If you have car trouble on the University of Arizona campus, don’t bother calling AAA. Call the university’s Motorist Assistance Program.

The program is free and offers assistance for car-related issues such as jump-starting your vehicle, retrieving your keys from your locked car, locating your car and putting air in your tires.

“We sympathize, and we do our best to provide a good customer service to our customers on campus, which includes all of our students, visitors, faculty and staff,” said Alan Remick, manager of the parking services enforcement team.

While the program is open to any campus visitors, the car troubles must happen on campus in order to qualify for help from the Motorist Assistance Program.

Specifically, it must happen within the boundaries defined by the UA Police Department campus patrol area. Find the map on the Parking and Transportation Services website.

The motorist program offers assistance from 7 a.m. to 11 p.m. on weekdays for both fall and spring semesters. During the summer, it’s available from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. on weekdays. The service is not available,  however, on holidays or weekends, according to the website.

According to Hector Bandin, a parking services officer with the Motorist Assistance Program, people call in asking for help for a variety of reasons and no matter the weather.

“When the weather changes, when it cools down, there’s a lot of people’s tire gauges saying low pressure,” Bandin said. “If it’s a super hot day, a lot of car batteries will die. Students call a lot extra on rainy days, too.”

He also said the Motorist Assistance Program averages five to eight calls a day, with the most common service being jump starts. 

The members of the program include former law enforcement, mechanics and student volunteers who are all trained in how to deal with car assistance calls, according to Bandin. 

Program officers not only respond to the program’s calls from the Parking and Transportation Services’ dispatchers, but they also help by patrolling the campus and every parking garage.

“The students and people who are here on campus are able to reach us pretty quickly,” Bandin said. 

The members of the program understand that people who call for assistance are often stressed because of the situation. But having this free service, “eases a lot of the pressures people have,” Bandin said. 

To reach the Motorist Assistance Program, call its phone number, 520-621-2886, which is also posted on numerous signs around campus. 

“We want the very best for anybody and the best campus experience for our students and staff,” Remick said.

*El Inde Arizona is a news service of the University of Arizona School of Journalism.

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