It has been four years since the Office of General Affairs’s Traffic Control and Security Section launched a scooter escort service for Tamkang students who leave school late at night. According to the latest statistic, a total number of 9,356 people have made use of the service in the past year. The number equals to almost one-third of the total number of students in TKU. The users of such a service are averagely 25 people per day. The statistics also shows that the rush hour for the scooter escort service is between 11 p.m. to 12 p.m. and 90 percent of students who make use of the service are females. They were mostly picked up at the Tamsui MRT Station while their destinations were mostly their dormitories, the statistics shows.

“We decided to launch the escort project four years ago to safeguard the safety for many students who return home late,” said Shiau Ren-jye, head of the Traffic Control and Security Section. Many Tamkang students have told him that the streets near and Tamsui campus are too narrow and are not well-lighted, said Shiau. The service time spans from 9 p.m. to 5 a.m. and the escort scooter will pick up students from the locations within one kilometer of the campus, he said.

Chen Hsin-yu, a first year graduate student of the Department of Civil Engineering, who has been serving as the scooterist for the escort service for more than three years, said that he feels really great every time he safely send someone home. “Some of the people who make use of the service will even give me some snacks and drinks after I send them home, which makes me feel deeply touched,” said Chen.

Fu Yu-ru, freshman of the Department of Spanish, who made use of the escort service for the first time, said that the university’s military instructor had once informed her of the service on class. She, therefore, called for the service when she left school late.

“I want to thank the school for the service which can give us a safe way home,” said Fu. ( ~Yeh Yun-kai )