Rutgers Campus Buses are a zero-farebus service used by students at the New Brunswick and Newark campuses. It is the second-largest bus service in New Jersey, after NJ Transit. Service is provided by First Transit all year round, including weekends and holidays. Shuttle service is also provided for students.
History
Rutgers began to install new bus shelters in the summer of 2010. The new shelters incorporate red roofs to cast a red tone on the sidewalk, showcasing university colors. Director Jack Molenaar announced that the L route would be discontinued due to budget cuts, effective 28 August 2010. Molenaar called the bus a "relic" and said it was "slowest and most underutilized" of the bus routes. There was significant opposition to the move, especially from graduate students and Highland Park residents who had already made housing arrangements expecting the bus to be there. After 600 people signed an online petition calling for its reinstitution, a temporary LXc route was created for the 2010-11 school year, stopping at Cedar Lane every 30 minutes. A second bus was later added to shorten wait times to 15 minutes. In addition, the three weekend buses were reorganized into two all campus loop buses. After the contract with previous operator Academy Bus expired on June 30, 2011, First Transit took over campus shuttle service. The main reason cited for the switch is cost. First Transit will refurbish existing buses and supply new ones for a total of 50 buses that use 20% biodiesel and feature automatic stop announcements, whereas now drivers may or may not announce stops. Academy has filed a lawsuit against the University over the loss of the contract. Despite the loss of shuttle operations, the company continues to provide the chartered bus operations used for tours and other events. Rutgers expanded their bus service to the Newark campus beginning September 1, 2014. The new Rutgers-logo fleet of buses utilize the NextBus system and real-time status is available via the official Rutgers app.
Routes
New Brunswick Campus
There are 9 routes on weekdays and 2 routes on weekends and holidays.
Weekday Transit Lines
LX, EE, H, B start service from 6 AM until the evening :
EE - College Avenue / Douglass–Cook via George Street
F - College Avenue / Douglass–Cook via Route 18
H - Busch / College Avenue
LX - College Avenue / Livingston Express
REXB - Douglass / Busch
REXL - Douglass / Livingston
Weeknight Transit Lines
After 9 PM, the REXB and REXL routes operate via Downtown New Brunswick until 11 PM, when service ends. After 9 PM, the following routes operate until 2:50 AM:
B - Busch / Livingston
EE - College Avenue / Douglass–Cook via George Street
The weekend bus runs from Thursday to Friday overnight and every weekend during the Fall and Spring semesters. During the Summer and Spring/Winter Breaks, this route becomes the primary weekday route, and uses the names of the specific break in the headline of the bus. For example, during Summer Semester the buses will read "Summer 1 or 2." For winter break, the bus will read "Winter 1 or 2," etc. The routes, however, do not change. They still follow the "Weekend 1 or 2" schedule. Special Break Service
All Campus - College Avenue / Busch / Livingston / College Ave / Cook / Douglass
All campus service runs on weekends during the Summer and over Spring/Winter Break. It also serves as the primary bus route during holidays.
Newark Campus
There are 4 routes on weekdays and 1 night service running seven nights a week.
Weekday Transit Lines
Campus Connect - Boyden Hall / NJIT / ICPH / Medical School / ECC / Washington Park / Broad St
First Transit was awarded the transit contract by the University, and replaced Academy Bus in July 2011. Rutgers now has more 40-foot buses, and the existing New Flyers have been upgraded. A series of other changes have also taken place:
Additional weekend buses have been added, with three running at a time at the latest hours of night
Buses run on Biodiesel and produce near-zero NOx and PM emissions
Alternative plans
Several times over the past decade, it has been suggested that the bus system be partially or fully replaced with bus rapid transit, monorail, or light rail. Closing College Avenue to non-bus motor vehicle traffic was also proposed, but indefinitely canceled in February 2010, due to excessive costs. Current plans are for incorporating the Rutgers bus system into the proposed New Brunswick Bus Rapid Transit, which would be centered on the New Brunswick Station near the intersection of Route 18 and Route 27.
Shuttle Buses
New Brunswick
New BrunsQuick Shuttle 1
New BrunsQuick Shuttle 2
During the Fall & Spring Semesters: The “Shuttle 1” and "Shuttle 2" buses run on weekdays between College Ave, the New Brunswick Train Station, and select stops in New Brunswick. During Summer and Fall/Spring Breaks, only "Shuttle 1" is in operation.
Newark
Run run
The "Run run" route is an intracampus shuttle that runs seven days a week, and performs a loop around the Newark campus. The bus stops at Boyden Hall, Golden Dome, CLJ, 15 Washington, Broad St. Station, and the Physical Plant. During the morning and evening there is an additional stop at Newark Penn Station.
During the academic year, the Department of Parking and Transportation Services provides a shuttle bus that travels between the main parking lot to Third Street in front of Campus Center. After 8 p.m., an additional bus runs from Fifth Street, under the law school bridge.
