From muggings to kidnappings, student safety has become an important issue this year.
The Associated Students of Linfield College recently had a breakthrough in student safety this semester, offering students an affordable taxi service.
Students traveling anywhere in McMinnville during the evening can now call a taxi to drive them safely back to campus. A ride to and from 3rd Street costs $10, and ASLC pays for half of the bill.
If students have their ID cards, the charge of the ride will go on their account.
Also, the taxi will take up to six people without an extra charge.
However, a word of advice: remember to tip the driver. It’s common courtesy to tip taxi drivers, and while college students aren’t exactly wealthy, the cost of the ride is so cheap that a tip won’t cost much more.
“A part of it is students learning how to tip,” said senior Rachel Coffey, ASLC president. “Most students haven’t taken a taxi before in their lives.”
ASLC has made tipping simple and accessible to students. All one has to do is fill out the tip portion on the receipt, which will also be charged to one’s account.
While the service has only been around for a couple of weeks, it seems to be successful so far.
According to Coffey, students have spent more than $200 during the past two weekends. It is a good sign that students are taking advantage of the taxi service rather than walking back to campus late at night.
“I got an email from a parent who was happy with the service,” Coffey said.
There is now no reason for any student to be walking back to campus alone from anywhere in McMinnville.
Students should store the number for D.C. Taxi in their phones and call for a ride rather than endangering themselves by walking home alone.
With such a cheap service that one doesn’t even need cash for, there is no reason not to take advantage of such a readily accessible service.
D.C. Taxi was willing to give Linfield students a great deal, so the least a student can do is remember to tip his or her driver.
“Tipping is appreciated, but it’s not required,” said Marvin Black Jr., taxi driver for D.C. Taxi.
However, if students do forget to tip, the driver will still receive a tip from ASLC.
“If we don’t see that they [students] tip, we’ll add a $2 tip,” Coffey said.
However, try not to take advantage of the fact that ASLC will pick up the tip.
Learning to tip is important because there are many instances in which one will be expected to leave a tip.
There are many places in which service workers expect people to tip. Some occupations even have a lower paycheck because employers are expecting their workers to be tipped.
Out of common courtesy, please remember to tip the taxi driver. Keeping D.C. Taxi happy will keep them in business with us for longer.
-The Review Editorial Board
