|
|
 |
|
|
|
-The terminal (site) owner DOESN'T OWN THE JAPANESE ANIMATION CHARACTERS FOUND IN THE TERMINAL. HE HAS FOUND SOME THE PICTURES ALL AROUND THE INTERNET, AND HAVE EDITED THEM (with help from my dear younger sister) WITH NEOPAINT. If anyone associated with said characters (or Rutgers P&T Services, and any related department/company) has a problem with me the use of anime/ cartoon characters/ pictures in this fashion, please e-mail Steve, and he will take them down if requested (or if there are problems [i.e. it's very existence] with this terminal (buspages) in general. The pictures used here are to liven/humor up the page. |
|
This page (c) 2000-2012 Steve Vo (EXCEPT WHAT I DON'T OWN!-MOST OF THE INFORMATION ON THIS PAGE HAS BEEN CONTRIBUTED BY OUTSIDE SOURCES BY THE WAY!!!) This particular page was last updated on: August 2012. |
|
What
kind of information are you looking for today?
Back to the bus terminal: Click here |
|
|
 How
did Steve get started with this website? Why get involved with the
Rutgers Campus buses?
I suppose my things with buses began when I was younger. When I was VERY young, naive, still exploring, I wanted to become a bus driver. It was so cool riding the school bus to school everyday... from preschool up until third grade. I remember that one of the drivers actually gave me a plastic toy bus on my birthday. It was nice really. The ride everyday was on a simple small yellow school bus. The ride wasn't very long, but you get a chance to meet people that you always see riding the bus year after year, even if they attend different schools. It wasn't exactly the normal bus... because early in my elementary school career, I was a special education student... which meant that I needed to take special classes to catch up/develop. Anyway things changed over the years... parents drove to school... placed into normal classes... During my freshman
year at Rutgers, I don't exactly know how it happened, but I've started
noticing details and such about the buses. I started doing my own
investigating (which kinda makes me wonder whether I engaged in the right
major...) since then.
Not to
criticize or endorse the Rutgers
Parking and Transportation Services website (the Campus Bus Section), but
at times, I've found the information there to be outdated or inaccurate
(or updated not in time). I have gathered some information
on the bus system, and I'd like to share it with you- in a way, bring something
back to the Rutgers community. I have helped out a few of my friends
along the way, so I think I know what I'm doing.
A visitor to this 'terminal' emailed me this interesting piece of information one day. Here it is (copied word to word from the email): In April of 1961, the Executive Secretary of the Engineering Associates, Bob Ochs, was invited to a meeting in Murray Hall to discuss parking and transportation issues with President Mason Gross. At the time, Murray Hall was the only Engineering building at the university. From this meeting came the idea of buses needed to transport students from the new Davidson Hall Residence Hall and Dining Facility on Busch to the College Avenue Campus. In September of '61, 6 buses, owned and operated by Suburban Transit, made their way from Davidson directly to CAC and back again during the academic hours only. Bob Ochs was named the director of parking and transportation. He eventually became Vice President of Public Safety and retired about 10 years ago. Credits:
Notes:
|
| Who's
providing Rutgers with the Campus Bus Service today?
Suburban,/Coach USA operated/provided the bus service for nearly 40 years, from 1961 until June 30, 2001. Academy operated/provided the bus service from July 1, 2001 to June 30, 2011 (10 years). First Transit will operate/provide the bus service starting on July 1, 2011. |
| What
WAS this "whereismybus.com" that WAS advertised?
The buses (run by Academy) will be part of the GTS (Global Tracking System). This means that one can see and track where a particular bus is at, in real time. The 'ability' to track them first became available during the Spring 2002 Semester. At the time, anyone can find out what is going on with a certain bus... go to http://www.whereismybus.com to track them. (As of July 2007; the site was still up; but no buses are trackable on said site.) The bus dispatchers and select Parking and Transportation officials have access to a "master site," where they can do so much more (figure out where a certain bus was on a certain day at a certain time via stored data/files, if buses are speeding, who's driving what bus, what route it's on, for example). The buses being seen on whereismybus.com was dependent on whether someone at Academy inputs the information in correctly. If you're not seeing a bus being tracked when you know there's one, then chances are someone isn't doing his/her job. Of course there are also other reasons why a bus isn't tracking (site down, equipment failure on bus, etc.). Also, Non Rutgers-labeled buses WILL NOT BE TRACKABLE!!! As of Fall 2007;
Rutgers Buses are trackable on www.nextbus.com; a new system/site, which
is more reliable and better than the old one.
|
| What's
that black bar device thingie attached to the front bumper area of the
bus?
