This year, students without cars will have one less reason to be jealous of their more mobile friends: they, too, will have a means of getting around town.
The university has developed new taxi and shuttle arrangements over the summer, and they’re ready to start operating.
University Police Chief Patrick Bailey said that Loyola has negotiated to piggyback on Tulane’s existing shuttle system.
Starting tomorrow, there will be three shuttle routes: a grocery route, an entertainment route and a Safe Ride route.
The grocery shuttle will go to the Super Wal-Mart on Tchoupitoulas, the Riverside Shopping Center on Tchoupitoulas and the Whole Foods on Magazine Street. It will run Saturdays beginning at 11 a.m., and the last stop will be from Whole Foods back to campus at around 6:38 p.m.
The entertainment shuttle will go to Lakeside and Clearview malls in Metairie. Like the grocery shuttle, it will run Saturdays, but its hours are later: 4:30 p.m. to about 12:00 a.m.
The Safe Ride shuttle will be on a designated route close to campus, said Bailey. The route’s borders will be Napoleon Avenue, South Claiborne Avenue, Dante Street and the Mississippi River.
Bailey added that though “the buses are not going to go to your house and pick you up,” the shuttle will bring people back to campus after a late night out.
It will run Wednesday to Saturday, 8 p.m. to 4 a.m.
The bus stop on the main campus stands beside the University Sports Complex on West Road. For the Broadway campus, the bus stop stands on St. Charles Avenue at Broadway.
TAKING A DIFFERENT ROUTE
While using a taxi isn’t itself an innovation, there’s a new means of using one for Loyola students.
As of Aug. 25, students have been able to set up an account with United Cab and take a taxi even if they don’t have cash, Bailey said. Instead of giving a cab driver money, students will give them a number assigned to them by United.
Students can get the form to set up an account from Robert Reed, director of Res Life. However, since the form requires personal financial information, students will have to send the form to their parents to fill out and return to United, said Reed.
Parents will be billed at the end of the month, and a $10 service fee will be added to the tab.
“If you can split it with friends, there’s no sense walking,” said Bailey.
The taxi and shuttle systems came out of suggestions made by the President’s Safety Committee. Bailey and Reed served as liaisons between Loyola and Tulane University, said Bailey.
WOLFPACK MEDIVAC
Should students need a more urgent form of transportation – an ambulance – the process for getting one of those has also changed.
Instead of calling Acadian Ambulance Service or 911, as they have in the past, University Police will now summon Tulane’s much closer EMS.
“They’re right over there across the street,” said Bailey.
Student emergency medical technicians will run the two ambulances.
“Even when they’re in class, they’ll get called on the radio and they’ll have to leave class,” Bailey said.
Catherine Cotton can be reached at [email protected]
