South Jersey Town Running Shuttle Buses To Keep Drunk Drivers Off Roads
By Mike DeNardo
EVESHAM TWP., N.J. (CBS) - One South Jersey community is trying to cut down on drunken driving by offering to be the designated driver.
Evesham Township is trying to keep drunken drivers off the road by running a township shuttle bus and by linking bar-goers with free rides home.
The shuttle will run weekend nights from five stops. Sober Sam - a company that drives people home from bars in their own cars - is also providing its service free to Township residents during the 30-day September pilot.
Police chief Christopher Chew says the program will be evaluated after that:
"We're going to look at the statistics on how many times it was used. We're going to look at our statistics on arrests, crashes. We're going to get input from the business community, the community itself."
Chew says the department is simplifying things, with a smartphone app:
"You hit it, and what it will do is automatically transfer you to the shuttle bus locations and times, and it'll also give you a link directly to Sober Sam to contact them to come pick you up."
No taxpayer money is being used for this. Chew says the pilot is paid for entirely by a $2,500 grant and other donations.
He says the Township is on pace for a record number of DWI arrests this year, and if the program saves one life, it will be worth it.