It's a bike rack, designed to hold two bicycles. This allows students to take a bike from campus to campus. The first bike rack
first appeared on a Rutgers bus sometime in the Spring of 2000, when Surburban
was running things. However, they weren't placed on all the buses
until the Fall of 2001, by then Academy had taken over.
|
| Just
how many buses are on the road?
It is observed and deduced that there are a MAXIMUM total of: 40 buses on the 10 campus routes on the weekdays 6 on the 2 Normal Weekend Routes (AT PEAK) 4 on the Summer Weekday Routes (AT PEAK) 3 on the Weekday Winter/Spring Break Routes 1 on certain Holidays/time periods At some point, I'll 'post' a break down of buses by route, per semester, per year... |
| How
well known is the Rutgers Campus Bus System?
"Steve's Bus Terminal" actually shows up in some of the major search engines (i.e Google and Yahoo). This is how Bob Spear found this site... looking for transit/bus information of some kind. Whenever something
bad happens... relating to the buses... news spread-depending on what happened
and how good or bad it is... from the University's newspaper "The Daily
Targum," to local newspapers, to the local TV stations...
Also... During the summer of 2001, I was browsing around the internet, after using the approximate term "Rutgers bus system" on Google.com (for no apparent reason). Besides the obvious links to my page (Yey!) and the one by Rutgers P & T, I found this little jewel: Click here to go to the page I found. Everything2.com eh? Hmmm... here someone is attempting to analyze the Rutgers bus system at its worst (note the date was Oct 11 2000, so the routes at the time were the AX (version 1), B, C, EE, F, G, GG, H (version 1), L and LX). Funny the stuff mentioned on this page at Everything2.com could apply to the system today... For your information, I personally swear that I did not write up that page at Everything2.com. I think it's an interesting read. Note that there are
two things wrong with that page:
|
| The
map of how Route 18 will look after the construction is said and done
is available at this site. |
|
|
|
|
| I
took the time to scan the back of the campus bus map from 1999-2000, which
had more detail of which direction
the routes ran, along with the timetables. This little map never made it in subsquent versions of the campus maps. But I did 'edit' them to show what they would have looked like if they were printed up (instead the campus maps have parking info for all the campuses). Since they are too big for this particular page, I have links to them. 2/2003: Temporarily removed these scans from the website. I'm thinking about making better quality (and smaller) maps IF I HAVE THE TIME AND SPACE. Check back MUCH later. |
|
"Messing
with a Good Thing"
-Fall 1999 -Spring 2000 |
|
"The
AX Era"
-2000>September 2000 to mid October 2000 -2000>mid October 2000 to end of Spring 2001 |
|
"Out
with the Old... In with the New?"
-2001: Fall 2001-Spring 2002 |
|
"Academy:
Year 2"
-Fall 2002 - Spring 2003 |
|
"Changes
to the Bus System NOT due to the budget ?!?!?!"
-Fall 2003/Spring 2004 -Semester Weekend/ Break Weekday Before 6/2004 |
|
"The
New Route 18, but alas same Old bus tricks..."
-: Fall 2004/Spring 2005 -: Semester Weekend/ Break Weekday |
|
"Life
without the 'G' and the 'GG' routes."
