Safewalk
Safewalk is your safe and free alternative to walking home alone at night. Our wonderful volunteers accompany you when you're on campus late and not comfortable getting home alone! They'll come along with you out to 10 blocks from any LRT station, and pretty far from campus by foot.
Safewalk reopens September 16th.
Booking a Walk
Walks are open to any member of the University, with recurring walks being especially ideal if you have a weekly night class or a set work schedule. At the start of the term, you may fill out the form for a recurring walk (which will be valid until the end of the semester or until you cancel), a member of Safewalk's administration will contact you shortly after via email to confirm your appointment, and you're all set!
One-time Walk
You can book a one-time walk in three ways:
- Book online
- Call us at 780-4 WALKME (780-492-5563) for a walk, if no one picks up the phone, we're probably not in operation yet! If that's the case, please use the form!
- Approach any patrolling team on campus and ask for a walk
Our dispatchers will send a two-person team to meet you and walk you anywhere within our boundaries.
Recurring Walk
A recurring walk is a walk set for the same time and place every week. Recurring walks are used to cut down on client wait times, as they will have a team of Safewalk patrollers ready to meet them at the same time on a weekly basis.
Answers to all your Safewalk related questions.
What are Safewalk's boundaries?
On campus, our boundaries are from University Ave to the South, 116th Street to the West, Saskatchewan Drive to the North, and 111th Street to the East, including the area around the hospital. We can also take scheduled walks from Campus St. Jean and the Faculty of Extension.
We will also accompany you on the LRT (including the new Valley line). Additionally, between Southgate station and Churchill Station on the Capital line, we will walk 10 blocks from the station to your destination. We will not walk this additional distance for stations that are farther out on the Capital line or are on a different LRT line like the Metro or the Valley Line, but we can still take you to a nearby parking lot or bus station!
Safewalk does not currently operate in the Summer as it does not get dark until quite late into the evenings and there is a limited student population. For now, we operate during fall and winter, but this could change in the future.
Our service is absolutely free and available to any student, staff member, faculty, and member of the community.
An Incognito Walk is where our patrollers walk you home in plain clothes. You know, your friends don't have to know you use us (don't worry, you didn't hurt our feelings).
The University of Alberta campus is one of the safest in Canada. However, like any area of the city, the campus is victim to some crime. Safewalk was created not as a reaction to a crime wave, but, rather, to keep campus as safe as it already is.
Yes! As of September 2014, Safewalk teams will now walk people who have consumed alcohol, provided you as a client are able to stand, walk, and speak without assistance.
Safewalk promotes a safe and accessible campus for everyone, through our service of accompanying you on your travels as well as patrolling campus as additional eyes and ears for Protective Services. While a Safewalk team does not have a client, they patrol set zones within North Campus and the surrounding neighborhoods to make campus feel safer!
Anyone can fit in with our service! We are a proactive and non-interventionist service, believing fully in the "safety in numbers" code. Everyone can find a fit within our service, just ask us how!
We have a fairly simple and easy to use service, but here are some tips to help things go smoothly!
- Please have your pickup location and destination known before calling.
- Be respectful of our patrollers and dispatchers and their time, they're there to help you.
- Plan ahead: if you book your walk ahead of time, there's a far less chance that we won't have an available team than if you want a walk immediately.
- Be accessible: Many buildings are locked at night and it is easiest if you can meet our team at the doors of your building. As well, if there is a problem such as your team not being able to find you or they will be late, our Dispatcher will call you.
Looking for an extremely rewarding volunteer opportunity with flexible evening shifts?
Interested in getting involved in your community and meeting new people while getting experience for your resume? Volunteer with us! Learn more about our volunteer opportunities here.