As a light rain fell on the Medford campus Monday, Sept. 26, students huddled under umbrellas and inside the campus center to wait for the shuttle to Davis Square.
Once about a dozen students filed on, the newly painted bus, called the Joey, pulled out of its spot on Professors Row right on schedule at 8 p.m.
The shuttle service, run by Joseph's Limousine Company, is scheduled to make pick-ups every 20 minutes starting at 7:10 a.m. During the first hour and a half and from 4-6 p.m. each day, though, the bus is supposed to arrive every half hour.
"Due to the traffic between the morning and afternoon rush hours, it's difficult to stay on a twenty minute shuttle schedule," Tufts University Police Department Captain Mark Keith said.
From 6:30-11:30 p.m., the company adds a second bus to the route so a bus is at the stop every 15 minutes. The Joey stops at the campus center, Carmichael Hall, the F.W. Olin Center and Davis Square.
While the shuttle occasionally strays from its schedule, students are generally apathetic about when exactly it arrives.
Sophomores Megan Carter and Caitlin Dockweiler said the Joey schedule - posted nearby the stops - is not completely reliable, though neither was dissatisfied with the service.
"Sometimes it just comes at random times," Dockweiler said. "It's usually OK, though." Dockweiler said she rides the Joey once a week.
"Sometimes I do feel like it runs late or leaves a few minutes early," Carter said. Carter rides three times a week to get to her off-campus job. She said the schedule for the new, smaller shuttle can be confusing.
Dockweiler said she thinks it is easier to catch the Joey on campus than in Davis Square because it waits at the campus center longer, but Carter said she did not notice a difference.
Ed Marchant, who drives the Joey every Monday through Friday from 1-6 p.m., said the shuttle is usually on schedule during his shift. "Traffic doesn't start until 6 pm," he said.
In order for the bus to stay on schedule, Marchant cannot always wait at the campus center for the full 10 minutes between trips. The scheduled three trips per hour, Marchant said, often equate "to getting here and leaving."
The new, smaller bus introduced this year to the route has also affected drivers' decisions to wait for passengers at stops. Since there is no longer a door in the front of the bus - only in the middle - Marchant said he cannot see students running to catch the bus and will only wait if a student on the bus asks him.
Sunday through Wednesday, the Joey stops running at midnight. Thursday through Saturday, the Joey runs until 2 a.m.
Whether they start on campus or in Davis Square, students disagreed on the best way to get into Boston.
Sophomore Micahel Cronin said he prefers Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority subway because the buses are sometimes off-schedule and overcrowded. "I prefer the subway because it is usually on time and less crowded than the buses," he said.
"I think that the bus is slightly faster if you live uphill, like I do," sophomore Charles McClean said. "Otherwise, I think that the [subway] is much faster in general."
The same night last month, the same shuttle returned to its spot in front of the campus center at 8:15 p.m., 5 minutes early. It waited 15 minutes, and left promptly at 8:30 p.m.
-- Denise Ozpinar contributed to this article.