-: Fall 2005 Part 1(8/31-9/12/2005) -:Fall 2005 Part 2(9/13-9/17/2005) -: Current: Fall 2005 Remainder (post 9/18/05)/Spring 2006 |
|
|
|
(by number and model if available) |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
NOTE 2: |
|
|
|
|
**601-620 were put into RU service in 1998** |
|
|
1031, 1032, 1033, 1034, 1035 ** 1026-1035 ARE OWNED BY NJ TRANSIT ** >1026-1035 went over to Academy from Suburban when the Campus Bus providers changed on July 1, 2001. |
1026-1035: NOVABUS model year 1999. Type
of bus: Standard-floor
|
|
|
222: AN-460 Articulated Type
of bus: Standard-floor
|
|
** articulated buses in this set were put into campus bus service starting in Spring 2000 (#425, previously 60425) and Fall 2001 (the rest)** |
|
|
|
Type
of bus: Standard-floor
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Approx. total: 61 | |
|
|
| Bus
#3260... it was a Rutgers bus before 3/20/2000. You see it was the
G bus on that very day when it caught on fire while going to Busch on Route
18. That little incident made the local papers... |
| 8/2001:
The last time I saw bus # 3259, it was parked at the Suburban Transit/
Coach USA terminal on Somerset St. The Rutgers University logo (and
subsequently the holder for the stronger-than plastic campus route letter
indicator board) were gone. In its place: "Coach USA."
Some of these buses (like 3272) do drive by on George St. on occasion...
running on Wheels routes and all... |
| 6/4/2001:
Bus # 613 was running the Wheels bus route # 989. I saw this bus
in Somerville at around 5PM. The electronic destination signs/ route
indicators were not on. I am not going to even start to guess why... |
| 5/27/2001:
Saw #1027 down at the Bridgewater Commons, the exact reason unknown. |
| [Copied
and pasted from an e-mail I received... roughly after Academy took over
operations]
"...one of the Rutgers RTS buses (618 I think it was - one purchased by Coach USA) operating on the Philadelphia International Airport shuttles a few weeks ago. CUSA operates several ex-Dallas Neoplans and a few newer Nova LFS buses. 618 was the only RTS I saw down there." |
| DERIVED
FROM AN EMAIL RECEIVED IN 2/2002: Quick thanks
to Dave for providing the info.)
----------------- Steve, Stumbled across your page of Rutgers Buses. As you probably know, the operator prior to Academy Express was Suburban Transit through a subsidiary called HAML Corp. (which eventually became part of Coach USA). This is a listing of Rutgers buses which were owned by NJ Transit. Some of these are real old. NJT practice was to give HAML the oldest buses in the fleet when all the rest of the buses of a series were retired. So when running for HAML, these were the last examples of their type in service. I have a few pix on my NJT page, www.davemackey.com/njt/gallery.html. PA1448-1449
- 1983 Flxible 40102-6T (transfer from Hudson Bus Transportation)
Dave |
| DERIVED
FROM AN EMAIL RECEIVED IN 3/2002:
(Quick thanks to Andrew Knight for providing the info.) (Yeah...
I just never got around to putting this info up until NOW. I'm not
lazy, just sometimes a HEAVY procrastinator. SV-3/2003; my email address
'blurred out' due to eventual loss of access)
------------------
rutgers
buses 1996 - 1997
Date: Sat, 30 Mar 2002 01:09:24 -0500 Hello-- As a former student and bus fan, I really enjoy your website. Since I saw that you were speculating about the buses around in 1996-1997, I thought I would share what I recall from that time. Suburban owned: 7914, 7916, 7918, 7920, 7922, 7924, 7926 : 1979 GMC RTS all 40 ft except 7914 which was 35 ft. 267:
old gmc fishbowl
NJT
owned:
I might be a couple off, but I don't think I'm too far off. In fall of 1997 the following changes: Subtract 79xx, about half of the 1980 rts, 267, 1976 flx's Add:
Mid
year as the orions were pulled out you started to see the 296-310 flxibles.
