For NC State students, construction often means finding alternate routes to class. But for some, navigating construction poses more of a challenge than others. That’s where Wolfpack Pick-Up comes in.
Wolfpack Pick-Up is a program established in 2014 that helps faculty and students with injuries or disabilities get to class on time with the help of golf carts. The program has expanded to serve the entire NC State community, including faculty, staff-approved guests and, of course, students. It now operates four electric and gasoline-powered golf carts.
Erin Breiner, program director of Community Support within Resiliency and Community Support in the Office of Student Life and Advocacy, said navigating campus with a golf cart isn’t necessarily easy.
“There’s a lot of students, there’s tunnels, there’s bricks, there’s one-way streets,” Breiner said. “So we have to already be very mindful of pedestrians and all the other kinds of motorized vehicles that you see. So scooters, bicycles, buses, anything that is traveling around campus with some of the construction, really, how that impacts us is that we have to figure out an alternate way to get to where we’re going.”
Breiner said the biggest challenge with construction is traveling between Main and North campuses.
“Being on one side of the railroad tracks, there’s not a lot of ways to get to North, so normally we take Dan Allen,” Breiner said. “But with Dan Allen under construction, that limits the option a little bit more. What we do in those situations [is that] we take an alternate route and really just focus on taking our time and safety, obviously, is number one priority for us.”
Breiner said the program has predetermined pickup and dropoff spots that construction may impact.
“If it’s near a construction zone and we’re kind of around that area, we might find an alternate,” Breiner said. “Like, we get up to the building and we need to get around it, we’ll go that way and just find the best drop off spot for them … and then make sure, ‘Is this an okay drop off? Does this work for you?’ And that has worked for us. It’s just finding alternate routes.”
Breiner said these alternate routes can result in delays.
Mark Newmiller, director of the Disability Resource Office, said he suggests students using Wolfpack Pick-Up give themselves extra time to get to classes.
“There’s not a lot of construction, but if I have a meeting across campus, I’m leaving about 10 to 15 minutes earlier than I normally do because I don’t know what parking is going to look like or the route that I’m going to be able to take,” Newmiller said.
Breiner said communicating with drivers helps ease delay-related difficulties.
“If we get any sort of communication about an issue or construction that happens, myself and our program associate, Andi, will reach out to the drivers and say, ‘Hey, this has come up,’ or ‘I can see that this is closed off,’ or ‘It’s actually changed and it’s no longer closed off,’” Breiner said.
In addition to communicating with drivers, Breiner said Wolfpack Pick-Up communicates with their riders through GroupMe.
“That’s already our [primary] mode of communication,” Breiner said. “If someone needs some assistance, if they … need to switch with someone, we use GroupMe, and so anytime something comes up, we will send a quick chat: ‘Hey, just letting you know, Dan Allen’s closed today. … We recommend going this way. If you encounter any problems, let us know.’”
Breiner said Wolfpack Pick-Up works with NC State Transportation to plan alternate routes.
“Not just us, but the [entire] campus, gets updates on different construction projects,” Breiner said. “There’s actually a construction zone impact map, so we’re able to see where the current project is at, and what that looks like compared to our routes and where we’re going.”
Breiner said students can help by stepping aside for golf carts.
“Just [work] with us,” Breiner said. “Because we’re not just driving a golf cart just to drive around a golf cart. We’re here providing a service to students and making sure they get to class or wherever they’re going on time.”
