Reimbursements for UC-Registered Participants
(Updated: 2021-08-28)
UC-registered participants must claim post travel
reimbursements by
submitting the appropriately completed forms and documents
to University of Califonia Observatories' Business Office
(located on UCSC campus) after returning to your campus following the
workshop.
At least one form must be submitted:
IMPORTANT: The versions of these forms have been
specifically prepared for the workshop. Therefore,
these specific forms must be used.
In the first instance completed forms (accompanied by copies of appropriate receipts) should be submitted to:
-
| Camille Martinez |
| (2020 E. Margaret Burbidge Workshop) |
| UCO/Lick Observatory |
| Administration |
| University of California |
| 1156 High Street |
| Santa Cruz |
| CA 95064 |
Depending upon circumstances, attendees may be requested to complete and submit a further form:
Key points are the following:
-
If you are not a US citizen, you will need to
submit a copy of your I-94 form and the signature
page of your passport with the forms.
-
Financial support is for attendees to travel within
California. To keep expenses down, ride-sharing
among attendees is encoutaged. Travel support will
not be available for those wishing to travel to Mount
Hamilton from outside California.
-
Original receipts are required for airfare
(regular/economy/coach). You must fly on a US
carrier.
-
Original receipts are required for rental cars.
Insurance for rental cars is not reimbursable.
Participants from the same UC campus are
encouraged to car-pool.
-
For the most part, participants in the Workshop
are not expected to have any costs for meals and
incidentals.
-
When a personal vehicle is used in lieu of flying,
reimbursement is limited to the lesser of the
equivalent airfare, plus transportation to and from
the airport or the actual mileage cost
(at 56.6 cents/mile [2013 rate, may have changed up
or down]). Reimbursement is limited to the owner of
the vehicle and does not increase depending on the
number of passengers.
-
An alternative to using a personal vehicle is
renting a vehicle. Rental costs will be reimbursed
(with the exception of insurance) and gasoline
purchases will be reimbursed.
Transportation to Mount Hamilton
It is the responsibility of participants to organize
transportation to Mount Hamilton.
Most often, this is arranged between participants via a
combination of rental or personal vehicles and/or car-pooling.
Note that lunch is NOT PROVIDED on the first day of the
workshop. Participants are recommended to make
arrangements for lunch in an urban center while
en route to (and prior to ascending) Mount Hamilton.
Flying
Access airports serving the San Francisco Bay area include:
-
San Jose International airport:
SJC
-
San Francisco International airport:
SFO
-
Oakland International airport:
OAK
San Jose Internationa airport (SJC) is the closest airport to
Mount Hamilton and is served by several
airlines.
Tickets can be found either by dealing with the airlines
directly via their website(s), or by searching third-party
consolidation websites. However, be aware that some
"no-frills" or budget airlines
(e.g. Southwest)
often do not appear in search results on third-party websites,
and should therefore be consulted directly.
International arrivals:
It is recommended to allow a minimum of 2 hours between
your international flight arrival time and finally exiting the
airport terminal to account for processing (immigration,
baggage reclaim, customs, etc).
Combined with additional hours of ground transportation between
airport and Mount Hamilton (see below), international arrivals
are advised to consider arriving in California at least the day
before the workshop commences, and departing either late in the
afternoon or evening of the final day of the workshop, or
departing the following day.
No public transit ground transportation options are available
between the above airports and Mount Hamilton (and vice-versa).
This limits practicable transportation options to vehicle
rental, airport shuttles and/or taxis.
Between SFO or OAK and Mount Hamilton: At minimum, under
the best traffic conditions, at least 2.5 hours travel time
from San Francisco International airport (SFO) or Oakland
International airport (OAK) to Mount
Hamilton should be allowed. Traffic can easily add 1 hour or
more to this estimate.
If using a shared-ride airport shuttle service, it is
highly likely that Mount Hamilton shall be the final
stopping point: all other passengers shall be taken to their
destination(s) first and this can easily add multiple
additional hours to the journey time.
