Dive Brief:
- College students will soon be able to hail an Uber and pay for the ride through campus payment systems, thanks to a new partnership between Blackboard and the ride-sharing company.
- Blackboard Transact will give students the opportunity to pay for the ride with their campus card, using a dedicated purse for such expenses into which institutions, parents and students can all make deposits.
- Once a student requests a ride through the Uber app, they will have the option of paying through their campus account in the app itself.
Dive Insight:
Uber and other ride-sharing companies expanded largely in communities with colleges, recognizing the student population could be a major customer base. The partnership between Blackboard and Uber could encourage safer behaviors by students. However, Uber has also been criticized for not screening its drivers carefully enough, and a number of passengers have filed assault allegations. In cities that require chauffeur's licenses of taxi and limo drivers, some have argued Uber drivers are not as safe on the roads and don’t know the areas as well. Like any company, Uber has its critics and its supporters.
The sharing economy has also reached college campuses through Airbnb, where dorm residents have begun renting out their rooms, often in violation of rental policies. When not in direct violation of existing policies, campus housing officials have updated contracts with students so the potentially unsafe rentals are not allowed.
