Late-night drives: UF SNAP transportation ensures safe student travel – The Independent Florida Alligator

The friendly faces of familiar drivers greet Jaden Thompson every time she climbs into a late-night Student Nighttime Auxiliary Patrol (SNAP) van. 

“People are really nice on the SNAP,” she said. “It makes the ride much more enjoyable for me to be able to just converse with someone while I wait to go home.”

SNAP is a free on- and off-campus transportation service exclusive to currently enrolled students and staff, operating from 6:30 p.m. to 3 a.m. nightly during the Fall and Spring semesters and 8:30 p.m. to 3 a.m. every summer. Depending on demand, SNAP deploys between four and seven vans to roam campus that seat up to 15 people each. 

The drivers, who are often UF students themselves, pick up passengers at 85 designated stops on-campus and at UF-owned off-campus locations, including downtown and midtown. 

Students and staff can request rides through the UF SNAP app, which uses Gatorlink authentication, wrote UF Communications Director Amy Armstrong in an email. 

By entering an address and the amount of people in a party, the app will provide directions to the closest time window and SNAP stop where drivers are only permitted to wait for a maximum of one minute for passengers after the van arrives.

The app provides a section for student feedback through ride comments, which Armstrong wrote is regularly reviewed for quality assurance and improvement. 

SNAP also operates a wheelchair-capable, ADA-accessible paratransit minivan to provide transportation for disabled students as needed. 

Thompson, a 20-year-old UF psychology junior, said she used SNAP almost every day during the Fall 2023 semester after the Gainesville Regional Transit System decreased its service to her usual route, causing her to rely on the vans for transportation to her off-campus apartment at late hours. 

“Sometimes, I will be on campus really late doing homework,” she said. “They have a SNAP stop that’s less than a five-minute walk away from my off-campus apartment. A bunch of the SNAP stops on-campus are really accessible or walkable for me.” 

However, Thompson said she had an even more important reason for frequently turning to SNAP: it’s safer than walking alone at night. 

“It’s a lot more safe for me to be able to wait at a stop on-campus in the light versus walking through downtown,” she said. “Living off-campus is difficult because I wouldn’t say the city bus is the most convenient thing ever.”