Green Bay…The Brown County Tavern League is earning widespread praise this week for helping keep area roads safe during the NFL draft. The shuttles helped get over 9,000 people to their destinations through the SafeRide Program.
“We knew there was a pressing need for a SafeRide service at the NFL draft, having heard of previous drafts where people were stranded for hours waiting for ride shares and taxi’s. That could lead to a lot of people behind the wheel who should not be,” said Don Mjelde, Vice-President of the Tavern League of Wisconsin. The SafeRide efforts helped contribute to just three OWI arrests reported by the Brown County Sherriff’s office during the draft.
In the end 2,627 rides were given to 9,013 riders free of charge. The costs were picked up by the Wisconsin DOT, through a state mandated DUI surcharge, and a matching grant from the Brown County Tavern League, who have been busy raising money for the effort in recent months.
Mjelde and Brown County Tavern League President Tera Hansen are both passionate about the SafeRide program, which gives over 40,000 free rides statewide each year and has contributed to a 44% decline in OWI convictions and a nearly 50% reduction in alcohol related deaths since 2007.
The Brown County Tavern League operated 40 shuttle vans, with 91 drivers who put in over 2,000 hours on the road. To make draft attendees aware of the program, the Tavern League distributed over 20,000 brochures to 250 taverns and hotels in Brown County. The shuttles operated for over 60 hours over four days, running until 3:30am every night.
The Brown County Tavern League would like to thank the many people who came together to make the operation a success, including their SafeRide Draft Committee who helped organize and staff the operation from start to finish, and their many partners and sponsors.
Brown County SafeRide, Page 2
SafeRide Committee
- Ben Brunette
- Tera Hansen
- Terri Vande Hei
- Brandi Hibbard
- Rob Heinritz
- Don Mjelde
Sponsors
Enterprise: attained 40 transit vans from 5 different states.
Kwik Trip: Supplied gas cards and donated $5,000 towards costs.
Creative Sign: installed at removed decals. Put together an assembly-line fashion at their shop in a single day, and removed them Sunday morning.
Nielson Communications: Radio transmissions including Hytera radios used for GPS tracking, which was invaluable throughout the dispatch process. Steve actually reached out to us, and offered to supply the equipment for free.
City of Green Bay: awarded us $15,000 through an ARPA grant for improving business and safety in our community and teamed up on a press conference to launch the program and spread public knowledge and get word out to riders.
Village of Howard: $5,000 donation towards our program and allowed shuttle parking by Duck Creek Quarry.
Brown County Sheriff’s Department: Screened shuttle drivers for the draft and supported us in our effort to keep our roads safe.
Discover GB: Gateway of communication, did a great job of logistics and comms.
SP+, NFL, Green Bay Packers: Gave their full support and cooperation to make this possible.
General Beverage: On top of a monetary donation, they went above and beyond with assistance in marketing/promotional, with additional vinyl adhesive QR codes and tabletop advertising for nearly 200 members.
Badger Liquor, Dean Distributing, Triangle Distributing, Kay Distributing, Carbliss & Pepsi: Donated to the effort
The SafeRide Drivers: Their commitment to their community along with their professionalism, time and effort under trying circumstances made this entire effort possible.
