When Dounia Bendris finishes her late-night work at the UF Fine Arts studio, she would like to call Student Nighttime Auxiliary Patrol for a ride home. But since she’s in a wheelchair, SNAP can’t give her a lift.
Soon, she and other disabled students will be able to receive UF-sponsored rides after 11 p.m. and on the weekends.
UF will soon start a transportation service to provide students in wheelchairs like Bendris rides on campus between 11 p.m. and 3 a.m. and on weekends.
The service could be available as soon as Summer B or fall semester, said University Police Capt. Jeff Holcomb.
“We are looking at finding the smallest handicap-accessible vehicle that can provide this service for an on-call need,” Holcomb said.
SNAP vans aren’t wheelchair accessible. Gator Lift, a free shuttle for UF students, faculty and staff with mobility-related disabilities, stops running at 11 p.m. and doesn’t run at all during weekends.
“This has never been an issue for us previously,” said Scott Fox, director of UF’s Transportation and Parking Services. “We obviously need to respond to the request.”
Bendris, a 19-year-old fine arts sophomore, said she spends most nights in her studio, usually traveling home alone after 11 p.m. She wrote a letter to the Student Senate about how unsafe she felt going home late at night.
Student senators met with Holcomb last month to present the idea of providing a transportation system for disabled students. The Senate will soon offer a bill to extend the SNAP coverage area and to provide a wheelchair-accessible pickup service.
There’s no way to make SNAP vans wheelchair-accessible, and SNAP drivers would require commercial driver’s licenses with passenger endorsements and special training for handling wheelchairs.
Gator Lift’s drivers already have these license endorsements, so extending Gator Lift’s hours and providing service on weekends was also considered, Scott said.
“We’re committed to figuring out how to do it,” he said.
Now, Holcomb said the most feasible option is to have a police officer drive a smaller van with a lift system.
The new vehicle would probably cost about $15,000 to $25,000, he said.
Disabled students would call for a free ride, just like other students do for SNAP.
Until the new service is available, disabled students can call for a police escort at any time.
“The Student Senate spearheaded the effort to provide disabled students a way to get home that late at night,” he said. “We may not realize the demand that’s out there.”
