Late for class? Five ways to get the bus to stop for you

Apr 06 2011, Written by Matt Barnett in News, 1 Comments

“Gotta get down to the bus stop,
gotta catch my bus”

Prospective Freshman Rebecca Black waits at the bus stop. She will probably see her friends long before she catches sight of a C-1.

Pre-teen songstress Rebecca Black effectively describes the urgency with which many Duke students hurry between East, West, and Central Campus. Duke’s bus stops are out in the open, and students walking towards the bus are in the uncomfortable position of watching buses drive away—should you chase after it or wait for the next one? What if you can’t afford to wait? The Chronicle’s Matt Barnett prepared some tips to help you catch that runaway bus. Getting on the bus presents its own problem, though- which seat can you take?

• Run, don’t walk. Locke’s philosophy that humans are inherently good applies also to bus drivers. If they see you making an effort to catch the bus, they’ll likely wait for you.

• Bang on the side of the bus. If, as you run up to the bus you are out of the driver’s line of sight, you can try to bang on the side as it pulls away. This doesn’t always work, though—I’ve seen students pound on a bus as it pulled away, but to no avail. Careful not to bang too hard, though, or something like this might happen.

• Make an offering. Duke’s affinity for (or obsession with?) free food goes beyond just students, and every freshman knows that the best food is that which is stolen from the Marketplace. An apple, a cup of coffee, an entire pie—anything will boost the likelihood of the driver leaving the door open a bit longer.

• Wear UNC apparel. Perhaps to spite obnoxious students, many drivers are Chapel Hill fans and have been known to don light blue attire to make their preference known. By doing the same, you stand a good chance of being noticed and let on. Just kidding, it’s better to wait in the rain than to sell out and support that other “school.”

• Meet the drivers. By actually taking the time to talk to the drivers and getting to know them beyond a grumbled “thanks” as you disembark, you might learn that most Duke bus drivers are friendly and that they actually really like students. Honestly, do you have anything better to do on the godforsaken C-2?

Then again, maybe waiting for the next bus wouldn’t be that bad. As a wise Duke graduate once told me, “never chase after a C-1 or a girl—there will always be another in five minutes”