On Sept. 8, Safe Rides began another year of providing free, no-questions- asked rides to Greenwich teens on almost every Friday and Saturday night of the school year.
The program is provided in vehicles owned by the local not-for-profit the Transportation Association of Greenwich, or TAG. While using by professional adult drivers, the program is manned by teens answering the phones and teens riding along as co-pilots. Last year, Safe Rides provided almost 3,000 passenger trips over 72 nights.
Stephanie Estrada, a senior at Greenwich Academy, is serving as the president of Safe Rides for the current year.
This is Stephanie’s third year in the program as a volunteer. Greenwich High School Senior Alex Sklarz, the leader of Team 1, was joined by six other teens to staff the office on the first night.
This is the first year that Safe Rides is benefiting from financial support from the town of Greenwich.
The $18,000 appropriation covers about half of the cost of providing the service. The remainder is raised by TAG and the teen volunteers.
Last January the teens raised almost $45,000 to fund the service.
TAG had taken over the program from the town in the winter of 2014 and funded the full cost of the service for their first two and a half years.
Prior to being run by the town, the organization was hosted out of the Greenwich Chapter of the American Red Cross for many decades.
Any teen needing a safe ride home can call for a ride at 203-869-8445 on Friday and Saturday nights from 10 p.m. to 1 a.m.
The service runs until 2:30 a.m. for the junior and senior proms at Greenwich High School.