Andrew |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
These two buses have the distinction of being used "on" and "off" the Rutgers bus routes over the years. Period 1: During the 2001-2002 school year, these buses were used on the RU Routes. They were all white, but with the "Rutgers" logo on them, plus their destination message boards were programmed to display the RU Routes/Destinations. They WERE NOT used during the 2002-2003 and 2003-2004 years, as Academy used them for something else. Academy rethrew their logo and trademark colors. Period 2A: They were completely albinos (no logos or color to speak of) from September 2004 until sometime during October 2008. You can occasionally see them (mainly during the summer) doing Airport Duty of some sort at Newark... Period 2B: During October 2008, 1575 and 1576 got painted in the Rutgers paint scheme used for buses 2119-2123 (after much delay/complaints). Yes, new look, but same "old" buses. HOWEVER it seemed pointless and shortlived, as they were pulled from campus use by January 2009, "replaced" by buses 2124 through 2128. Period 3: Returned to occasional duty on campus starting in Fall 2010 (shortly after when buses #1026-1035 were booted). 1575 and 1576 (as far as I'm aware of) are in the paint scheme similar to what buses # 2124-2128 are in now. |
1575 & 1576 are owned by NJ Transit. Model Year: 1999 or 2001??? Type
of bus: Standard-floor
|
|
>>1049 to 1051 were used when Academy made their debut on campus in the Fall of 2001, and remained here until they were 'replaced' by NOVA buses (2114-2118) in the Summer of 2007. They were 'gone for good' until... As of Fall 2010, 1049-1051 made their return on campus acting as campus buses (shortly after # 1026-1035 got booted), although they returned with an Rutgers colors/paint scheme similar to the one used by #2124-2128. Note with 1049; that bus NEVER had the Rutgers color scheme for the entire length of time it was here used on campus routes from September 2001 to late Summer 2007. |
1049-1051: NOVABUS model year ???? Type
of bus: Standard-floor
|
|
** Articulated Buses ** >>WAS USED ON CAMPUS (OFFICIALLY) STARTING IN FALL 2002. As of July 1, 2011: Academy is still providing SOME bus services on Rutgers, specifically for the Summer Sports Camps, New Student Orientation activities/meetings, and for the Football Games. The buses being used are the Academy branded MCI charter buses; and the buses "previously" used for the regular routes... some of the low-floor NOVAs (whatever's left that wasn't transferred to Academy's other operations/contracts in the Tri-State/New England area), and the New Flyer Articulated buses... minus the Rutgers logos, but still in the Rutgers colors.
|
D=Diesel
Model Year: 2002 (I believe) Type
of bus: low-floor
|
|
2101, 2102, 2103, 2104, 2105, 2106, 2107, 2108, 2109, 2110, 2111, 2112, 2113 >>WAS USED ON CAMPUS STARTING IN SUMMER 2006 (Buses 1036-1048 got replaced by these.) GROUP 2 (5 buses): 2114, 2115, 2116, 2117, 2118 >>WAS USED ON CAMPUS STARTING IN SUMMER 2007 (Buses 1049-1053 got replaced by these.) They have a paint scheme similar to the current regular sized buses (1026-1058), but slightly different in the front. 2114-2118 are newer models than the older brothers (2101-2113). The front headlight configuration set up is different in 2114-2118 (later including 2119-2123) than from 2101-2113. GROUP
3 (5 buses):
>>WAS USED ON CAMPUS STARTING IN MARCH 2008/SPRING SEMESTER 2008; NOT THE SUMMER! (Buses 1054-1058 got replaced by these.) GROUP
4 (5 buses):
>>WAS USED ON CAMPUS STARTING DURING THE SPRING SEMESTER 2009 (Buses 1575 and 1576 "were substituted out" for these.) The paint scheme in 2119-2128 has the newest logos/look/colors reflective of what Rutgers is using since Fall 2007-with reorganization of the University/merging of the various Colleges, etc. Simply, 2119-2128 look somewhat NOTHING like 2101-2118. Note: The numbering scheme for the NOVA buses 2114 to 2126 can be easily confused with the ARTIC buses 2014 to 2026. >>5/2011: Some of the buses were moved to Academy's operations in Massachusetts, as they have the contract to provide bus service for Boston University. Initially, they just removed all Rutgers logo/slogans from the buses, and just left the Rutgers color scheme on the buses, as Boston University's colors are also red/white like Rutgers. As of July 1, 2011: Academy is still providing SOME bus services on Rutgers, specifically for the Summer Sports Camps, New Student Orientation activities/meetings, and for the Football Games. The buses being used are the Academy branded MCI charter buses; and the buses "previously" used for the regular routes... some of the low-floor NOVAs (whatever's left that wasn't transferred to Academy's other operations/contracts in the Tri-State/New England area), and the New Flyer Articulated buses... minus the Rutgers logos, but still in the Rutgers colors. |
