University of Kansas bus driver Ken Cadue will begin giving students the opportunity to “ride in style” to Kansas City, Mo.

Cadue, who has worked for the University since October, said he would charge students $75 an hour to ride in his 2007 Hummer. If students pay for four or more hours, Cadue said he would give them an additional hour for free.

“It’s a nice looking Hummer. It’s got a lot of chrome on it,” Cadue said. “It’s riding in style.”

Cadue said he decided to start his business because he was worried about students’ safety. He said Safe Ride does not travel outside of Lawrence and there are no other programs in Lawrence that chauffeur students around Kansas City. He said he knew there was a need for such a program because he had heard multiple students talking about their drunk driving experiences while they were on the bus.

“I’m a safe driver and one big reason I like to drive the bus here is that when kids get on, I try to smile, and it may be the best greeting they get all day,” Cadue said. “I try to be friendly and I feel like I’m doing some good.”

Cadue said he would begin the business on a trial basis. He said he planned to run his designated driver service on Friday, Saturday and Sunday evenings, but if it was profitable enough, he would make the service available seven days a week. He also said he would consider buying a Hummer limo as well.

Cadue said he could transport a maximum of five students in his hummer. At $75 an hour for four hours, Cadue’s service would cost each of the five students $60. But Cadue said he was willing to change his prices to make his business more competitive.

He said he thought most students would use the service for about four hours because students usually leave to go to the city at about 10 p.m. and the majority of the bars in Kansas City’s Westport district close at 1 a.m.

Only one other company in Lawrence offers services similar to Cadue’s. Jennifer Chareton, dispatcher for GTI transportation, said her company charged passengers $160 to pick passengers up and drop them off, but that they did not chauffer them around the city.

Chareton said GTI’s service was a first-come, first-serve basis with no cancellation fee. She said because the business owned three Lincoln Town Cars that can hold fourpeople, three passenger, vans and three mini-vans, students could usually call the day before their trip and reserve a car without any problems.

Cadue said he was unsure how he would occupy his time while his passengers were at the bar, but that he would probably go somewhere and drink coffee or go window-shopping.

“I’ll sit in my vehicle all night if I have to,” Cadue said.

Mel Cadue, Ken’s wife, said she would accompany Ken on his trips if he wanted her to because she could not imagine what he would do all evening if she did not. She said their three daughters, ages 16, 18 and 19, thought the business was a good idea, but that she was unsure what to think about it.

“I just said, ‘really, that’s interesting,’” Mel said. “He seems like a chauffeur-like person because he gets along with people really well. I told him if he was going to be a chauffeur or something, he needs to get a suit.”

Cadue said he would advertise through business cards and through word of mouth on his bus. Cadue said that so far, students’ responses to his business had been favorable.

Cadue said every student he had talked to had complained that taxicabs and Safe ride took at least an hour to pick them up. Cadue said they found that frustrating, and they said they would be interested in using his service for transportation inside of Lawrence as well as elsewhere.

John Kuhn, Jamestown senior, said he thought establishing reliable transportation between Lawrence and Kansas City at night was important but he was not sure if a Hummer was the way to do it.

“The Hummer is ridiculous because it’s not fuel efficient,” Kuhn said. “It’s a horrible status symbol and manifestation of materialist culture.”

Jason Oruch, Plano, Texas, junior and former risk manager of Alpha Epsilon Pi’s Brothers Against Drunk Driving, said he thought Cadue’s business was a good idea because he did not think it was safe for students to be driving drunk for an hour. He also said the business was well priced when the costs were divided up.

“I think it’s funny, but it’s very unique,” Oruch said. “Most college students do not have Hummers.”

— Edited by Jared Duncan