Nite Ride reports an increase in ridership after its first semester, making changes to the system.

The updated fixed-route design has boosted late-night transit use, but many students say infrequent shuttles still make safe rides home hard to count on.

Madelyn Johnson, News Reporter

December 2, 2025

Andy Espineira

Nite Ride, campus safety, drives on Wednesday, Nov. 19, 2025. This is one of two Nite Ride buses that operate from 9pm to 4 am.

When the University of Iowa changed its late-night transit service at the beginning of the 2025-26 school year, moving Nite Ride from an on-demand, door-to-door model to a fixed-route shuttle, campus officials hoped the change would make service faster, more reliable, and more widely used.

Four months in, data from UI Campus Safety shows the new system is working as intended. According to Hayley Bruce, chief of staff and public information officer for UI Campus Safety, Nite Ride has seen a 90 percent increase in late-night rides provided to students compared to previous years. Between Aug. 22 and Nov. 5, Nite Ride has given 5,400 rides in comparison to the 5,499 total rides given in the 2024-25 school year.

According to data from UI Campus Safety, there has also been an increase in Hawk Vouchers, a discounted ride-share program, being used. UI Campus Safety reported 5,034 vouchers were used between Aug. 22 and Nov. 5, in comparison to the 1,968 vouchers used in total last school year. Nite Ride and Hawk Vouchers have given 10,434 rides this school year.

Data collected by UI Campus Safety showed ridership is most active over the weekend, and 97 percent of Nite Ride’s ridership is undergraduate students. Peak Nite Ride hours were reported to be between midnight and 1 a.m.

Bruce said the department also monitors route completion times, peak hours, and popular stops. When buses are evenly spaced, wait times average around 18 minutes.

“We are very happy to share that the Nite Ride updates have allowed us to meet our goal of serving more students,” Bruce said.

UI Campus Safety implemented the changes on Aug. 15, using ridership data from prior years. According to past coverage by The Daily Iowan, changes were implemented in response to student feedback criticizing wait times and unpredictability in the system.

The updated service stops at locations that were historically the most requested, including Mayflower Residence Hall, Rienow Residence Hall, and Boyd Law Building. The earlier start time of 9 p.m. reflects student demand for transportation before 10 p.m., the previous start time for the service.

“Thanks to real-time tracking using the Transit app, students can now see when the shuttle is approaching. This means they can stay indoors longer, stay safer, and manage their time more easily,” Bruce said.

First introduced to campus in 2019, the Transit app allows students to track bus routes and arrival predictions. The app also incorporates the Iowa City and Coralville bus routes so riders can plan their routes across all three systems.

While the system is designed to make Nite Ride more efficient, students are still reporting long wait times and infrequent buses.

Mayflower Residence Hall is the farthest residence hall from the rest of campus, roughly a 20-minute walk to downtown Iowa City.

Nina Reginiewicz, a UI first-year student living in Mayflower Residence Hall, said this makes the UI Nite Ride service essential for her and her friends living in Mayflower.

“I love using Nite Ride because it means I don’t have to pay for an Uber for me or my friends,”Reginiewicz said. “It makes it easier to save money as a student.”

Still, Reginiewicz admitted some aspects of Nite Ride fall short.

“I wish Nite Ride came more often,” Reginiewicz said. “I don’t like having to wait 30 to 60 minutes for them to come, and that’s usually when I will just get an Uber because it is not worth the wait. I would definitely use it more if the buses came more often.”

Diana Wilhelm, a UI first-year student living in Burge Residence Hall, said being in a more central location on campus makes Nite Ride very convenient for her.

“I like that Nite Ride’s route is always consistent and helps move more people more efficiently,” Wilhelm said.

Bruce acknowledges that the new system is especially impactful for students living farther from central campus. To address this, UI Campus Safety expanded the geographic radius of the Hawk Vouchers program as well as the hours, ending Nite Ride hours at 5 a.m. instead of 4 a.m.

“We continue to partner with USG, the Division of Student Life, and the UI Parent and Family Council on the Hawk Vouchers program,” Bruce said. “We wanted to ensure students who live off campus have more flexibility for when and where they can use the service.”

The Hawk Vouchers program is an initiative led by Undergraduate Student Government, or USG, in partnership with UI Campus Safety. The program works with Uber to provide students with discounted rates.

Bruce said data from this semester shows about half of students are relying on Hawk Vouchers, while the other half primarily use Nite Ride. Bruce said this balance means that the two programs are working with each other effectively.

“We’ll continue to fine-tune both programs, but we’re pleased to see that this approach is helping us maximize our resources and reach as many students as possible,” Bruce said.