Valdosta has a new late-night transit service, Tipsy Transit, which was created to provide students a safe alternate form of transportation.
 “We started talking about ways to give students an affordable and safe ride back to their homes after a long night of drinking,” Felix Vayner, Tipsy Transit driver and business major, said. “That’s basically how the whole idea came about.”
 Vayner’s company has been the talk of the town for nearly a month now. Vayner said he and his roommates came up with the idea this past summer. Immediately after the idea arose, Vayner applied for both a taxi and a business license.

 Originally, Vayner and his friends contemplated the name Tipsy Taxi, but it had already been taken. Eventually, Vayner and his dad came up with the name Tipsy Transit.
 In the beginning, Vayner had trouble finding a parking spot for his bus, but soon found hope in Blazer’s Tavern, an establishment located in Remerton.
 “They were really the only bar to let me park there for free,” Vayner said. “They have all been really supportive of this whole adventure.”
 The support for Vayner’s company has been noted by many in Remerton.
  “I know Felix, so I offered him a parking spot beside Blazer’s because I knew that he couldn’t park it at his house,” Chris McDougald, a bartender at Blazer’s Tavern, said. “I think that he made a very smart business decision to help students.”
 Vayner admits that the coolest part about his job is meeting new people and taking the party on the go.
 “It gets kind of crazy on the job sometimes,” Vayner said. “I’ve had kids stick their heads out of the window and step outside the bus to throw up. Luckily, no one’s actually gotten sick inside the bus yet.”
Vayner has some advice for college students that are also looking to start their own business.
  “It’s all a learning experience,” Vayner said. “You gain more knowledge than you would just by sitting in the classroom. You deal with real people. They’re not always going to let you do what you want to. There are a lot of loopholes that you have to go through. But, it’s definitely worth it.”
 Besides Vayner, there are four additional drivers that make up Tipsy Transit, all of whom are friends of Vayner.
“We’re all really close,” Vayner said. “That’s who I ultimately wanted to help me with my business. We all have a lot of fun doing it.”
Tipsy Transit doesn’t have fixed hours for when students are picked up. As long as calls are coming in and people are going out, the drivers of Tipsy Transit are always working.
As an incentive to ride the Tipsy Transit, Vayner made wristbands that include a $1 off coupon for the transit.
“I just got online one day and found a website that lets you make your own wristbands,” Vayner said. “It was really simple. I made about 2,500 and gave a couple hundred to Blazer’s for them to hand out. Eventually, I’m planning on giving them out to every bar.”
Vayner charges $3 for a one-way trip and $5 for a round-trip.
“I think that it’s really great addition to Valdosta,” Corey Hart, senior biology major, said. “It’s a safe way for college students to get home safely from the bars. Plus, it’s really nice inside. There’s always music playing and there are lights everywhere. I totally support the Tipsy Transit; it’s a really smart concept.”