A transportation service, originally founded in 1973 as a campus-based program providing women with safe rides home, received a revamp and funding boost from the city Monday.
Mayor Dave Cieslewicz, County Executive Kathleen Falk, the YWCA and United Way announced the new service, called YW Transit.
Cieslewicz said the rides ""will fill a vital role in providing transportation services for at-risk and underserved members of our community.""
YW Transit will not just serve downtown areas. It is ""designed to help people get to medical assistance appointments, doctors appointments and clinics,"" said Eileen Mershart, chief executive officer of the YWCA Madison.
Areas heavily traveled by students, however, will not be ignored. Mershart said the service will work with campus-based SAFEride and the Madison Metro System to efficiently provide safe rides home at night.
With recent sexual assaults in the city, YW Transit will be integral in trying to provide more safe services for Madison women in particular. ""We are embarking on this transit program because of our belief that this is a critical service to help prevent sexual assaults and [provide] transportation assistance to vulnerable people in our community,"" Mershart said.
The city, Dane County and the United Way will share the program's costs. Upon City Council approval, YW Transit will begin April 1.
