Students unhappy with new van policy

After more than a week with a new escortvan policy, students are finding problems withthe changed service.

Though the new van service was put intoaffect on Oct. 3, an e-mail announcing it wasnot sent out until Oct. 11. However, lastweekend students found out about the policywhen their requests for a ride were refused.

One student who learned about the changesthis way, sophomore Amy Chen, called theescort van service from her friend's room in theHomewood Apartments at about 2:45 a.m. fora ride back to McCoy for herself and anotherfriend only to be told that the vans stoppedrunning at 10 p.m. The friend she had beenvisiting walked the two of them back and thenhad to walk back to the Homewood Apartmentsalone.

"It was dangerous for him to have to walkback alone," Chen said. She said she understandsthat under the previous system, offroutevans were often used to transport drunkstudents from parties, but she maintains thatthe changes are still "really unfair to thepeople who weren't partying. ... They exposepeople to danger."

Sophomore Eleen Shum agrees. LikeChen, she called for an off-route van ataround 2:45 a.m. only to be told that shewould not be picked up. She had to walkhome.

Despite these experiences, CaptainGeorge Kibler said that no one will be leftstranded. "If we've got a young lady outthere by herself, we'll get her," he said.

Shum has also had other problems withthe new shuttle service. She has waited foron-route shuttles that never arrived, eventhough they were scheduled to, she said.

Another time she called, the dispatcherlost contact with the van and did not knowwhere it was. "I'm very upset about theshuttle service," she said.

Like Chen, Shum also believes that the new shuttle system exposes students to risk. "We shouldn't walk back at 2 a.m.," she said. "It puts us in danger. What if we get mugged or something? Hopkins students know Baltimore is dangerous at night."

Sophomore Will Chang had to wait over an hour for a route shuttle and has had operators "lose" his escort van. He said, "The problem with the new security escort service is that as the night goes on students need the service more while at the same time have fewer reasons to engage in actions on campus. Yet the new service centers more upon campus and its surrounding areas late into the night."

Asked what changes should have been made to the previous shuttle system, Chen and Shum are in agreement. "I don't think they should have changed it at all," Chen said.

Kibler maintained that the changes were necessary. "We carried 130,000 people last year," he said, and there are simply not enough vans and drivers to provide "a taxi service" with that volume of traffic. Also, he said, student drivers are not available very late at night, and hiring an outside contractor to run the vans at those hours would be too expensive.

Kibler maintained that the new shuttle schedule would serve students better. By restricting off-route van service to trips between homes and campus, he said, the wait time will be shorter. But when asked if the restrictions on off-route vans would result in more students walking at night, he admitted, "It would evolve that way."

Route-vans will provide rides between most off-campus homes, Kibler said. But, he said that for those out of the route, "You're on your own."