TRANSPORTATION: Airline, auto, train and shuttle and parking information

A-CONFERENCE
TRANSPORTATION: Airline, auto, train and shuttle and parking information
By MGP Staff
Oct 29, 2005, 09:31

DIRECTIONS MAP CAMPUS PARKING

Hartford-Springfield-Bradley International Airport
Primary access to the University of Massachusetts Amherst is via Bradley International Airport, Windsor Locks, Conn., served by all major airlines. Bradley is approximately a 43-mile, 55-minute drive on Interstate Route 91 and state Route 9. The airport is adjacent to I-91 between Hartford, Conn., and Springfield, Mass. Non-stops fly to 36 destinations, including between New York-New Jersey, Chicago, Pittsburgh, Minneapolis, Detroit, Atlanta, Washington-Baltimore, Los Angeles, Las Vegas, Phoenix and Dallas-Ft. Worth.

As alternatives, Boston's Logan International Airport and the T.F. Green Airport serving Providence, R.I., are between 1.5 and 1.75 hours from the Amherst campus.

Amtrak also operates daily through-train service from Washington, D.C., to Amherst and back.

When to arrive
Conference Track One participants ("Future of Journalism Roundtable Summit") are advised to book for arrival by 6:30 p.m. Wednesday, June 28, and obtain lodging for Wed., June 28, and Thurs., June 29, with departure either Thursday evening, or Friday evening, or Saturday afternoon, depending upon interest in Tracks 2-5. Conference Tracks 2-5 participants are advised to book for arrival Thursday by 6:30 p.m., June 29, 2006, and obtain lodging for Thurs., June 28 and Fri., June 29, with departure Saturday afternoon (or Sunday).

Airport-to-conference shuttle
The conference may arrange limited scheduled shuttle-van service from Bradley to the UMass campus and/or hotels at key times. As of Friday, June 23, we are offering a 4:45 p.m. UMass Transit Service van pickup at Bradley Airport. Please check the MGP2006 Travel-share wiki page for up-to-date information.

Valley Transporter van service
There is a commercial service, Valley Transporter (413-253-1350), which provides by-reservation ground shuttle between Hartford-Springfield-Bradley and the UMass Amherst area, and between Boston-Logan and Providence-T.F. Green and UMass. From Bradley, one-way rates with advanced reservation are $45 first seat, $25 second seat, $10 each additional seat.

Ride-share wiki page updated
The MGP2006 wiki site includes a Travel Share page where you can exhange information with other MGP2006 conference participants.

Group rate from Enterprise Rent-a-Car available
Enterprise Rent-a-Car has a group rate for UMass conferences which the Enterprise office in Amherst says may be used by MGP2006 attendees. The rate is $35/day for a compact. You access it by going to http://www.enterprise.com. After selecting rental dates, drop down and put "T17175" (no quotes) in the box requesting "Optional: Coupon, Customer, or Corporate Number". When the next screen asks for the first 3 characters of your company's name or PIN number, enter: "UNI" (no quotes). That will then bring up the UMass contract rates, which may be lower (or higher) than what is otherwise offered.

Air-travel arrangements
STA Travel Inc., a 110-office travel agency with a full-service office in the University of Massachusetts Campus Center -- steps from the conference meeting rooms -- is familiar with details of the summit/conference. For assistance withtravel arrangements, call Lynda Tiersma, senior agent, STA Travel-Amherst, at 413-256-1261 (9:30 a.m.-5:30 p.m. Mon.-Fri.) or amh@statravel.com. Depending on demand, STA may negotiate group rates with certain airlines. STA is authorized to charge a booking fee of up to $20.

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