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The purpose of the ACCESS van is to provide on-campus transportation for students, faculty, and staff with temporary or permanent disabilities. Van riders who will need to use the van for more than two days must register with the Smith College Office of Disability Services and provide medical documentation of their need for the service.
The van service operates Monday through Friday from
7:30 a.m. until 6 p.m. Rides are scheduled every fifteen minutes throughout the
day. Maps of the campus buildings are available at the Admissions Office and Public
Safety or online.
To request a ride, call (413) 695-0065. Please give your name and extension, the date you are requesting the ride for, and the time and location of both the pickup and drop-off points. It is necessary to request a ride at least 1 1/2 hours in advance of the time you wish to be picked up. This does not guarantee that your preferred time will be available, but we will make every effort to accommodate your request.
To avoid confusion, unless otherwise requested, pickup sites will be: Quadrangle: interior side; Seelye Hall: back door (near the elevator); Bass Hall: closest door to Public Safety; Burton & Sabin-Reed: stop sign on College Lane; McConnell Hall: closest door to Tyler House; Hillyer: between Hillyer and College Hall; Bell Hall: on Round Hill Road by the front door.
The ride schedule fills on a first-call first served basis. Therefore, it is preferable to schedule rides one week in advance of the ride date. Drivers will also accept standing reservations for the duration of a semester. Repeated last minute cancellations or failure to show for a scheduled ride may compromise your access to the van service.
Drivers are not responsible for carrying or lifting
items in or out of buildings, nor can they come in to a building to look for a passenger.
You must be at the designated pick up point. Drivers will wait five minutes past
the scheduled pick up time and then they must go on to their next rider. If you miss
a ride call the van service and the driver will make every effort to get back to
you as soon as the schedule allows.
Inclement weather / snow days: If driving conditions should become too dangerous, the van service will not be available. In this event, all passengers with scheduled rides will be notified of cancellations. A message will also be placed on the cell phone voice mail to let callers know that the service has been interrupted.
Off-campus rides must be approved in advance by Laura Rauscher, the Director of Disability Services, at x2071. Please note that off-campus rides are not the primary purpose of the van service and authorization is reliant upon several factors, including available time in the ride schedule. The van cannot provide transportation to areas beyond the immediate Northampton area. Transportation to other campuses in the Five College Area are available for individuals with disabilities who cannot use the bus system with advanced notice by calling PVTA at UMass.
If you have any concerns that cannot be addressed by the driving staff, please call Laura Rauscher at x2071 (Voice) or x2072 (TTY/TDD).
Reminder: Public Safety is not responsible for transporting students. |
