By VIRGIL CEBRIAN
STAFF WRITER
Ashley Cann looked anxious at the College Avenue bus stop, where she
sought shelter from the light drizzle. She checked her cell phone for
the time every few seconds.
“I’m waiting for the F,” she explained, “I’m late for my 9:15 a.m.
class.”
Cann’s Women and Gender Studies class is on the Cook/Douglass campus.
The ride takes 10 to 15 minutes from the bus stop, she said, not
including her short walk to the building.
The F bus route takes Cann along Route 18 versus the EE bus, which takes
students through traffic-filled downtown New Brunswick.
She glanced at her cell phone again.
“9:03.”
Cann appeared more distraught as time ticked on. She continued, “It’s
faster in the morning though.” But she said the bus takes longer to get
to the Cook/Douglass campus in the mid-afternoon, when most people have
class.
Rutgers-New Brunswick students must constantly adjust to the schedule of
the inter-campus bus system for both academic and social activities.
Like many students, Cann said the bus system isn’t perfect, but she
accepts it for what it is.
“They’re easy to use, but they’re so crowded and they don’t come as fast
as I want them to,” Cann said.
From a distance, a red and white bus was visible. The electronic sign
said, “F Cook/Douglass, College Avenue.” As the bus pulled up to the
stop, Cann backed away to avoid getting splashed by the water the curb
had collected.
Cann boarded her bus at 9:06 a.m. The bus was relatively empty, with
only 10 passengers, all seated. Cann continued to check her cell phone
until the bus departed at 9:11 a.m.
Others, such as Taylor McKay, a sophomore, have developed tricks using
the bus system to avoid arriving late to class.
McKay lives in the Campbell dorm, located near the SAC, the last stop on
College Avenue before Route 18. Despite the close location, she avoids
using the SAC bus stop during peak times. “By the time the bus gets to
the SAC, it’s extremely crowded,” she said.
McKay said that she takes an extra 5 minutes to walk the College Avenue
bus stop rather than wait at the SAC bus stop.
“I get a seat and relax with a cup of coffee and the Targum,” she said,
as she flipped through the pages of that day's issue, “and I get there
on time.”
Besides crowding, McKay has no other issues with the bus system.
Junior Erin Pilkington agreed, saying “It works well enough and lets
everyone travel campus to campus.”
She wishes, however, that Rutgers utilized what some call the "accordion" buses more, especially during peak times when students come
out of lecture halls.
The accordion buses are formally called "articulated buses," two rigid
parts connected by a swiveling axle. These buses allow for a larger
number of passengers to board.
Otherwise, when a big lecture is dismissed, students typically scramble
to the bus stop. When a bus finally pulls up, students nudge their way
onto the bus, packing closely together to get to their next location.
Many students don’t make the cut.
“I’ve had to wait for 1 to 2 buses before I can catch one when I get out
of Beck Hall sometimes,” Pilkington said.
She commutes and parks on the College Avenue deck, but even commuters
are required to park on one campus and use the buses to commute to other
campuses. Walking to the bus stop isn’t too bad, Pilkington decided, but
she would prefer to take to her car from campus to campus and avoid the
buses altogether.
However, Pilkington only uses the LX this semester. Her trick? “I try to
schedule all my classes on College Ave.,” she stated.
Other students aren’t so lucky.
Natasha Suhr’s 8:15 a.m. on Douglass campus wouldn’t be so bad if she
parked in the Douglass Deck. However, she parks on Livingston and must
take the REXB bus. Today, she faced rainy weather conditions.
“I hate the rain,” she lamented, “it sucks so much.” Suhr said the buses
seem even more crowded on rainy days because no one wants to walk
anywhere.
She is thankful for the buses, however.
“No other school in the nation has this system,” she said, “it’s
efficient enough for a University.” |