2101-2113:
Model Year: 2006
Type
of bus: Low-floor
|
|
This shuttle was still 'active' only because of a contract and its terms. It's rarely out here otherwise because of its age/tendency to break down often... |
Model Year: 2001? |
|
>>WAS USED STARTING IN FALL 2008. 3004, 3005 >>WAS USED STARTING IN FALL 2009-SPRING 2010 ONLY. THEY ARE NOT PAINTED IN THE RUTGERS COLORS, INSTEAD THEY ARE ALBINO WHITE ((meant to be replacements for shuttles 102, 103, 104, and 105)) |
Model Year: 2004 (Academy got them preowned I believe) Seats: To be determined. Start year on campus: Fall 2008. Routes: Ward Shuttle, Hotel Shuttle (Fall 2009-Spring 2010 only), Football Game Handicap Passenger Parking Lot Transport |
|
** 1026-1035 ARE OWNED BY NJ TRANSIT ** >1026-1035 made their debut in 1999, while Suburban Transit was still the Rutgers Campus Bus Service provider. When Academy took over in starting on July 1, 2001 (during the Summer of 2001), these ten buses went over to Academy from Suburban. They were technically removed from the NORMAL campus routes/service during (by the end of) the summer of 2010. In reality, buses 1026-1030 are still used rarely throughtout Fall 2010-Spring 2011, as a last resort though (during the Football games, when there are no more regular buses left available due to mechanical issues, or as for extra supplimental regular bus service on selected lines for the start of the semester). They were removed from regular service IN PART due to their age. Academy used 1031-1035 elsewhere, like in NY for their contracted service for NYU... These buses will NOT be transferred to First Transit when they take over campus bus operations on Rutgers starting July 1. |
1026-1035: NOVABUS model year 1999. Type
of bus: Standard-floor
|
|
** THESE ARE BUSES ARE OWNED BY NJ TRANSIT ** >>WAS USED DURING THE 2001-2002 SCHOOL YEAR >>THESE WERE USED WITH THE STANDARD ACADEMY LOGO/COLORING ON IT |
Model year: 1999??? Type
of bus: Standard-floor
|
|
>>WAS USED DURING THE 2001-2002 SCHOOL YEAR |
|
|
2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013 ** Articulated Buses ** (2003 and 2004 have been occasionally during the 02-03 year) >>WAS USED DURING THE 2001-2002 SCHOOL YEAR #2002 was involved in that infamous accident at McCormick dorm Fall 2001, and was NEVER replaced afterwards. |
Model Year: sometime in the1980's (guess) |
|
>>NOVA buses used on campus, Fall 2001-Summer 2006 'Out with the old, in with the new, PHASE 1' These buses were used when Academy made their debut on campus in the Fall of 2001, and remained here until they were 'replaced' by the new NOVA buses (2101-2113) in the Summer of 2006. >>Some of the buses (between approximately 1037-1041) with the yellow light on top were previously used as airport shuttles... maybe at Newark by Hertz... >>At most/least one bus in this group went over to NJ Transit (bus 1047) after Summer 2006... |
1036-1048: NOVABUS model year ???? Type
of bus: Standard-floor
|
|
>>NOVA buses used on campus, Fall 2001-Summer 2007 'Out with the old, in with the new, PHASE 2' These buses were used when Academy made their debut on campus in the Fall of 2001, and remained here until they were 'replaced' by MORE new NOVA buses (2114-2118) in the Summer of 2007. Note with 1049; that bus NEVER got the Rutgers color scheme for the entire length of time it was here used on campus routes (it would be one of two buses that this happened to; the other being 1055). **1049-1051 returned to active campus use Fall 2010-Spring 2011. |
1049-1053: NOVABUS model year ???? Type
of bus: Standard-floor
|
|
>>NOVA buses used on campus, Fall 2001 (1056-1058) / Fall 2003 (1054 & 1055)-March 2008 'Out with the old, in with the new, PHASE 3' Three of these buses were used when Academy made their debut on campus in the Fall of 2001 (with the exception being 1054 and 1055 which debuted in the Fall of '03), and remained here until they were 'replaced' by EVEN MORE new NOVA buses (2119-2123) in the Spring of 2008 (not the Summer as patterns might have suggested). **1054
was an 'Albino'-no Rutgers colors, letterings, or logo, from Fall 2003
to Fall 2005.
