Transportation
The Office of Global Health and Safety (OGHS) at Duke University is committed to ensuring the health and safety of students, faculty, and staff engaged in off-campus programming. This provides policy links, information, and recommendations for transportation related to off-campus activities conducted in the U.S. and abroad.
Organizing Travel
Mandatory activities are activities required for participation in a course, program, or student group. For mandatory activities, the sponsoring Duke unit should aim to provide Duke-sponsored transportation through a Duke-approved vendor (listed here).
If a participant opts out of the pre-arranged group transportation, the participant is responsible for arranging their own travel to and from the mandatory activity.
If transportation will not be arranged by the course or program, participants must be notified in advance. To ensure safety, participants are discouraged from riding with each other due to the lack of information about their license status, driving skills and history, the quality, safety, and upkeep of their vehicles, etc. Sponsoring units should not recommend specific vendors for self-arranged transportation.
Voluntary activities are activities that are optional and not required for participation in a course, program, or student group. For voluntary activities where sponsoring Duke units would like to support individual transportation costs, we recommend reimbursing participants for travel without specifying or recommending an entity or vendor. This reimbursement process is more logistically complicated but allows participants to make their own arrangements, thereby reducing risk. If reimbursing participants for transportation costs, sponsoring units should honor receipts from any vendor.
If transportation will not be arranged by the course or program, participants must be notified in advance. To ensure safety, participants are discouraged from riding with each other due to the lack of information about their license status, driving skills and history, the quality, safety, and upkeep of their vehicles, etc. Sponsoring units should not recommend specific vendors for self-arranged transportation.
If group transportation will be arranged by the host of the voluntary activity, all services should be booked through a Duke-approved vendor (listed here).
Training for Travel
Duke requires completion of the National Safety Council’s Defensive Driver Certification (DDC) course for all drivers of vehicles affiliated with university-approved travel. This requirement, along with all other requirements, can be found in the university’s Vehicle Safety policy.
If you are preparing to drive on behalf of Duke, we encourage you to familiarize yourself with this policy and ensure that you meet all requirements, including the DDC course. Instructions on how to enroll in and complete the DDC course can be found on the Duke Occupational & Environment Safety Office’s website.
All drivers of passenger vans carrying more than 11 people must be at least 21 years old, complete the Defensive Driving Course and attend additional training on the safe operation of passenger vans offered by Parking and Transportation Services
Plan for a trained relief driver to accompany the program. Relief drivers are required on trips where the primary driver may be operating a passenger van for more than four hours consecutively.
Drivers are restricted from using passenger vans to transport children in the 12th grade or younger and must have prior approval from Duke Corporate Risk Management if they wish to do so. More information on Passenger Van Driver Training can be found on Duke Parking & Transportation’s website.
Travel Emergency
Call 911 or appropriate in-country emergency number and seek any necessary care immediately! The health and wellness of participants is the most important priority for leaders in the field. Program leaders should feel empowered to seek the care necessary in an emergency.
After emergency care is requested, the program leader should request the accident report number from responders on the scene. Then program leaders should contact (919) 684-6226 or corprisk@duke.edu.
