Transportation and Parking Services

www.parking.appstate.edu

www.appalcart.appstate.edu/EN/US

Policy

Appalachian State University does not provide transportation for persons with disabilities around campus or to or from their residences. However, AppalCART, a local transportation provider (see www.appalcart.appstate.edu/EN/US), includes in its fleet in-town buses with wheelchair lifts and newer “talking,” “low floor” buses to better serve persons with disabilities. If these buses do not satisfy a student’s needs or she/he is unable to reach the AppalCART bus stop, contact AppalCART, and ask about its paratransit van service.

In accordance with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), AppalCART provides para-transit (van) service to those eligible passengers who are unable to ride AppalCART’s fixed routes serving the general public in Boone. The paratransit van operates only during the times and in the areas served by the regular fixed-route bus. It does not travel in other areas or at times that the fixed routes do not operate. (Other services may be available to fill those needs.) To qualify for paratransit service, a person must complete an application and receive certification, and this process may take several weeks. Paratransit rides will require a day’s notice after you receive certification.

Parking

1. For General Information: see the parking link: www.parking.appstate.edu

2. Disability Parking: All faculty, staff, and students, including those with disabilities, must obtain and properly display an Appalachian State University Parking Permit appropriate to their category (e.g., Faculty/Staff, Student, Freshman, Graduate Assistant, Retired, etc.). In addition, parking for persons with disabilities is governed by North Carolina General Statutes, §§ 20.37.5, 20.37.6, and 20.37.6A.

A. N.C.G.S. § 20-37.6(a) provides that: “Any vehicle that is driven by or is transporting a person who is handicapped and that displays a distinguishing license plate, a removable windshield placard, or a temporary removable windshield placard may be parked for unlimited periods in parking zones restricted as to the length of time parking is permitted. This provision has no application to those zones or during times in which the stopping, parking, or standing of all vehicles is prohibited or which are reserved for special types of vehicles. Any qualifying vehicle may park in spaces designated as restricted to vehicles driven by or transporting the handicapped.”

B. Pursuant to N.C.G.S. § 20-37.6A, any vehicle displaying “an out-of-state handicapped license plate, placard, or other evidence of handicap issued by the appropriate authority of the appropriate jurisdiction may park in any space reserved for the handicapped pursuant to G.S. 20-37.6.”

C. Because wheelchair-accessible parking spaces are limited, individuals with properly displayed distinguishing license plates or placards who do not require a wheelchair-accessible space are encouraged to use other available spaces, if possible, as a courtesy to those who do use wheelchairs.

D. Individuals with disabilities who wish to avail themselves of parking permitted under N.C.G.S. § 20-37.6(a) must obtain from the North Carolina Division of Motor Vehicles (DMV) and properly display a “distinguishing license plate” or “a removable windshield placard or a temporary removable windshield placard” pursuant to N.C.G.S. § 20-37.6(b) and (c). Applications for these license plates and windshield placards may be obtained from the University Parking and Traffic Department or the nearest office of the DMV. Pursuant to N.C.G.S. § 20-37.6(c1), the initial application to the DMV must be “accompanied by a certification of a licensed physician, ophthalmologist or of the Division of Services for the Blind that the applicant is handicapped.”

E. N.C.G.S. § 20-37.6(e) makes it unlawful:

1) To park or leave standing any vehicle in a space designated with a sign [designating parking] for handicapped persons when the vehicle does not display the distinguishing license plate, removable windshield placard, or temporary removable windshield placard as provided in this section, or a disabled veteran registration plate. . . . ;

2) For any person not qualifying for the rights and privileges extended to handicapped persons under this section to exercise or attempt to exercise such rights or privileges by the unauthorized use of a distinguishing license plate, removable windshield placard, or temporary removable windshield placard issued pursuant to the provisions of this section;

3) To park or leave standing any vehicle so as to obstruct a curb ramp or curb cut for handicapped persons as provided for by the North Carolina Building Code or as designated in G.S. 136-44.14. . . .

F. Violations of these provisions are punishable with penalties of “at least one hundred dollars ($100.00) but not more than two hundred fifty dollars ($250.00),” and a law enforcement officer “may cause a vehicle parked in violation of this section to be towed.” N.C.G. S. § 20-37.6(f)(1) and (3) Temporary Parking Privilege for Attendants Employed by the Office of Disability Services Whose Documented Disabilities Warrant the Employment of Such Attendants Some students who reside on campus have disabilities, as documented consistent with the re-quirements of the University’s Office of Disability Services, that warrant the employment of attendants to assist them in their living quarters and elsewhere on campus. In order to provide the attendant services that make possible and/or enhance such students’ access to education and campus life, such attendants must have access to parking in lots close to their client-students’ dormitories. Such access to parking for employed attendants will be provided on the following basis:

1. Temporary Parking Privilege: The temporary parking privilege will be limited to current employees of a company or entity that provides attendant services to disabled persons, including students of Appalachian State University.

2. Privilege Limited to Dates and Times Attendant Provides Services: The temporary parking privilege will be limited to those days and times the employed attendants are on campus to provide services to their student-clients.

3. Placard: The company or entity that provides attendant services must obtain and provide to the attendants serving Appalachian State University’s students with disabilities a magnetic sign or placard to be affixed to each attendant’s vehicle, designating that vehicle as driven by an attendant-service provider employed by such company or entity.

4. Schedule of Services: The company or entity that provides attendant services must also provide to each such attendant on a weekly basis a printed schedule showing: (1) the name of the student-client to whom that attendant is providing services and (2) the dates and times that attendant is expected to be on campus to provide such services. The attendant must display this schedule on the dashboard of her or his vehicle to provide Appalachian State University Parking personnel a basis for determining whether the vehicle is parked on campus consistent with this policy.

5. ASU Students Employed as Attendants: If employed attendants are also Appalachian State University students, they must register their vehicles and pay the requisite fees if they wish to park on campus. However, they will have the privilege to park in a lot close to the dormitory of their student-clients on the same basis as any other employed attendant, i.e., only on those days and times they are providing services to their student-clients.

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