Techonology Helps Students Cruise Through School

With each new academic year come thousands of new students on the New Brunswick and Piscataway campuses navigating Rutgers’ sophisticated bus transportation system. A tool called NextBus helps students and other bus riders, numbering about 65,000 per day.

NextBus uses a global positioning system to track all Rutgers buses as they meander through College Avenue, Busch, Livingston, Douglass, and the George H. Cook campuses. It is an intelligent program that updates students about bus whereabouts at every stop, via an LCD display that tells riders how long they have to wait until the next two buses on their route arrive.

The displays give students the option to catch the bus coming in two minutes, or run into the student center, grab a bite to eat or check the mail, and catch the bus arriving in 22 minutes.

The NextBus system not only adjusts bus schedules every three to six seconds to display accurate arrival times; it also takes into account bus activities over periods of time in order to precisely predict bus movements and arrivals. It even takes into consideration changing traffic patterns, which is especially helpful in the midst of construction along Route 18.

Every bus stop has a security camera and an emergency phone that puts callers directly in touch with bus dispatchers. The security cameras are used to improve safety at bus stops, and also to monitor conditions, helping transportation experts at Rutgers ensure efficient bus service.