By Diana DeJesus
The free shuttle that takes you to Journal Square, from NJCU, holds 16 people. There are over 4,000 students that are enrolled at NJCU and it’s time we look at the numbers and stop complaining about not catching a free ride.
If we were in the middle of nowhere, or off the side of a highway without options for transportation, I’d totally be all about a protest for more shuttle services. Even if they added another shuttle, that wouldn’t be enough, and we would still complain.
GET OVER IT.
There are five other ways to get to Journal Square from NJCU during school hours, and they all cost under $3.00.
Try the number 80 bus that runs along West Side Avenue. You can catch it at the bottom of Audubon Avenue, between Miss America Dinner and the light rail station.
(For those of you making transfers at Journal Square to get to North Bergen, Union City, Downtown, Jersey City, Bayonne or New York, you can even use the light rail to get to all of those places. But let’s get back to the Journal Square issue.)
The number 10 bus is an NJCU favorite because it leaves you, and picks you up on JFK Boulevard. This bus isn’t always on time, but it gets you to Journal Square.
If that doesn’t work for you, you can always jump on the mini buses that travel along JFK Blvd., for $1.50, you can get out anywhere you want along the way to the Square.
If you are standing with other students who don’t fit on the free shuttle, consider calling a local taxi and splitting the total. It cost about $7-$9 and some cabs will take up to five people.
We aren’t getting another shuttle so figure out what the next best thing to do is, and keep on moving. Consider the free shuttle a nice surprise. If you make it down to the stop on time, and there are still seats available, smile and get on. If you aren’t one of the lucky 16 riders, well tough luck.
Now we can talk about real issues; how many weeks until summer?
Grace • May 7, 2014 at 11:25 pm
While I do see and understand your point, let me just say: I would not mind paying $1.50 to catch the shuttle bus. Personally, my choice for it is not because it’s free, not even because its closer to the school (it’s inside, what more can we ask for?), it’s the security issue.
I don’t know the rest of you, but when I leave my class at 10 pm, 1 or even 2 minutes late mean that I might as well miss route 10, and not even the mini buses come as often as we’d like. After around 3 pm route 10 becomes increasingly unreliable (I’ve been under snow and waited for a bus an hour and a half, until one of the mini buses went by and still no sign of route 10). On top of that, NJCU’s bus stop doesn’t have so much as a canopy to hide under in case of rain and the area isn’t exactly peaceful after nightfall. This semester I waited 40 minutes for a bus, after I left school at 10pm on a friday. I waited for any bus, (no money for a cab) with no one on sight and for the life of me, I was ready to run into traffic at the first sign of someone so much as talking to me. I know of people who have been mugged in the school’s surroundings, and I wouldn’t like to be in the statistics.
Bottomline: I wouldn’t mind paying for a school shuttle anytime after 8.30 pm, when NJCU’s surroundings get creepy.
john doe • Apr 2, 2014 at 2:01 pm
The shuttle isn’t free. It’s paid for via student fees. The biggest problem is the unreliability of the journal square shuttle not it’s unavailability. The schedule is not consistently followed. Also, the skyway is closing soon and many more students will be commuting as encouraged by the university. An additional shuttle will definitely be needed.