WOLFINGTON HALL – The familiar sight of golf carts parked outside Georgetown’s Jesuit residence is nowhere in sight. Instead, these ubiquitous vehicles can now be seen shuttling across campus as part of the Office of Planning and Facilities Management’s latest program, GUber.
Like the company after which it is named, GUber is an app-based transportation network and taxi service. GUber matches student riders with Jesuit golf cart drivers in their area. For a modest fee, the Jesuits will shuttle students to and from class between any two Georgetown-owned buildings.
“As construction continues to expand around campus, we have received increasing complaints about the inconvenience of mobility on campus,” said Vice President for Planning and Facilities Management Robin Morey. “GUber seemed like the perfect win-win solution. It gives students a means of easy transport around campus and we are able to add the fees we collect directly to the university’s miniscule endowment. On top of that, the dramatic slide in gas prices gives us excellent operating margins.”
Launched last week, GUber is already wildly popular with the student body. Residents of LXR with classes in St. Mary’s Hall praise it as a godsend. No longer deterred by the wet weather, freshmen in New South have begun “GUbering” to Leo O’Donovan Dining Hall on rainy days, driving an increased sales volume at the cafeteria.
Among the most praised of GUber’s features is the ability of students to rate their Jesuit driver.
Vice President for Mission and Ministry Kevin O’Brien, S.J. is among the Jesuits who receive consistently poor reviews on GUber. According to one reviewer: “This driver is awful. He can’t drive across campus without stopping every ten feet to smile at someone or ask how their day is going. I was late to my job interview because of him.”
In stark contrast, Otto Hentz, S.J. currently holds the top slot for consistent, timely service. One reviewer writes: “I live in Nevils and I had five minutes to make it to an accounting midterm in the MSB. I told Hentz I would tip him an extra $10 if he got me there in time. This priest drove like a madman! I’m pretty sure we clipped a freshman as we rounded VCW, but he just kept going. But when all was said and done, he got me to the exam with two minutes to spare. 10/10 would ride again.”
Though students have expressed a desire to see GUber’s services expanded to include off-campus destinations, Morey says that there are regulatory obstacles to operating golf carts on city streets. When these are resolved, he too hopes that students will begin to use GUber for more than just attending class.
As part of a pilot program, GUber has begun offering flat-rate weekend service to the Bulldog Tavern. No students have yet taken advantage of this service.