Students hoping for extra transportation options on St. Patrick’s Day are out of luck.
University Police Officer Wayne Clark, supervisor for the Student Nighttime Auxiliary Patrol, said he assumes there will be more requests than usual.
SNAP’s hours will not change for the holiday, which means vans will run until 3 a.m.
The Regional Transit System’s Later Gator, which offers late-night rides to students Wednesday through Saturday, will not be picking up revelers.
RTS spokesman Chip Skinner wrote in an email it cannot add another day because the service is funded by UF.
“Contract negotiations are between the transportation fee committee and UF faculty and Student Government members,” he said.
Michael Brown, a 21-year-old UF food science and human nutrition junior, said he walked home when he lived on campus. Now that he has an apartment, buses affect how late he can stay out.
“For living off campus, it would definitely affect how late I stay out because I would be stranded on campus due to lack of transportation,” he said.
Those old enough to drink should be responsible for deciding how they’ll get home before they leave, said GPD spokesman Officer Ben Tobias.
“An increased number of patrols will be stationed in Midtown and downtown,” Tobias said. “And there will also be a shift of officers to more populated areas keeping the roads safe.”
[A version of this story ran on page 23 on 3/14/2014 under the headline "Police: Bargoers should arrange transportation"]
