About the Pack Rides program
Our service
Pack Rides offers a point-to-point service for students, staff and faculty of the University of Nevada, Reno. Our service is meant for academic activities only and cannot be used for alternative means. Please visit the policies and limitations portion of our website to better understand our nightly service.
We also provide a shuttle service on the weekends to get students who do not have access to reliable transportation, to market hubs in the Reno valley. Shuttle schedules can be found on our homepage.
Upon request, we extend our service to university organizations outside of ASUN. If you are interested in partnering with us for your events transportation, please view the Special Events Request Form.
Our history
When Campus Escort began as a walking service in late 1984, it was led by students, fraternity volunteers and various other on-campus clubs who were looking to take a proactive approach to improving the community’s safety while on campus at night. ASUN funded the program and appointed the student who directed it, Radios; a printer and a computer were purchased so the team could better coordinate. When Campus Escort first started, it was very small, chaperoning about 2 people per night.
In September 1985, the program moved from ASUN to the campus police department to incorporate vehicle transportation into the service. University Police used un-paid reserve police officers, Campus Safety Officers (CSO’s), who served to become eligible for a sponsorship by the University for the police academy. In general, four CSO’s were present at a given time, many of whom were not university students.
In 1986 the CSO’s began receiving wages from University Police and took on other policing roles in addition to the service they already provided to Campus Escort. By 1990, they were supervised by a full-time Police Officer and moved their central operations to the University Police Station. Campus Escort needed an individual who could dedicate more attention and time to the service. In 1994, Mike Hendi took on the responsibility under the supervision of the University Police Administrative Sergeant. Under Hendi’s lead, the first group of full-time students and the first woman became a part of the team. At this time, the nightly average increased to between eight and twenty-five users per night.
In order to better serve the community, the police helped improve the skills and abilities of the Campus Escort team. They provided valuable training to improve the officers’ self-defense, CPR, first aid and driving skills. The University Police also began to offer back-up to the the CSO’s when needed. In turn, the CSO’s became an extra set of eyes and ears for the University Police. By 1996, seven of the CSO’s went on to become police officers, three of which became University Police officers.
In the summer of 1996, the University Police Department was moved from the division of Student Services to Finance and Administration. However, Campus Escort remained apart of Student Services. Since University Police and Campus Escort were no longer a part of the same department, ASUN was excited to fund and have more input on the service. New radio systems were purchased and a dispatch position was created for the team.
In the years following, many changes were made to the program to provide a more efficient, safe and robust service to the community. Between 2000 and 2020, Campus Escort employed a staff of over 60 students in a single semester and provided more than 49,000 rides per academic year. During this time, the program received community donations from Parents Fund and the Matley Foundation to purchase a new Ford Transit vehicle to better serve the community members who benefit from ADA equipped vehicles.