UT should provide a shuttle service for students with disabilities
January 31, 2023
Students with disabilities consistently advocate for themselves on campus. UT often emphasizes inclusivity, but there’s still a long way to go to better support students with disabilities.
One way UT can make campus more accessible is by providing a paratransit service, a shuttle service for students with permanent and temporary disabilities.
The University of Minnesota, the University of Maryland, and Texas A&M have paratransit shuttle services in place. UT should follow these institutions’ lead to create a paratransit service in order to encourage academic engagement and success.
Social work freshman Fabiola Amaya said she struggles with accessibility issues around campus.
“I have to set aside about 30 minutes to get from my dorm to each class and also from the class back to my dorm,” Amaya said.
Students with disabilities shouldn’t have to worry about getting to class, and UT can help make that happen with a paratransit service.
“An issue I’m having is not being able to attend these (extracurricular) events because of just getting there or (not) having someone who’s able to walk with me to these events and back to my dorm,” Amaya said. “So having (a shuttle service) would fix this issue that I’m currently encountering.”
Amaya also said that although UT’s Social Work program was her top choice, she felt discouraged in coming to UT because the university lacks a paratransit service.
“I thought about maybe doing community college for a few years, and then transferring to UT to see if maybe the system would eventually get better or some sort of option would be offered for students.” Amaya said.
The established bus system is advertised as a way for students to get around campus; however, the bus is not able to transport students to classes since it does not travel inside campus.
“All that the disability department said (in response to complaints) was the bus system or bringing my own car,” Amaya said. “We looked at the bus system, but the bus system was very limited to not being able to get into campus and it’s not focused on disabled passengers.”
Kerri Battles, Director of Communications from the office of Financial and Administrative Services addressed these concerns in an email statement.
“The University currently does not have a program that includes shuttles for those with disabilities. You can find more information on existing transportation options including a map, here. Cap Metro can provide information about shuttle services made available through Metro Access for people with disabilities.”
However, the bus system is not a solution to the paratransit service currently needed by students with disabilities. It cannot even access the internal side of campus, which is a crucial reason as to why students with disabilities advocate for accessibility services.
Right now, the absence of a paratransit service is an obstacle for students with disabilities looking to become academically involved. Providing a shuttle service could initiate engagement in extracurricular events and organizations, opportunities that should be made easily accessible to all students.
Last spring, 3,246 students registered and requested accommodations through Disability & Access. While this number may be a minority to the larger undergraduate population of over 40,000 students, no student should be forgotten.
UT needs to provide a shuttle service for students with permanent and temporary disabilities in order to ensure they receive the same academic opportunities as every other student on campus.
DonJuan is a Plan II and economics freshman from Quanah, TX.
