Editor’s note: Sarah Bill, writing for ExitEvent, reports about the efforts of two NCSU students’ startup that provides pre-registered designated student drivers. This is the latest post that is part of the news partnership between WRALTechWire and ExitEvent.
RALEIGH, N.C. – Taxi drivers in the N.C. State area may be a little confused over a recent decrease in drunk student calls. There is a new competitor on the scene.
N.C. State students Arjun Aravindan and Tomer Shvueli launched the sober driving startup Campus Cruizer in February. It is an online platform with a mobile app that allows pre-registered designated student drivers to connect with students needing a safe ride home.
“We have the Cruizers who drive for us, and the Boozers who request rides,” says Shvueli. “We have a universal phone number the Boozers call, and that redirects them to a Cruizer who’s currently driving in our queue.”
They say their service offers advantages the taxi companies cannot match: a comfortable ride, lower rates and the ability to support fellow students. Not to mention the ability to coordinate rides effortlessly from a mobile phone.
Campus Cruizer is hopping on a couple national trends. There’s the movement to reinvent the taxicab and private car industry, led by San Francisco-based Uber, which allows busy professionals in 70 cities to find, call and pay drivers using a mobile app, and Lyft, a ride-sharing app which caters more to the casual commuter (drivers are known to give fist-bumps and wear iconic pink mustaches).
The full story can be read at ExitEvent.
