Photo by The Daily Targum

Some students disagree with the rules bus drivers have to follow, such as having to standing behind the white line and the buses not being able pick anyone up after they start moving.

Patrick Andre starts his morning at 5:30 a.m.

An hour later he has already hit the road in his assigned bus for the day and begins his route around the University campuses.

Andre has been on the job as a Rutgers bus driver for approximately five years now, and said that, for him, the best part of it is working with students.

"When they say 'hi,' 'good morning,' 'goodbye,' it’s really nice," he said.

Even when he has to drive the weekend buses at night, he said he does not mind taking students home after partying. He said they should not be constantly stuck behind a book and should take time to relax and have fun. He loves seeing them go to school and appreciates when they are polite.

Andre also clarified common misconceptions some students may have, such as why passengers must stand behind the white line and why drivers cannot let anyone else on once they start moving from a stop.

Safety is the most important part of driving the buses at Rutgers, he said.

Students sometimes argue with drivers on crowded buses about not being able to stand behind the white line, he said. But, the policy is that bus drivers have to call First Transit, the company that employs them, and not move the bus if a student refuses to get off the bus or behind the white line.

“I have to be a professional, so I don’t argue,” he said.

Another policy is that the bus drivers are not allowed to open the doors again once they close them and pull away from the stop. When Andre stopped at the Student Activities Center one time, he said a student ran after the bus and gave him the finger when he did not reopen the doors.

“Once the doors close, you don’t open them. If you move, you go,” he said.

Andre also said that his driving gets monitored by video recorders on the bus.

First Transit checks how fast the drivers go, how they brake and how long they stop at each bus stop, he said. The company called him once because he slowed down instead of coming to a complete stop while he was driving, he said.

“Every mistake they’ll call you, they’ll catch everything you do,” he said. “It’s safety first. You have to do everything correctly.”

Bus drivers have also been suspended or even fired for negligent driving, Andre said.

He recalled a time when his friend was involved in an accident, and was still suspended even though it was discovered that he was not at fault. He said that the company can sometimes punish bus drivers even if an incident was not their fault.

“You have to watch yourself and defend yourself,” Andre said.

Overall, he said that being a bus driver is not a stressful job, and that stress only comes up if someone does not drive well or know what to do, he said.

Most days he is able to return home to his wife and two kids by approximately 1:15 p.m., unless he needs to pick up an extra shift, which could mean getting home at approximately 5 p.m.

His advice to college students is to listen to the bus drivers. He said there have been times when students wear headphones and do not hear when he tells them to take off their backpacks or stand behind the white line.

“We love the students, and want them to be safe,” he said.