>>Academy would later use some of these same NOVA buses when they got the contract to provide New York University's Campus Bus service sometime starting in 2009/2010. ((I personally saw bus 1057, decked out in NYU's color/scheme near the Port Authority on 12/28/2010). |
1054-1055:
NOVABUS model year 2001?
Type
of bus: Standard-floor
|
|
Used on campus: FALL 2001 (#105 starting Fall 2002) -MID FALL 2008 -Shuttles 104 & 105 used on the New Brunsqwick Shuttle formerly display "LIBRARY SHUTTLE" on them because they were used on the then FORMER Busch and the Cook/Douglass Library Shuttles weekday nights and weekends (on occasion) during the semester. Since the University canceled the Busch Library Shuttle due to low ridership and actually took over the Cook/Douglass Library Shuttle operations themselves via RUDOTS (ie Academy isn't doing it because complaints, screwups, and budget issues), the words "LIBRARY SHUTTLE" were removed (starting in Fall 2007) from 104 and 105 while said shuttles were continued to be used on the Ward Shuttle route. The Ward Shuttle was never and should not be known as the 'Library Shuttle.' |
Seats: Approximately 18 102,
103 and 104: Model Year: 2001
|
| Reminder:
1026 through 1035 were formerly operated by Suburban from 1999 until Spring
2001 and Academy starting from Fall 2001 UNTIL SPRING/SUMMER 2010... talk
about facelifts. |
| As
of July 1, 2011: Academy is still providing SOME bus services on
Rutgers, specifically for the Summer Sports Camps, New Student Orientation
activities/meetings, and for the Football Games. The buses being
used are the Academy branded MCI charter buses; and the buses "previously"
used for the regular routes... some of the low-floor NOVAs (whatever's
left that wasn't transferred to Academy's other operations/contracts in
the Tri-State/New England area), and the New Flyer Articulated buses...
minus the Rutgers logos, but still in the Rutgers colors. |
| 1035
was involved in an accident off-campus sometime between 9/2001 and 12/2001.
While it was (unnoticably missing for the Spring 2002 Semester), it reappeared
for service during (early) Summer Session 2002... and it's looking great. |
| There
was a slight problem at the beginning of the Fall 2001 semester, when the
number of available buses didn't meet the # needed on the ten routes. Also,
the making this strange was the fact that not all the buses are being used
at once, due to mechanical problems (and other bizzare things can occur),
scheduling problems (what bus runs on what route per example) and some
may have been used for 'Campus Tours.' This is 'remedied' in quite
an interesting way (I think). Academy Express had to use some
of their own buses (i.e. the ones that do not have the current RU logo/
design on them, and says "Academy Express" on them) to help 'fill in the
empty spaces' on the routes, again when there was that time that there
weren't enough buses at the beginning of the Fall 2001 Semester.
Ex: 1003, 1004, 1005, 24 (only had Rutgers logo in front/back),
54, 79, 80. Academy could have given the system some of the older
buses it had (old bus EXAMPLES are 3191, 3258-3259 etc.) on the routes,
but the need for a 'modern and new' fleet was stressed. Note that
should Academy's 'old' buses been used, they would have most likely ended
up on the B, C, G, and GG lines. Although buses like '24,54,79, and 80'
have been used on the B, G, and GG routes... hmmm... |
| POST
9/2003 or PRE 9/2004:
On the sides of buses #1026-1048, the route letter designation board next to the route message board works. example: [ EE ] [EE COLLEGE AVE ] On the sides of buses #1050, 1052-53, 1056-1058, the route letter designation boards DO NOT work. example: [ ] [EE COLLEGE AVE ] According to my observations, these devices (looking at them from inside the bus) in these buses are much smaller than the others. Of course the size isn't the reason for why they aren't working in the first place. If you're observant and curious, you can notice the size differences from the outside as well (note the cut of the sticker windows around these boards). The ONLY bus that is the EXCEPTION to this rule is #1051... for that one does actually work [it started working during Spring 2003]. The lettering appears to be 'out of position/alignment' with respect to the window (i.e. EE, GG, and LX) when compared to #1026-1048 in the same fashion. >>9/2004:
|
| Many
of the previous articulated MANN buses (#2000-2013) have been renumbered.
