Bus routes to change with College Avenue construction

As construction on Route 18 comes to a close this summer, major construction on a multimillion-dollar effort to green College Avenue is scheduled to begin.
When students return to classes in the fall, the University’s bus routes are expected to change.
The majority of the changes will come as a result of the transformation of the College Avenue campus, which, announced in 2005, aims to make the campus more aesthetically pleasing and pedestrian friendly.
The $17 million first phase of the project calls for the creation of outdoor gathering spaces, pedestrian plazas, landscaped walkways, bike lanes, and the construction of an elongated steel and glass structure that will serve as an intercampus transportation hub.
Having College Avenue closed to all traffic except buses and emergency vehicles would make it safer for students to cross the street and make them feel more connected with the Rutgers Student Center on the College Avenue campus, said Ashley Petersen, a University College junior.
Jack Molenaar, the director of the Department of Transportation Services, said the department plans for the A, LX and H routes to no longer make a right onto Huntington Street and instead stay straight on George Street and stop across the street from the Student Activities Center at a new stop.
Then the routes will go to Seminary Place, make a left on College Avenue and stop near Scott Hall. The routes will then stop at the Student Activities Center.
“The reason it does that [is because of loads],” Molenaar said. “What I’m hoping is that the students who are going to Busch and Livingston will not cross the street [and] get on it there to rise around because the buses will be full to drop off there.”
Molenaar said it is important that motorists do not obstruct traffic on Seminary Place trying to park when buses are attempting to get through.
Now that Route 18 will be open, after four years of construction, the F and EE are set to change as well.
“The F is going to be the express to College Avenue,” Molenaar said.
The F route will no longer go through downtown New Brunswick and stop at Mason Gross School of the Arts.
It will access Route 18 through Commercial Avenue but will have to turn around on River Road in Piscataway.
“It’s more distance, but it’s not as big a hang up compared to what it does now [when it is in George Street traffic],” Molenaar said. “We’re hoping that it will help the frequencies.”
Eventually the route will come in near the River Dorms and stop at the Student Activities Center and Scott Hall, Molenaar said.
This might disconnect students with the downtown New Brunswick area, Petersen said. Having students go through the downtown area increases students awareness of the surrounding community.
The L route will be similar to the EE on College Avenue.
Both routes will stop at the train station, and the L will take then reverse route of the EE and stop at Scott Hall. Both buses will make a right on Bishop Place and stop at a new stop outside Hurtado Health Center.
When construction on College Avenue is completed, the routes will again change.
“To change for two years and then to change again is kind of a pain,” said Sarah Festa, a School of Arts and Sciences first-year student. “[Students] get used to the bus routes.”
Ernest Mario School of Pharmacy sophomore Heather Fernandez said a lot of students may be upset with some of the changes, but there were many opportunities for them to voice their concerns at forums.
In addition to route changes, hours will be extended to meet the demand of students returning from late-night social gatherings on Thursday, Friday and Saturday, Molenaar said.
Instead of stopping buses at 3:30 a.m., bus service will be extended throughout the entire night using smaller shuttles, Molenaar said. This will eliminate the need to call for service.
“That will be a much more predictable and better service than the Thursday, Friday and Saturday night rush around,” Molenaar said.
The shuttles will run at 30-minute intervals, he said.
“I like the 24-hour [routes], that’ll be good,” Festa said.
Night mover will still operate Sunday through Wednesday, he said.
The REXL and REXB routes will utilize the completed Route 18.
“Route 18 will be done so the only time we’re going to have to go with the REXL and REXB through George Street is after 9 p.m.,” Molenaar said. “I started doing that this semester to give service to Rockoff [Hall] after the last class starts on Cook [campus].”
Molenaar said these buses are efficient in getting students between classes because they mostly stop near academic buildings.
He said he might reconsider the stop at the Livingston campus Quads after the Livingston Student Center is complete.
“It’s not even the time, it’s the loads,” Molenaar said.
Knowing how many people have their classes at one part of campus, where they need to be 55 minutes later and how many people can fit into a bus all get taken into account when designing the bus route, Molenaar said. 
“I don’t want people that are sitting around that have time to get to class to be using that bus because then it takes away seats from people who actually need them,” he said.
Traffic in the surrounding areas is not expected to be affected once motorists adapt to the changes, Molenaar said.
“College Avenue is not a through street. It goes from a T-intersection to a T-intersection,” Molenaar said. “It’s basically our traffic on there, and for the most part, they’ll either stay on George or Easton.”
But Athanasios Athans, a School of Pharmacy sophomore, said he was concerned about congestion around the River Dorms. 
Traffic has partially been reduced on College Avenue by reducing Zone A permits from 4,000 in 2004 to 1,200 now, Molenaar said.
Molenaar said he plans to change the costs of commuter parking.
The permit cost for College Avenue Zone A and what would be a newly-created Douglass Zone D will increase next semester and cost more than the other zones because of their desirability, Molenaar said.
For the 2008-09 year, commuter permits all cost $170.
The sliding scale is being created to keep a low cost alternative as parking costs increase, he said.
Molenaar said the uncertainty in the state budget means that he cannot set parking permit rates until after the budget is finalized in July.
Funding for the transportation system comes from transportation and parking fees as well as state funding.
When the bus system first started, it was entirely funded by the state, Molenaar said.
“As state funds started to get cut and cut, [the University] started putting a transportation fee on your semester bill,” Molenaar said. “We’ve been trying to increase this more as state funds have become less and less reliable.”
State funds support about 40 percent of transportation costs, he said.
In addition to the sliding scale, all credit requirements will be dropped for parking permits, Molenaar said.
He said this was done because there were available spots.
Students in Wards 5 and 6 who cannot obtain parking permits from the city will be able to park on Livingston campus for 24 hours if they pay for the commuter permit and an additional parking permit, Molenaar said.
He said this will provide a lower cost alternative than private rates.
For maps of the proposed bus routes visit DailyTargum.com.