By Victoria Gill
Elm Staff Writer
As of January 2019, Washington College implemented a new task force that will address the transportation system on campus.
“The need developed over the last several years, because we were seeing changes in what student needs and desires were around transportation,” said Sarah Feyerherm, vice president of the College and dean of students.
Feyerherm oversees several departments and offices at WC: Residential Life, Athletics, Student Engagement, Career Development, Health and Counseling, Intercultural Affairs, Department of Public Safety, the Office of Wellness and Prevention, and Title IX. Several of these departments are in dialogue with one another for the taskforce.
The team is led by Dean Feyerherm and consists of both faculty and student voices. No specific names were given but there are representatives from Athletics, Student Affairs, Business Office, Buildings and Grounds, and several other administrators.
The transportation task force was mentioned in several previous Student Government Senate minutes and finally met in January to discuss future proceedings. Its sole purpose is to reevaluate the transportation situation on campus. This includes the motor pool of cars, vans, mini-buses owned by the College, and the shuttle service.
Feyerherm said that the task force contracts with some companies to provide transportation for larger-scale transportation needs, such as athletics or the first-year Explore! Program to reduce the back up of other registered vehicles.
“We have an aging fleet of vehicles and have a limited number of vehicles that do not provide the availability and flexibility that people are looking for. Because there is no significant public transportation system in Chestertown, that puts an added strain on the College to meet the needs that might be otherwise met (at least in part) by a public transportation system,” Feyerherm said.
Part of that added strain to the transportation system for students on campus is Safe Ride, “a free service for students run by your fellow peers,” according to the WC website.
It is a safe alternative for students to get to and from campus from various sites in Chestertown and is available in the evenings and on weekends. The transportation policy for WC ensures safety in the operation and provides information on require ments to use a College vehicle.
In the past week students have received emails regarding parking on campus and reserving campus vehicles, much of which can be done online from this point forward.
Even Safe Ride sent out an email announcing changes to their hours, Sunday through Wednesday from 8 to 11:45 p.m., Thursday from 8 p.m. to 2:15 a.m., and Friday and Saturday from 9 p.m. to 2:15 a.m.
In the meantime, Student Affairs and Public Safety are currently working together to manage the transportation operations for the remainder of the semester.
“This seemed like the best solution since many of the requests for assistance were coming to our two offices any way,” Feyerherm said.
It is undecided when changes will be implemented. The task force will address these issues and recommend improvements once its work is finished.
“Our needs seem to revolve around having reliable and clean transportation that is flexible enough to meet a variety of needs. We have an opportunity now to centralize many of the needs, so they can be met more effectively and efficiently,” Feyerherm said.