For example, articulated bus #2007 was something else before coming to
NJ. You can see the previous number at the back of the bus, above
the back window, on the left side.-by looking at where the stickers once
stood. |
| Oddly
enough, I found a bus ticket (and I still have it) wedged in one of the
seats in one of the articulated buses... which proves where these 1983
MAN buses once operated at some point... Seattle Washington. Two
things: 1) Wow these buses might have seen many places in its lifespan
and 2) The fact that I was able to find a old ticket makes you wonder
how often these buses are really cleaned... I'll see if I
can scan the ticket sometime... |
| On
the side windows: where the white bus numbers are stuck on the openable
windows. If there is light coming from say a street lamp, which just
happens to shine through the window next to the outside bus numbers, then
you can see the 'ghost image' of what the bus was previously numbered as...
in the Arial font format. Oh, it doesn't take much light to see that
some of the windows on the articulated buses need cleaning. **This
doesn't apply to all the 'OLD' articulated buses though. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| NEW
Articulated bus (the NewFlyers) count: 13 (reminder:
three entry/exit points... the destination/route boards are ELECTRONIC
and MODERN... fluorescent orange fonted (letters that display the route...
campus... message; the normal buses' are fluorescent yellow) boards...
low stairs for easier entry/exit of bus). Of course a problem so
far with these buses is the fact that the doors often don't shut right...
forcing the driver to keep retrying (and thus NOT going anywhere) until
they do. This COULD be attributed to overcrowding on the buses.
The buses cannot move until the back doors are closed... it's a good safety
feature to prevent passenger accidents. |
| Unfortunately,
this meant that we are short a few NEW articulated buses to begin with
(the A, EE, and H lines need 14 buses total if all
the buses on their respective routes are to be all articulated).
Guess what the system had to fall back on in 2002-03... yes... the 'old'
articulated buses (numbered from #2000-2001,2003-2013) that were involved
in many accidents in 2001-02! The 'old' articulated buses (spotted
so far are #2003 and #2004) have ONLY the Rutgers colors. THERE IS
NO RUTGERS LOGO/LETTERING ON THESE BUSES (FOR A WHILE), and yes
since seeing the message boards (LOWERCASE LETTERING???
WHAT ARE THEY THINKING? ex: [a college ave] [a hill center] [a arc ] )is more difficult, and the yellow flourescent paper signs are back. Alternatively, instead of using old articulated buses, the normal Nova buses can be used to fill in the spaces if the NewFlyers are down. >>The old articulated buses never returned 'guest appearances' for the 2003-2004 year and beyond... and I'm glad they didn't. |
| finally
got around to posting some pictures on this page... -back in 11/2001
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Model Year: 2011 Type
of bus: Low-Floor
|
|
|
D=Diesel
Model Year: 2004 These are not new buses, but buses previously in service in Canada (OC Transpo). Academy's New Flyers buses ARE NOT being transferred over to First Transit. Type
of bus: Low-Floor
|
|
>>7/1/2011: 756 is currently "albino", meaning no Rutgers/City of New Brunswick colors/logo. Remember that the Ward Shuttle routes are funded by Rutgers University, the City of New Brunswick, and the New Brunswick Parking Authority. The shuttle services the students of Rutgers and the commuters of New Brunswick. The shuttles have mentioned Rutgers/NBPA/New Brunswick since late 2008. |
Goshen G-FORCE TOTAL: 4 Model
Year: 2011 (5379 & 5608)
Type
of bus:
Fun fact: They were originally supposed to be '6379' and '6608', but were renumbered to avoid CONFUSION with the articulated buses as they were #ed start with 6. |
|
|
Blue Bird TRANSITS TOTAL: 2 Model Year: 20?? Type
of bus:
FORMER: These caught fire during Spring Semester 2012, and were later scrapped/unsalvageable. |
| First
Transit INTIALLY wanted to choose to park the buses on campus. During
the Summer of 2011, some of the buses was initially housed/located at the
Yellow Lot on the Livingston Campus. A permanent parking location
was supposed to have been constructed/completed by the Warehouses on the
Livingston Campus where the entire fleet WAS to be housed full time by
September 2011. HOWEVER this didn't occur due to varying issues.
