Cruisers Taxi is the only taxi service in DeKalb that also serves people from Sycamore, Genoa, Cortland, Malta and Kingston.

The taxi service is open to residents of these towns and to students as well.

The family-owned Cruisers is located at 8 Moraine Terrace.

“The students definitely use the service for in-town destinations,” said office manager Ted Brown Jr.

Besides providing ride service in the DeKalb area, Cruisers also offers a chance to take people to larger cities outside DeKalb, including Rockford, Chicago and Aurora, Ted said.

“We take people to the loop, train stations, casinos or wherever they need to go,” Ted said. “Business people who moved out here from Chicago use us regularly to go to train stations or the city.”

For rides out of town, Cruisers requires a request three hours in advance to schedule a taxi. Local rides require a request of 15 to 30 minutes in advance.

The rates for the taxi service vary on out-of-town destinations. For local service, Cruisers charges an initial pick-up fee of $2.50 and $1 for any additional persons. A charge of $1.20 per mile also is included for the ride. Cruisers is open 24 hours a day, seven days a week. For more information or to schedule a ride, call Cruisers at 756-8008.

Cruisers’ owner Jackie Brown said they have been the only taxi service in town for the last seven years for a few reasons. Jackie said there are a lot of expenses to run a taxi service, including taxi insurance and licensing from the city and state.

NIU offers a free late-night ride service seven days a week from 10 p.m. until 6 a.m. The service is available to escort students on and off campus.

“Students use the service a real lot,” said Lt. Matt Kiederlen of University Police. “A lot of students on Greek Row and in the residence halls use it to go to clubs and restaurants.”

A current NIU OneCard must be shown to receive a ride from the service. For the Late Night Ride Service, call 753-2222.