<p>hey i keep hearing things about the buses and how it's really crowded and how you have to be there like 15 minutes before it comes. i just want to be prepared for the Fall 2011 year. tell me how the buses work, how often it comes, etc.. :) thanks!</p>
<p>(1) If you are catching the bus from your dorm to go to class, leave 30-45 minutes or so before class starts. The farther the campus is (Cook/Douglass to Livingston, for example), the earlier you leave.</p>
<p>(2) If you notice that at the stop you are at that there are A LOT of kids waiting because class just got out, you can either let buses pass by until the crowd dwindles (if the bus is near empty and kids aren’t fighting to get on, obviously get on the bus!) OR if possible walk to the previous stop where less kids are fighting to get on to the bus.</p>
<p>(3) The best spot to catch a bus, if possible and close by, are the student centers because a lot of kids get off the bus and the buses are usually idle there for 3 minutes since the bus drivers take a break.</p>
<p>(4) Most stops come with a ticker that tells you when the bus is coming. But sometimes you want to know before you reach the stop to know when a bus is coming. Use nextbus.com to track when a specific bus is coming or use the text messaging system to locate a bus (it was developed by a student here last year and is VERY helpful): [RUBUS/Nextbus++</a> Text Support for Nextbus](<a href=“http://www.eden.rutgers.edu/~vverna/nextbus]RUBUS/Nextbus++”>http://www.eden.rutgers.edu/~vverna/nextbus).</p>
<p>(5) The weekend buses SUCK really bad. Make sure you are out there at least 10-15 minutes before the predicted bus arrival time because sometimes the bus come to the stop earlier than predicted. And then you have to wait like 20-30 minutes.</p>
<p>(6) For the first week of school, try to ride every bus during the daytime to familiarize yourself with the campus, even if you don’t have class on a certain campus.</p>
<p>thank you soooo much mushaboomblue!!! this helps ALOT :)</p>
<p>damn that was very informative! :)</p>
<p>make sure you pull the string when your stop approaches, this alerts the bus driver to actually stop rather than quickly open the doors and speed away. i’ve seen too many people miss their stop on really crowded buses lol</p>
<p>mushaboom’s second bullet is very important 
the most convenient stop for you to walk to may not always be the best one!</p>
<p>also if your class is during rush hour in the afternoon/evening and you’re trying to get from one side of new brunswick to the other (busch or livingston to cook/douglass), leave extra extra early!!</p>