By Philip Sean Curran, Staff Writer
An on-demand taxi service will be available starting Aug.24 free of charge to patients of University Medical Center who live near the old hospital site in Princeton and have no other means of transportation.
They have to reside within a half-mile radius of the old site, roughly the area from Valley Road to Nassau Street north to south and Bayard Lane to Westminster Choir College. The hospital is bearing the full cost of the program, designed to replace the soon-to-be eliminated NJ 655 bus that went to the medical center.
“We are committed to ensuring that all patients have access to the care that they need,” said hospital vice president Carol Norris-Smith at Mayor Liz Lempert’s press conference Monday. “We’ve never done this before. We don’t really know anybody who’s done this before.”
Hospital officials stressed Monday that the taxi service is not intended for emergencies but for patients with appointments.
People may call bilingual hospital staff at 853-6200, at least 24 hours in advance, to arrange for a pickup from cab company DSM Taxi. Rides will be available weekdays starting with the first pickup at 7:30 a.m. and ending with the last one at 6 p.m. Plans also call for weekend service on two Saturdays per month.
The taxi service is part of a two-pronged approach by municipal, hospital and Princeton University officials to find alternatives to the 655 bus, due to be eliminated as of Sept.1.
The university announced last week that starting in September, it would add a stop at Palmer Square along one of its weekday TigerTransit bus routes that stops at the hospital. The bus is free and available to the public.
“There’s going to be a real big communications push for this because we have, at this point, three weeks, to get the word out,” said Mayor Liz Lempert, who added that it is a critical time, for example, for some children who need their immunizations updated before the start of the school year.
“We want to make sure there’s not a gap, but we want to make sure people know that there are these alternatives,” said the mayor.
She said the taxi service and the Palmer Square bus stop represent an alternative means of getting to and from the hospital, one that some might find better than using the 655 bus.
The town plans a public education campaign to inform residents.
