KARISSA DOYLE
Special to The Leader
The sky is almost pitch black — there’s little light and it’s getting colder. You’re on Ring Road, getting slightly paranoid from the isolation, before what feels like your saving grace arrives. A big blue van, with the name “Fredonia,” plastered on the side. Welcome to the Late Night Fred.
The Late Night Fred is a shuttle service that runs from 9:30 p.m. to 2:30 a.m. across campus, seven days a week. To use this service, students just call the number (716) 467-8057 and let the driver know the location they want to be picked up from.
The Late Night Fred is also driven by students. Drivers such as Kendall Brooks, a junior childhood inclusive education major, will give students their estimated time of arrival to the location. According to Brooks, arrival is “typically within one to three minutes.”
Similar to the shuttle bus that runs during the day and into town, masks are required.
However, this hasn’t been the first time the Late-Night Fred has been in operation. Originally, it was the called “Fredonia Escort Bus,” which was discontinued in Spring 2020, but had run for almost eight years prior to it’s discontinuation.
According to Brooks, “The escort bus, similar to the van service, picked up students and dropped them off at their requested locations. You would call the bus service, and they would pick you up.” However, Brooks explained that the escort bus was discontinued for various reasons.
“First, there was a lack of students requesting the shuttle service. Second, the cost of continually repairing the bus and providing the proper services needed was far too expensive, which the school didn’t want to fix. Currently, the broken-down bus is still on campus in the Services Complex.”
As many students recall, last semester in October, there had been two separate attacks around Ring Road during the early hours of morning. Due to this, many students had concerns about their safety.
These concerns, at least for some, seem to have been relieved with the re-emergence of the shuttle service.
Asante Neely, a Fredonia freshman, is one of these students. Neely explains how she now feels safer, “especially walking home at night as a woman, it is dark outside, and it’s a scary world out there. Knowing I can call them, and they’ll pick me up where I’m at and take me in front of my dorm makes me feel way better.”
Neely explained that usually the Late Night Fred drivers are “cool, collective, and generally nice people” she also explained that “the ride itself is usually quiet unless you [know] the people driving.”
One potential downside of the vans is they only carry around four or five passengers at a time. Thus, larger parties have to be shuttled in multiple trips. Overall, the shuttle service does what it’s supposed to do, taking students from point A to B in a safe way.