PUEBLO, Colo. (KOAA) — Pueblo City Council heard a proposal Monday evening for a safe-ride program aimed at protecting young people and preventing deadly crashes on the city's streets.
The program, called Arrive Alive 719, would provide free rides home for youth ages 15 to 22. It would operate Thursday through Saturday from 8 p.m. to 2 a.m., filling a service gap after Pueblo's public transit closes.
Between 2016 and 2021, the city lost 22 teenagers to vehicle crashes, most of them on Saturday nights. The Boys and Girls Club of Pueblo is one of several partners seeking a solution to decrease these accidents.
"Here in Pueblo County, public transportation ends at 6 p.m., so we know that, you know, lots of people want to participate in activities after 6 p.m.," said Becky Medina.
The Senior Resource Development Agency (SRDA) would provide the rides free of charge.
"It would include three drivers, as well as a dispatcher, and we are looking at being able to design an app that, you know, young people can use so they can request a ride," said Medina.
SRDA said it would hire and diligently screen new drivers. The program would be funded by the Colorado Department of Transportation’s Clean Transit Enterprise Program, using funds from Senate Bill 230, which established fees on Colorado oil and gas for public transit improvements.
Medina told me the program would initially launch for youth within Pueblo’s city limits.
"We hope to be able to get this out to Pueblo County and Pueblo West in the future," said Medina.
The program is expected to launch at the end of May.
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