the trams. Heather Ritchie: because New North is so popular, the trams all provide service to it! You can’t get a cruiser because you’ve already been taken care of.

    3. Nobody considered the thousands upon thousands of dollars it would take to effect any of these changes. More people to work, more cars to drive, etc. This plan is not exactly nuanced.

    4. There are so many factual errors and oversights in this article. Why wasn’t the manager of Campus Cruiser contacted?

  19. Current Cruiser
    Current Cruiser says:

    I love my job, and have a great time talking with passengers, but seriously the USC public is extremely uninformed and ignorant about cruiser operations. There is a reason why we have trams, it simply costs too much to continue to buy cruisers (both the cars and the workers). New north would take up 50% of our calls if we didn’t tram there, thus making this supposed 1.5 hour wait (which I haven’t seen since I started over a year ago).

    Extending hours won’t solve anything. It will encourage more people to stay out late, while also forcing student workers attempting to pay for college to work way later than any student should have to. Campus Cruiser has enough trouble getting a (yes A as in 1 and only 1) driver to drive the leavey shuttle from 3am-5am/3am-7am. Sometimes we go without a leavey driver because you CAN’T force a student to work this late. How in your right minds do you think you’ll get 10+ drivers at 3am?

    As for the statement that only workers with 8am class won’t have to work this late, well what about 9am,10am,11am, or even noon class? Given this shift, workers wouldn’t be getting off until 4:15am, home by say 4:30. If you all honestly can say your fine with <6hours of sleep every night you work, then so be it.

    And as for the weekends, cruisers have lives too, we all just need to pay the bills. So please please be nice to your cruiser, I know I always return the favor.

    Fight On!

  20. Student
    Student says:

    “They already have student workers who work past 3 o’clock, anyway”
    everybody stops working as soon as the last call is dispatched. We only work past 3 if there are still calls in the system.

    get your facts right.

    • Cruiser
      Cruiser says:

      Not to mention we’re required to work at least one shift to 3 am just to have this job. Very few people are willing to work the Leavey 3am-7am shift even though it pays better.

  21. Current Student
    Current Student says:

    Most of the people out after 3 am are not doing anything productive, and DPS probably gets more calls from people locking themselves out of their dorms than actual escorts. It’s a person’s own decision to be out that late anyway, so it’s really unfair to hold someone else responsible for getting them home safely. Furthermore, just as it is required now for all cruisers to work until 3 am at least one night a week, extending hours would result in a requierment for cruisers to work until whatever the new closing time would be. This is a ridiculous idea.

  22. Student
    Student says:

    FYI. I looked at the yale website. They don’t have a cruiser system. They have 24 hour TRAMS just like we have. Campus Cruiser is the model for ALL other safe-ride home programs. We have the most comprehensive system and largest fleet of any other university.

  23. Cruiser
    Cruiser says:

    Really? 4am. If you haven’t sat in a car driving drunk, mean, rude people for 4-8 hours before, give it a try then start talking sh*t. Also, from ACTUAL experience of working the Leavey Library shift, it sucks. We stay parked there until 7 am waiting for people to come up and grab a ride. If its a busy night, we handle the calls that DPS is supposed to take; their obligation is calling us to give you a ride.

    As a cruiser, I take the trams. Its efficient. Every tram stop also has signs posted on the route that they will take and what times they leave at. If you are on the Cruiser Express Route, the person on the phones will tell you when it should arrive at your location. As other cruisers have pointed out, the wait times would increase significantly. 15 minutes is not a long time to wait so please dont shout at me if I tell you to wait that long.

    Also, “please” and “thank you” at the end of your call wont kill you. Common courtesy.

  24. Current Cruiser
    Current Cruiser says:

    If students were well informed on the Cruiser express route and the tram routes we would be much more efficient and students would not have to wait an hour. as for a means to canceling a call. There are two ways, by calling in or texting. So many people call in asking for a ride that the tram services but refuse to take it even when we can usually tell then when the tram is going to be there. More often then not, the tram will get you were you want to go quicker than a Cruiser, especially on busy nights.

  25. Student
    Student says:

    Dear Heather Ritchie,

    The reason they can’t offer you a ride is exactly the reason you pointed out. “It’s one of the biggest freshman dorms.” There is already a tram from New-North to the row. If you got a cruiser then it would back up the entire system and even more people would complain. Wait times would be over an hour every time, guaranteed. You can track the trams online so you don’t even have to wait outside. Stop your b*tching and take the tram.

  26. Campus Cruiser
    Campus Cruiser says:

    Wow. This is a horrible idea. If you guys want to extend cruiser hours how about you work them? How does our university look if we need to extend our hours until 4 in the morning because people are out partying? Did you all know you can call DPS after cruiser hours if you need a ride? The people working at campus cruiser are all students. If you want to extend our hours we’d better be getting a HUGE raise.

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