Sudbury students clamour for rides after bar-hopping

As students return to Sudbury and some head out drinking, the next few weeks will mark some of the busiest for bars in the city.

But students say there aren't enough options to get them home safely.

“I have my car and I haven't been able to go to parties because I wouldn't have been able to get home without drinking and driving,” said Michael Donaldson, a first-year student at Laurentian.

Donaldson said Sudbury needs an all-year designated driving service, like the one he uses in his hometown of London.

“If you're at a party [and] you’re hammered … you just call these people and they show up. They drive your car home, with you in your car, and they follow with their car.”

Donaldson noted Laurentian is far away from the downtown bars, which makes for a long walk home and a cab ride expensive.

And city buses don't run much past midnight.

That leads to some students choosing to drink and drive.

Keeping students 'safe'

Isolated schools not serviced by public transit at night have a responsibility to provide transportation to students who have been out drinking, according to MADD Canada’s Andrew Murie.

“It's up to them to keep these students safe,” he said.

“They have to be willing to do programs that might not be at other campuses.”

Cambrian College reports it wants to start a student-run designated driving service, while Laurentian University says it's looking at getting discounted cab rates for students.

The extra services would be handy for people like second-year Laurentian University student Megan Nolan, who said she's ended up stranded downtown after a night out. She waited for a bus that never came.

“If a bus came to the downtown bus terminal and picked up some of the students who are just getting home from last call, that would be really awesome,” she said.