New App Helps Students Find a Safe Ride Home

Social media is a key communication tool among college students, and this year Midwestern State University (MSU) and the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) are launching the new P.A.S.S. app that will help students find a safe, sober ride home when they choose to drink.

Unfortunately, mass transportation and cabs aren't always readily available when and where people are drinking. The best way to ensure a safe ride home is to plan ahead and designate a P.A.S.S. - Person Appointed to Stay Sober. The app makes this process easier and can even be used as an incentive for volunteers to be the P.A.S.S.

This app integrates with Facebook's existing event-planning component, enabling users to plan for a P.A.S.S. Once a Facebook event has been created through the app, friends can coordinate who will be sober drivers and see how many openings they have in their vehicles for friends. The app also enables passengers to offer compensation to the sober drivers for their time and gas money.

"MSU is excited about partnering with TXDOT on this new initiative. It would be great if college students choose not to partake of alcohol, but the reality is that many college age students will drink. The P.A.S.S. initiative promotes drinking responsibly and designating a friend to stay sober to get others home safely from the vents that they attend," said MSU Police Chief Dan Williams.

MSU along with the University of North Texas and the University of Texas at Brownsville are the test sites for the new app, and students will be able to provide input on how to improve the service. TxDOT will expand the app to more campuses and possibly a broader audience depending on the success in these three areas.

To find more information about the issue of drinking and driving, visit www.txdot.gov.