5-SURE Safe Rides

5-SURE is for all Stanford students, faculty and staff. Drivers are trained to handle a variety of situations. The service assists thousands of students per quarter by providing transportation to and from an array of campus locations that range from parties and other campus activities to dormitories and libraries. 5-SURE welcomes any constructive criticism, service oriented workers, and/or opportunities to aid the Stanford community by working towards eliminating serious risks. 

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Service Alert: Service now runs from 8:00 p.m. to 2:00 a.m. 

Ridership Policies

Ride Priorities

Our main focus is providing service to groups of three or smaller due them being more vulnerable to possible risks. Groups of four or greater are statistically proven to deter possible criminals from serious crimes such as theft, assault, and rape. Because of this, if you request a ride for a group (see ‘Group Rides’ below), our priority will be those on our list that face a greater risk (e.g. a ride for one person receives a priority over a ride for 3 people).

Group Rides

Because we at 5-SURE value your safety and ours, we are limiting the number of people we transport for a given ride request in our vehicles to three people. Cramming more people than that into our vehicles poses an unnecessary risk to you, your friends, and our drivers, not to mention it is against the law. If you have groups of greater than three, you must request an additional ride for the remainder of your group. When doing so the ride must be requested with the name and number of a member of the second group and so forth. Remember, group rides have significantly lower priority and at this time we are not taking any group larger than two people. 

Waiting Periods

When we have a lot of ride requests in a short period of time, we ask that when you call in for a ride you be ready to get out to our vehicle in the next couple minutes. Based upon the time estimate our receptionist gives you please be ready to go sooner rather than later. When you receive a call saying that your ride is waiting for you, you have three minutes to get out there. After this time, we will proceed on to the next scheduled ride and come back for you after that. If there is something preventing you from making it out to our vehicle in that time period, please let us know by calling our number and alerting our receptionist to the problem. Please also note that 5-SURE is limited by people-power constraints. It takes time to travel, especially across campus. Please be outside waiting to help us decrease waiting times for all riders.

Cleanliness

We understand that you may not be in the best state when entering a 5-SURE vehicle.  With that in mind there are buckets with liners available for your use. Unfortunanely, people do not always make it into the bucket.  If you vomit, or make any other mess in any of the vehicles you will be charged a cleaning fee of up to $250 per instance.  This can be proplematic since a vehicle that has been vomited in cannot be used for the remainder of the evening, and must be taken off-line until it is cleaned. This only adds to our already long wait times.  Be considerate of everyone else. 

Right to Deny Service

The 5-SURE staff has the right to refuse service to anyone if we feel that our services are being abused or if our safety is put in jeopardy.

About 5-SURE

Our Past

5-SURE began as a SURE (Students United for Rape Elimination), first operating on March 5, 1979 during a time when rapes on and around campus were at epidemic levels. One student, who had been bothered by these events for several months, read an article by a rape victim that inspired him to take action. He recruited thirty students to volunteer two hours per week as escorts. SURE was fully funded during its first year with $900 from the Office of Student Affairs. This covered the phone line and printing costs. The Stanford Police Department donated flashlights, whistles and badges, while most publications, especially the Stanford Daily, donated advertising space. Escorts rode bicycles to any location on campus, then walked or biked alongside the students to their destinations within one mile of campus. The service began operating five nights per week, from 8:30 p.m. to 12:30 a.m., and quickly extended its hours to include a Winter shift from 6:30 to 8:30. SURE was created during the 1970's women's movement, and was under constant fire for its “chivalrous” nature. Frequent editorials in the Stanford Daily argued both sides of the issues. Some students opined that an organization founded and run by a man was the wrong recipe to thwart a crime of male dominance, while other students argued that SURE gave women the opportunity to be safe while traveling across campus at night. To appease the critics, SURE added women escorts, having them work in teams of two. This, coupled with the fact that the founder and director refused to engage in the debate, caused the sometimes heated argument to subside over time. SURE ran successfully for several years, but unfortunately, during the 80's the service stagnated and stopped running.

A Rebirth

In the 90's, SURE Escorts reemerged as 5-SURE. Gradually, SURE Escorts once again became synonymous with campus safety, trustworthiness, and reliability. It operated seven days a week, providing a welcomed resource when that daytime study session became a late-night excursion. The service also increased its efficiency by introducing golf carts in lieu of the traditional walking escorts. This boosted its ridership attesting to the service's innovative nature, as no other campus had or currently has such a program.  These unique characteristics rooted 5-SURE into Stanford culture and have since enabled it to develop into its success as a service to the Stanford community.

What We Are Today

5-SURE has since changed its name to Students United for Risk Elimination as of January 24, 2011. This change was made since 5-SURE has evolved over the years as users have utilized our services to not just eliminate rape, but other risks including but not limited to theft, assault, and possible stalking situations. 5-SURE makes use of cars and golf carts, two-way radios and paid drivers to maintain a constant nighttime presence on campus. Over ten part-time student-staff are employed by 5-SURE who work in collaboration with campus departments and organizations such as Public Safety, the Women's Center and Residential Education. 5-SURE is student-managed and supervised by the Office of Substance Use Program, Education & Resources. Our 'Home Base' is located in Rogers House. Staff responsibilities entail answering phones at the dispatch desk and driving the cars. A typical shift involves two to three people - one person to answer the phones while the others drive. As many as two vehicles roam campus on busy nights. To request a ride, riders are encouraged to call 725-SURE. 5-SURE is for all Stanford students, faculty and staff. Drivers are trained to handle a variety of situations. The service assists thousands of students per quarter by providing transportation to and from an array of campus locations that range from parties and other campus activities to dormitories and libraries. 5-SURE welcomes any constructive criticism, service oriented workers, and/or opportunities to aid the Stanford community by working to eliminate serious risks.

Access Our Library Archive and Exhibit on 5-SURE Here