The University of Michigan Division of Public Safety and Security offers various safety resources to help students, staff and faculty navigate campus, including the Emergency Blue Light Phone system and partnerships with rideshare services.
Recognizable by their tall black poles with blue lights on top, Emergency Blue Light phones connect users directly to DPSS Dispatch Services, transmitting the caller’s location automatically. No dialing is required, and an officer is immediately sent to the location where the button was pressed. In an email to The Michigan Daily, Shannon Hill, chief Freedom of Information officer at the University, wrote there are 330 Emergency Blue Light Phones located across campus, including on-campus parking structures and elevators.
“(The FOIA) office was advised that there are 330 operational Blue Light emergency phones on the Ann Arbor campus,” Hill wrote. “There is no responsive data pertaining to activations of Blue Light phones because the University does not track this information.”
In an interview with The Daily, U-M alum Juan Naasko said he finds comfort in knowing the phones are all around campus.
“I would feel comfortable using them,” Naasko said. “Whenever I’m walking at night especially, there’s just a sense of added safety. You see the Blue Light Phones and it’s like, ‘Okay, if something were to happen, it’d be easy to reach out to someone.’”
LSA rising junior Valeria Strickland said in an interview with The Daily that while she has never used a Blue Light Phone herself, she still appreciates their presence on campus as extra security.
“I’ve never used one,” Strickland said. “It can’t hurt, right? I’m not sure how eager I’d be to use it, but if I had to and it was nearby, I would. I think it’s nice that they’re around, because a lot of times, as a college student, you don’t really have a choice but to walk in the dark. Having that extra layer of security is definitely a plus.”
U-M students, faculty and staff also have University-managed alternatives to the Blue Bus system for free, late-night transportation. SafeRide runs nightly from 8 p.m. to 2 a.m., transporting riders to residence halls, parked vehicles and nearby off-campus homes. Riders can request a ride using the TransLoc OnDemand app and must show a valid MCard.
According to data obtained by The Daily, SafeRide provided 25,374 rides from July 2023 to June 2024 and 20,901 rides from July 2024 to January 2025. Over approximately the past 12 years, the average wait time has been 15 to 18 minutes, with four to five vehicles in operation per night.
While SafeRide can be a late-night transportation option for those navigating campus with injuries or mobility limitations, some students have faced difficulties using the service. U-M alum James Hackworth wrote in an email to The Daily that he experienced delays using SafeRide after injuring his ankle in the fall of 2023.
“I used SafeRide to get from campus back to my house in the evenings,” Hackworth wrote. “Sometimes, (getting a ride) would make it into a wait time of up to 2 hours, although generally it would be between 30 minutes and an hour. As the semester went on, rides being cancelled or switched didn’t happen as much and then I just had longer wait periods, especially on Fridays.”
Other rideshare services begin operation once the Blue Bus system stops running each night. FlexRide, run by the Ann Arbor Area Transportation Authority, is a curb-to-curb service during late-night hours and major holidays and is subject to variable fares.
Golden Limousine International partners with the University to offer four additional free late-night services for U-M students, faculty and staff. Ride Home runs from 2 a.m. to 7 a.m. during the academic year and 1 a.m. to 7 a.m. in the summer, taking riders home from specific campus locations within a one-mile radius of Central and North Campuses. Michigan Medicine Late-Night Shuttles transport riders around the East Ann Arbor Medical Campus from 10:30 p.m. to 5 a.m. State Street Ride transports riders from any University building to a Park & Ride lot on State Street. Finally, Emergency Ride Home is available 24/7 to students, faculty and staff facing emergencies such as personal illness, with use limited to six times per year.
According to the data obtained by The Daily, the FlexRide and Ride Home services combined provided 2,473 rides from July 2023 to June 2024 and 1,676 rides from July 2024 to January 2025. These services deploy between five and nine vans each night, and wait times are capped at no more than 15 minutes for FlexRide and 20 minutes for Ride Home.
Strickland said she often used University rideshare services after late shifts at work.
“I mostly used it coming home from work,” said Strickland. “Because I used to work at Sweetwaters in the Union, and I would have to close at 11:30 p.m., and I lived in Stockwell at the time. So it was just a long haul, and it was cold. That’s kind of primarily what I used it for.”
Naasko said he uses University late-night transportation when Blue Buses stop running, especially because he finds rideshare services like Uber too expensive.
“Ubers can often be so expensive and the buses stop running around midnight,” Naasko said. “You’ll often feel like you’re stranded, and (these services) really provide that layer of safety. I can still get home. I don’t have to worry about that, and you’ll have a car so you’re not gonna be exposed walking home.”
Daily Staff Reporter Isabella Yatooma and Senior News Editor Emma Spring can be reached at yatoomai@umich.edu and sprinemm@umich.edu.
