Are the Ubers and busses around campus not cutting it for you? If so, there is a new option in Tigertown. Ciara Mayes, a junior marketing major from Charleston, South Carolina, decided to start her own business: a driving service around the Clemson area to create a safer environment for women.
“I drive all my friends for free whenever, but I would like to do that and make money for it if I’m doing it all of the time,” said Mayes about why she started Designated Tigers.
Having started with just Mayes, the service now boasts four additional drivers: Courtney Barrett, Lauren Geer, Taylor Phillips and Lauren Hess. All five college students are currently making trips around the Clemson area as an alternative to mainstream driving services. Most drivers abide by the same group (not per individual) rates: $10 on Monday through Thursday and $15 on Friday through Sunday. They do not drive to Anderson or Easley.
One of the major goals of Designated Tigers is to provide a safer option for college-aged women. “I hope that girls feel more welcomed and invited by this,” said Mayes after a bad experience one of her friends had with a driving service. All the current drivers are women.
To book a ride with Designated Tigers, you must first reach out to either Instagram (@designatedtigers) or the specific driver’s number, which is posted on their Instagram page. Their Instagram page has information about each driver including what they look like, what kind of car they drive, general rules, how they accept payments and the number of passengers they can accommodate. Check this information before you request a ride, particularly the number of passengers they can take, if they require masks and whether they will be driving at that specific time. Their hours are made available weekly, and they do their best to update when they are available to accept rides. When you message them, they will reply with how long the expected wait time will be.
If this wait time works for you and your party, you can accept and then pay. Some of the drivers accept Cash App, some accept Venmo and some accept cash. In the case of extreme wait times, they have some secondary drivers that they may resort to or they may stop accepting ride requests entirely for a specific amount of time. They also request potential riders’ patience with them since there are only a limited number of drivers available. The drivers also have a vomiting fee of $100 in place so that they can get their car cleaned if something were to happen.
Another service that Designated Tigers offers is a ride to the Greenville-Spartanburg airport. This service needs to be requested as far in advance as possible so that the drivers can prepare to make this trip. The set rate for this trip is about $35, but keep in mind that it will depend on the availability of the driver and is not always an option.