NIU’s Freedommobile ride service, available to students with disabilities, will now also be available for staff and faculty use.

The Student Association Mass Transit Board motioned to approve the sale of a pass for faculty and staff at NIU to use the Freedommobile. Presently, two people have inquired about the pass, said Doug Sammons, SA fiscal adviser. “I wouldn’t expect more than a handful of people to utilize it (the service) right now.”

A concern brought up by the SAMTB was that more riders could possibly overload the Freedommobile. Based on surveys there are about four riders per hour, Sammons said. The van has a capacity to hold 11 passengers.

SAMTB member George Abbott, a Freedommobile patron, said he does not think allowing faculty and staff to also use the services would cause overloading.

“Those few people are not going to overload the system. They’re not going to be using it (the Freedommobile) during any real peak class times, and even if they were, there’s only two or three people and it’s doubtful they’d ride it all at the same time,” Abbott said.

Other business included a report on the Late Nite Ride Service’s trial expansion this past weekend. There were about 88 riders this weekend, said Sharat Shenoy, LNRS director.

“As far as the added services this weekend, I think it went very well. Our target response time is 20 minutes and we were well within that,” Shenoy said.

The plus point to being within the target response time is more people are likely to wait and thus use the service and arrive home safely, he said.