INSTEAD the buses were relocated in a lot in New Brunswick (off Livingston
Avenue) by the start of the Fall 2011 semester (they needed the Yellow
Lot for Football HOME games). They later relocated BACK to the Livingston
YELLOW LOT (issues with the lot in New Brunswick, plus the HOME Football
games were complete), and then to a more 'permanent temporary' location
in North Brunswick off a certain major highway not far away from Rutgers.
As of Fall 2012: First Transit's Rutgers Operations are still being housed in North Brunswick. This means that the buses won't have far to travel in the morning. No more situations where buses were late reporting to the campus from the garage (MORE THAN) HALF AN HOUR AWAY due to traffic. The need to swap buses in/out can be much more quickly now. Note that bus repairs will (mainly) take place at First Transit's facilities in Hamilton NJ (with other repairs done in their base/yard location in North Brunswick). Note First Transit also provides
Princeton University's Bus Service. SOME of Princeton's buses (25-30
foot Low Floor ElDorados versus the 40 foot Rutgers ElDorados) were used
during Rutgers University Commencement (Sunday, 5/13/12) as First Transit
provided all of the Commencement busing this year INSTEAD OF Academy (and
even then, there weren't enough Rutgers University BRANDED buses available).
Although the Princeton University lettering/logs were covered up by black
boxes/wrap, Princeton's COLORING still remained. Also these buses
were deligated for shuttling between Johnson Park-College Ave or Johnson
Park-Cook/Douglass, or Johnson Park-UMDNJ... nowhere near the main bus
route of the Stadium/Livingston RAC.
|
| All
buses will be equipped with an automatic stop announcement system.
This means that the drivers won't be verbally announcing the stops (prior
to July 2011; although they were required to do so by law, some of them
never announced the stops) anymore as a machine will do it for them.
If said system if not working right, the drivers are expected to make the
announcements MANUALLY. |
| All
normal buses/articulated buses will be equipped with a bike rack as always.
These racks were purchased by the University a long time ago, meaning that
yes these racks on the First Transit buses WERE the SAME ones that were
on the Academy buses used for the Rutgers Bus Service. |
| The
destination sign messages/displays are different starting in July 2011.
Some of the messages/displays have been updated/clarified. |
| As
of July 1, 2011: Academy is still providing SOME bus services on
Rutgers, specifically for the Summer Sports Camps, some New Student Orientation
activities/meetings, and for the Football Games. The buses being
used are the Academy branded MCI charter buses; NJ TRANSIT buses (NOVAs)
and the buses "previously" used for the regular routes... some of the low-floor
NOVAs (whatever's left that wasn't transferred to Academy's other operations/contracts
in the Tri-State/New England area), and the New Flyer Articulated buses...
minus the Rutgers logos, but still in the Rutgers colors.
Note some of the bus drivers that previously drove the Rutgers routes with Academy went over to First Transit at the changeover during Summer 2011. So there are some familar faces/drivers. (Note that very few Academy drivers <<now First Transit drivers>> actually came over from Suburban Transit to Academy when Suburban lost the RU bus contract to Academy in Summer 2001. What a circle of life indeed.). > |
Picture
of the #1036 bus , taken during the summer of 2001 at Academy's Perth
Amboy garage. Note the bus look isn't fully complete yet. This picture
was taken by 
Picture
of the #1576 bus. NOTE THAT BUS #1575 and #1576 looked like this
only for the 2001-2002 school year. WHEN THEY RETURNED TO RUTGERS
in 2004, THEY WERE COMPLETELY DEVOID OF COLOR AND LOGOS. Sometime
in October 2008, 1575 and 1576 finally got the painted in the FULL Rutgers
scheme. This picture was taken by