In Bowling Green, there are very few Uber and Lyft drivers available to students.

Off-campus students have limited availability for transportation on the weekends, as the shuttles with off-campus routes do not run past 7 p.m. on Fridays and do not run on weekends. 

Enter Ziggy Zooms, a rideshare company founded by BGSU student Cameron Parke.

“I’ve seen everything prior to COVID-19, and we did have those opportunities to really get a hold of a driver who was safe and reliable. We had businesses established, but I found myself in a position where we, truthfully, don’t have a service for this right now. It’s very inconvenient to get home,” Parke said.

Ziggy Zooms runs every Thursday through Saturday. The company operates between the hours of 9 p.m. and 3. a.m. Prices start at $6 for a single rider with the price increasing with the rider.

Customers can also receive rides outside of the BG area at an additional cost.

“I feel like the prices are justified. They already know their market in BG, rather than trying to price like Uber does,” BGSU student Luke Schaefer said.

While one of Ziggys Zooms’ goals is to serve students, their mission is to get drunk drivers off the roads.

“We really believe that with our service offering that convenience, accessibility, efficiency and reliability, we will take more instances of DUIs off the road,” Parke said.

The company said they hold their employees to a higher standard of driving.

“We also ensure that we talk about safe driving habits with our drivers, that way they practice following all rules of the road and keep making a safe, reliable way for the passengers to get where they need to go in a safe manner,” McNamara said.

One of the biggest safety measures Ziggy Zooms is looking to add is driver cameras.

“The cameras would really be the way that we could provide that liability and protection for not only the students in the backseat, so that they can be covered, but also the drivers themselves,” Parke said.

Students have only begun to use Ziggy Zooms but find the service to be extremely useful.

“We’ve been communicating consistently with our riders throughout and they tell us, night to night, that this was needed. People are just so happy to be able to get to their destination safely, Thursday to Saturday.” Parke said.