By Brenna Angel
LEXINGTON, Ky. – Whether they've been up all night studying or hitting nearby bars and restaurants, University of Kentucky students can now catch a free ride around campus and to surrounding neighborhoods.
The program is called Cats Cruiser. Drake Staples of the Student Government Association says Cats Cruiser includes four routes that run from 9 p.m. to 3 a.m. on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday.
"We're going through the pilot program. And we're going to continue to look into making changes as far as where we're stopping the buses and possibly expanding more around campus. We'll see how the students use it."
Cats Cruiser is a partnership between UK and LexTran, with a cost of $172,000. LexTran general manager Rocky Burke says the project expands bus service already available near campus.
"We started talking about this, did a little research, and found that many universities and public transit services across the country do this very same thing. So it just seemed right for us to do this."
Officials say the program is not in response to the string of robberies reported around campus during the fall semester, but that the new bus system should increase student safety on the weekends.
Students must show their UK ID to ride the special route for free; service for non-students is one dollar.
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