After several years of preventing tired students from having to walk home in the dark, the Intramural Activities Center (IMA) loop of the NightRide shuttle will be cut at the end of this quarter due to a lack of funding.

The loop transports students from the IMA to the Communications Building. From there, students can catch the other NightRide shuttles, giving them an alternative to walking home alone after working out at night.

“I work out, like, every night, and I take [the IMA shuttle] home every time that I’m here at night,” said freshman Heather Krawiecki. “It literally takes five minutes instead of ten minutes to walk back, and I feel safer.”

Initially funded by the ASUW through the Services and Activities Fee (SAF) Committee, the loop began operating in the spring of 2005 when the ASUW requested the service.

“ASUW submitted the proposal for the first year of the NightRide loop to the IMA, requesting that to the SAF Committee,” said Lincoln Johnson, director of Student Activities and Union Facilities and one of the advisers to the SAF Committee. “I believe it was the hope of the ASUW and SAF Committee that the program would identify other sources of funding for its continuation.”

After the initial funding was no longer provided, Transportation Services and the vice provost for Student Life each financed the loop for one year. A shuttle subcommittee was formed last spring to discuss the future of the program.

“The funding through the vice provost and the Transportation Services Department has been one-year emergency funding,” said Joshua Kavanagh, director of Transportation Services. “It was emergency funding that we provided to try to allow ASUW and [the shuttle subcommittee] to consider the future of the program and where sustainable funding might be found.”

The subcommittee assessed the finances and operations of the program. 8,528 people rode the loop during the 2007-2008 school year at a cost of $22,249 to the NightRide program, while roughly 37,500 people use the NightRide system as a whole each year. The loop represents 10.4 percent of the overall cost of the shuttle program, serving approximately 22 percent of NightRide’s ridership.

“Our finding was that if ASUW was unable to fund it, that it would have to be discontinued after this year,” said Bryan Weiser, an ASUW representative on the committee. “One of the reasons why ASUW wasn’t able to continue funding it was that [the IMA loop] wasn’t used by an overwhelming number of students. With no money around, the things that get cut first are those that are underutilized.”

Student users of the IMA and employees are expected to be affected by the decision.

“The 10:45 loop is extremely popular with our student staff and a wide variety of our users,” said Allison Dougher, member services coordinator at the IMA. “It would be very disappointing [to lose the shuttle] because it eliminates an option for them as far as getting home or getting back to their dorm. It’s definitely a safety issue.”

The other NightRide shuttles will not be affected by the cut, and a survey administered by the shuttle subcommittee last December found that most participants did not use the IMA loop to connect to the other shuttles. Only 6 percent of the people surveyed said they would use the NightWalk program offered by the UWPD if the IMA loop was discontinued. Additionally, plans for the NightRide and NightWalk programs to further overlap times of operation are no longer feasible due to limited funding for both programs.

Students who currently use the IMA loop are disappointed to hear it is being cut. According to the survey, 20 percent will not use the IMA without the NightRide.

“I would have to walk alone, and if it was raining, it would be twice as worse,” said UW tennis player Denise Dy. “Especially late [at] night, if I want to work out.”

Reach editorial assistant Lexie Krell at news@dailyuw.com.