Halloween Ibis Ride canceled for good

For students at UM, the Halloween Ibis Ride to Coconut Grove will be nothing more than a fond memory.

According to Dr. Patricia A. Whitely, vice president for student affairs, the Halloween Ibis Ride, which had been canceled in 2007, was temporarily brought back last year “on a pilot basis.”

This year, the popular service has been canceled again, this time for good. Whitely cited a variety of problems that led to its cancellation.

“It’s simply not logistically possible to continue providing the Halloween Ibis Ride,” Whitely said. “Halloween is a very popular night and you just can’t get buses in and out of there in any timely manner.”

Last year, 500 students took the shuttle and 10 staff members were employed. Coach buses were used to transport the students back and forth between the hours of 10 p.m. and 1 a.m. It cost a total of $10,000 to provide the service.

Previous attempts had the ride going to the Grove between the hours of 9 p.m. and 2 a.m. Last year’s times were re-worked to allow for the heavy traffic demands.

In 2007, the Halloween ride was canceled due to the fact that the holiday fell on a weeknight—a Thursday. Whitely, along with the office of the dean of students and Student Government, put together a committee to rehash the plan for a weekend night. Last year was their first and last attempt. Whitely also said that the future of the Halloween Ibis Ride is grim.

“I’d be very pessimistic about it,” she said.

She added that the university is hosting Halloween parties on the nights preceding and on Halloween, and she hopes they will encourage freshmen to stay on campus.

The Halloween party will take place on the Hecht/Stanford Bridge from 10 p.m. to 1 a.m. It will feature a costume contest, free food, music and a photo booth.

A notification sent to the university community via IBIS News encouraged students to plan ahead for Halloween by calling a taxi or having a designated driver.