Rutgers Campus Buses

Rutgers Campus Buses

An LX Bus on College Avenue preparing to turn left onto Hamilton Street
Parent	Rutgers University
Service area	New Brunswick, Newark, and Piscataway
Routes	15 (weekdays); 3 (weekends)
Destinations	6
Fleet	50
Daily ridership	70,000 (daily); 6 million (annually)
Fuel type	biodiesel
Operator	First Transit
Director	Jack Molenaar
Website	Campus Buses

Rutgers Campus Buses are a zero-fare bus 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 (such as the "Knight Mover" when the New Brunswick campus transit system is not in service).

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 (A, EE, L) were reorganized into two all campus loop buses (1 and 2).

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.