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Up until recently, though, the word had been slow getting out.
“The first few times, I had probably five people at most,” said Voracek, who drives the cart four nights a week. “The busiest nights are the weekdays. Friday is very slow, as is Saturday and Sunday. It’s because everybody’s going home in their own vehicles that we don’t see lots of people on campus.”

Following a reported five burglaries and one robbery near or on campus this semester, President Linda Hanson requested the escort service to provide students with a safe way to reach their destinations. The cart, which usually runs from 9 p.m. until 11 p.m., holds four passengers. Safety and Security also runs a minivan 24 hours a day that can hold up to six passengers.

When driving the cart, Voracek stays later on nights the library closes at 11:45 p.m. to make sure all students get to their destinations safely.

“Hopefully those who are looking for students to prey on will see (the cart) and go someplace else,” she said.

Abby Lehrke, a senior in global studies, uses the escort service several times a week to get to her on-campus job with the Safety and Security Office.

“I have to work at night all the time,” she said. “So I don’t want to be walking around this neighborhood at night.”

Voracek estimates that she picks up around 20 students each weeknight. However, with the weather getting colder, the open-air cart probably will not run every night.

“Winter just basically hit us,” Voracek said. “[Last Wednesday] the temperature was 18 degrees, with a wind chill of zero. We’re not going out in that weather. That’s just insane.”

Voracek says some students might want to use the service to stay warm or get inside quicker, but the cart isn not ideal for either.

“It’s kind of a golf-course golf cart,” she said. “It has an inhibiter on its speed, I guess. Because even if I’m going down a hill, with the pedal to the metal, it slows down.”

The van will run all winter, though, and it is allowed to go up to six blocks off campus. Safety and Security will also escort students to and from campus up to one mile. Office Director Shirleen Hoffman is working on creating an escort policy to make sure students use the service for its intended purpose.

“One of the concerns we were having was that people were using us as a taxi service,” Voracek said. “We can’t spend what little manpower we do have driving people to Taco Bell at all hours of the night.”

Students may request escort service by calling dispatch at x2100.