By JARED SCHWARTZ
STAFF WRITER
Rutgers senior Katia Barns angrily walked toward the student center bus stop on College Avenue at Rutgers University. She stopped at the post, looked down the street and rolled her eyes in complete disgust.
“I can’t wait to graduate,” Barnes said. “I’m so tired of waiting for Rutgers buses that never come.”
A few minutes later, Katia walked inside the student center to get a drink. When she returned to the bus stop, her bus was still not there.
“What’s Rutgers’ problem? The system is so backwards,” Barnes said. “You would think that the high population of students would cause Rutgers to add more buses to the system—not take some away.”
Barnes is among the many students complaining about this year’s changed bus system. Changes have included a shortage of buses and new bus routes— and students are not happy.
“It’s really inconvenient for people who live downtown in Rockoff, because one bus goes in that direction and it hardly ever comes now,” Barnes said.
Catching a bus in the morning is one of the worst times to get a bus, Barnes said.
“Some of the bus drivers are really rude, because even if you run toward them, they will look in your face and drive away,” Barnes said. “As soon as they shut the doors, they’re off. I don’t know any considerate bus drivers.”
Junior Ziad Farhat has dealt with many impatient Rutgers bus drivers. As Farhat’s bus started to drive away, he frantically ran to the bus and banged on the door. The bus driver drove away.
Instead of getting upset, Farhat laughed to himself, bit his apple, and proceeded to listen to his iPod. Missing the bus was nothing new to him.
“This happens to me often. The only time a bus driver has stopped for me was when I flipped him off in the middle of the street,” Farhat said. “But I figured I’d let him slide today.”
Farhat admitted, however, that he found the bus driver’s impatience quite bothersome. “It does irk me a bit because there was hardly anyone on the bus,” said Farhat. “Sometimes I wonder, what’s the hurry?”
Rutgers freshmen have a different perspective on the way Rutgers buses flow. Since they are new to the school, they don’t note any changes, freshmen said.
According to freshman Vishal Parikh, the bus system is fine. “I think it’s pretty good so far,” Parikh said, “I’ve been late before but I kind of figured that was apart of the college experience.”
Rutgers freshman Alexa Patty is generally pleased with the Rutgers bus system, as well. However, the night bus route is not her favorite thing to ride, Patty said.
“Sometimes I have exams that run until 11 p.m. and there’s only one bus that runs back to my campus,” Patty stated, “It’s unsafe for a girl like me to wait and travel alone at night. But it’s college, so I guess it’s just something I have to do.” |
