A pilot Uber program implemented by Lafayette College to replace shuttle routes has seen mixed reactions from students in its first semester of use.
Tom Iannelli, the college’s director of procurement and head of the program, shared that the system is “running as anticipated” for the semester, but he did not share specific plans on whether the program would become officially permanent.
The Uber program offers reimbursements to students for medical transportation and rides to select off-campus locations, such as the Metzgar Fields Athletic Complex, LaFarm, Landis volunteering locations and the Lehigh Valley International Airport.
A full analysis of the program’s performance this semester — including data related to the number of rides, travel times and locations driven to — will be performed over the winter break, according to Ianelli. The analysis will begin after Uber finalizes its detailed report on ride usage data.
Christine Cohen, the coordinator for Lafayette’s America Reads program, said that many of its student tutors have relied on the Uber program this semester to travel to and from the local elementary schools where they volunteer.
“We got mixed reviews, but I think it’s not something that the students were like ‘I absolutely don’t want to use this,'” Cohen said.
She said that the Uber program had issues when first implemented, such as difficulty learning how to download ride vouchers and access the Uber app.
Bridget Abbott ‘26, a tutor with America Reads, agreed that there were some difficulties.
“Sometimes our school-provided Uber vouchers have not been available in my email or were sent to my spam and difficult to find,” she wrote in an email. “At times it has been stressful ordering Ubers for a group of people.”
Another tutor, Erin Caputo ‘25, wrote in an email that it can be difficult to cancel an Uber after using a voucher.
Cohen also added that some students had issues with signing up for the Uber app, as a part of the signup process required having a credit card, which some students did not have.
Medical transportation was also affected by the college’s decision to transition to the new Uber system, according to Kate Schuct ’26, a student medical transporter employed by Public Safety. She wrote in an email that her friends within Public Safety “used to be driving around students all day to St. Luke’s and other faraway offices all day” and now can focus more on transportation to ease campus accessibility. Public Safety could not be reached for comment.
Some users of the Uber program have ideas for improvements that they hope to see implemented.
Abbott suggested that students should have the option to drive or carpool to volunteer. Caputo wished it was easier to transfer the voucher to other tutors if one tutor was unable to attend for the day.
“We have welcomed feedback from students, faculty, and staff, and made adjustments in real-time to address any concerns,” Iannelli wrote in an email.