Following the growing number of published incidents and recent unpleasant experiences of some community members, the Public Safety Office strongly counseled all Andover community members to refrain from using Uber, a popular on-demand car service, for transportation.
To date, at least three complaints have been filed with the Public Safety Office in which students reported feeling unsafe while riding in an Uber vehicle.
“At this point, the school’s not recommending it, but there is no overall ban,” said Thomas Conlon, Director of Public Safety.
“While it might not be convenient, we’ve got to look at your safety — and that’s what this is all about: the safety factor of the [Andover] community,” he continued.
In his campus-wide email sent last Sunday, Conlon advised community members to refer to the list of Taxi and Limousine Services instead for modes of transportation.
In his email, Colon included a list of transportation services have been used for a long time by Andover community members without any major complaints. In addition, many of the companies have met the inspection and licensure requirements of the Town of Andover or the City of Lawrence. A copy of the list can be founded on the Andover website under the tab “transportation.”
“The poor publicity certainly weighed heavily on us as we consider our duty to act in loco parentis,” said Paul Murphy in an email to *The Phillipian*. He added that parents will receive the same message sent by Conlon later on in the week.
Conlon advised all members of the community to report any problems they encounter with any transportation service to the Dean of Students’ Office, the Risk Management Office or the Public Safety Office.
“It’s our responsibility and duty to put [this information] out there and tell people how we feel. We’re not trying to say you’ve got to put your left foot in front of your right or your right in front of your left. We just want to put it out there that people should make an educated decision on their own safety,” said Conlon in the interview.
