On December 11, the University of Toronto Students’ Union (UTSU) announced the return of their Rideshare Program through an Instagram post.

The program’s return was first mentioned during the union’s November Board of Directors meeting. Previously, a pilot program ran from October 2 to December 3, 2023, and an updated version ran from March 1 to April 30, 2024. The newest iteration will operate for the remainder of the 2024–2025 academic year. 

Rideshare program

The UTSU Rideshare Program provides students with a discount on Uber rides to and from campus to make “late-night travel safer and more accessible.” The program operates daily from 12:00–5:00 am and covers travel throughout the GTA. Students can receive five dollars off per ride for up to two rides each month. 

In an email to The Varsity, UTSU President Shehab Mansour wrote that the program “was well received by students last year and made a positive impact in our community.” 

“Student safety is paramount to our mission at the UTSU and we believe that the Rideshare program is a meaningful step in the right direction,” wrote Mansour. “With this iteration, we made sure to incorporate the feedback we received to adjust [the] location and timing of the discount, as well as increase the total amount students can save every month.”

The old program operated from 1:00–5:00 am and was limited to 156 rides per week. Last March, students shared mixed opinions about the rideshare program with The Varsity, expressing differing views on its effectiveness. This year, the union introduced an anonymous feedback form to gather input, which will be used to improve the program. 

“Feedback from students is important in everything we do, and Rideshare is no different,” wrote Mansour. “In the context of Rideshare, we created this form to streamline the feedback process which will help us align our future decisions with students’ best interests.”

To access the program, students can join the UTSU’s Uber Business account with their U of T email address. When ordering an Uber, they can switch to the UTSU’s business profile under the payment method tab. They then confirm billing the UTSU up to five dollars for the ride, with any remaining balance charged to their card on file. 

The Varsity confirmed that any student, regardless of whether they are under the UTSU, can access the business profile through their U of T email. 

However, in response, Mansour wrote “To ensure that students under our membership are using Rideshare, we do routine checks with our membership list to make sure that users who have signed up are UTSU members.” 

“A couple hundred students have joined the program, and we are continuing to see consistent growth as we start the new semester,” wrote Mansour. 

Students’ thoughts

In an email to The Varsity, Moka Dawkins, a second-year student studying African studies and critical studies in equity and solidarity, wrote that while she doesn’t currently use Uber, she would consider it if it were financially feasible. 

“I think the program is a great[,] safe and protective initiative especially for victimized communities such as the [2SLGBTQ+] community, the Jewish community, the Palestinian community, and the Black community to get to and arrive home safe from community involvement and activities.” 

Dawkins commutes to campus using the TTC and suggests that “[l]ower TTC fares on bus passes and one-time transit for students would be a great initiative to help students save.” 

In an email to The Varsity, Hania El Sayed, a fourth-year studying international relations and political science, wrote that she uses Uber three to four times a week when studying late on campus, running late to class, or going out for the night. She has yet to try the union’s Rideshare Program. 

“I think the program is a great first step. However[,] I know other universities [offer] more to their students such as more discounted rides per month,” wrote El Sayed. 

For instance, Western University students can order a free ride through Mustang on Demand by downloading their app. Their service runs during the academic year every Thursday, Friday, and Saturday nights from 12:00–3:00 am. 

While she believes the UTSU’s program is “pretty good,” she also feels there should be more rides available each month. 

“I think these programs allow… students to more easily access safe rides home,” wrote El Sayed. “In some cases[,] students may be hesitant to order a ride due to high costs, especially since our campus is located downtown [so] we are very susceptible to increased costs due to high demand at certain hours.”