Between SJC and Mount Hamilton: At minimum, under
the best traffic conditions, at least 1.5 hours travel time
from San Francisco International airport (SFO) to Mount
Hamilton should be allowed. Traffic can easily add 1 hour or
more to this estimate.
If using a shared-ride airport shuttle service, it is
highly likely that Mount Hamilton shall be the final
stopping point: all other passengers shall be taken to their
destination(s) first and this can easily add multiple
additional hours to the journey time.
Advice about ridesharing (Uber, Lyft & Supershuttle):
Experience shows that Uber and Lyft only deliver passengers
to Mount Hamilton --- these services do not pick up from
Mount Hamilton. Additionally, due to unreliable mobile phone
network reception on Mount Hamilton, Uber and Lyft drivers have difficulty
updating/completing on-line trip transactions and details.
Therefore, participants who are flying to and from San Francisco
Bay Area airports are advised to consider SuperShuttle
(or similar service) for transfering between these airports and
Mount Hamilton (and vice-versa).
Driving
A downloadable tri-fold Lick Observatory information
leaflet, including driving directions and a map of
UCO/Lick installations at the summit of Mount Hamilton
are available from
Resources.
There are no gasoline or automotive services on
Mount Hamilton.
It is recommended that vehicles are re-filled with
fuel before departing urban San Jose/Livermore/Patterson
for the ascent to the summit of Mount Hamilton.
Re-fuelling also prepares for the (low probability)
contingency of evacuation of the observatory via
routes to Patterson and/or Livermore.
Mobile phone network reception on Mount Hamilton
is unreliable.
All necessary communications should be
completed before departing an urban center.
The recommended approach to Mount Hamilton from the
West (San Jose) is via Alum Rock Road and Mount Hamilton
Road (California State Route 130).
The alternative approach to Mount Hamilton Road (via
Quimby Road) is not recommended and is unsuitable for
large vehicles.
GPS and/or Satellite navigation systems provide
unreliable journey time estimates for the ascent of
Mount Hamilton Road. A minimum time of 1 hour should
be allowed for the ascent from the junction
of Alum Rock Road and Mount Hamilton Road.
From the East, Mount Hamilton can be approached from
Livermore or from Patterson (Interstate 5).
Re-fuel before departing Livermore or Patterson.
From Patterson, turn North-West onto Puerto del Canyon Rd
(California Route 130).
From Livermore, take Mines Road, heading South.
At
The Junction Bar & Grill,
head South on San Antonio Valley Rd (California Route
130). Allow 2 hours from Patterson.
The Junction Bar & Grill,
is a convenient rest/refreshment stop.
It requires 1 hour
to drive the remaing 19 ascending miles to the
Observatory from The Junction Bar and Grill.
In heavy winds or rain approaching from the East
may be more susceptible to delays
due to fallen rocks, trees or flash flooding in
the road.
Anticipate hazards due to fauna and flora while
driving the serpentine rural roads of Mount Hamilton:
Squirrels, deer, wild boar, bobcats, foxes, etc.
often bolt into the roadway, and could be in the middle
of the road around the next bend.
It is not uncommon to
encounter fallen rocks and/or trees in or blocking the
road after rain or high winds.
Allowing additional time (circa 30 minutes) is
recommended to accommodate contingencies such
as slow moving vehicles, road traffic accidents,
construction, detours for public festivals,
livestock in the road, etc).
At Lick Observatory
-
The maximum permissable speed along Mount Hamilton
Road in the vicinity of the Observatory and within
the Observatory precincts varies between 15 mph
and 25 mph.
-
Pedestrians are present at all times of day
and night.
-
Parking in the dormitory precincts is limited.
-
Parking permits and access permissions shall
be issued to participants during check-in.
-
Parking permits must be placed on top of the
vehicle's dashboard.
-
Ensure that vehicles are parked such that other
vehicles are not prevented from departing.
Do not obstruct access to garages at any time.
Please consider car-pooling with other participants.
-
Please be considerate of your neighbours in the small.
community of Mount Hamilton. Depending on shift
patterns, residents sleep both during the day and night.
Staff have families, including small children.
Please minimize any disturbance.
|