Trusting the campus bus system to get you to a class on time can be slightly scary, but when the alternative is a 20-minute boiling trek up what feels like a mountain with the sun high in the sky, I’ll pick Tallahassee’s air-conditioned buses. Plus, imagine how much time you can shave off your daily commute to class without having to drive around a parking garage for upwards of 30 minutes.
My first semester at FSU had me scrambling to find transportation to an 8 a.m. class at the College of Engineering, since I didn’t have a car. As a suburban girl, I’d never taken a city bus before; however, through a lot of trial and error, a couple of late arrivals to lectures, and some embarrassing failures I’ll remember for the rest of my life, I think that I’ve finally mastered the eight bus routes that make up the Seminole Express.
There are a couple of things to consider when picking your public transportation, and planning your bus route ahead of time helps a lot for speedy bus changes and timely arrivals to your next class without sweating through your outfit.
Planning your bus trip
FSU’s Transportation and Parking Services has a helpful map of the bus routes available, but the best guide is the StarMetro live route map that shows you every stop and bus on any route running. When you use this handy application to plan your route, keep in mind that most of the bus routes only run from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m., Monday through Friday.
The outlier is the Night Nole, which takes the largest loop around campus. Night Nole runs from 8 p.m. to 3 a.m. Monday through Saturday, making it a great choice for late nights on campus and going out.
Another tip I can offer from personal experience is to make sure that you know which direction the bus is going to be arriving from and which side of the road you need to be on for the stop.
When planning your bus route, there are also a few essentials you should bring with you. As an FSU student, all you need to get a free ride on any of the city buses is your FSU ID Card. However, you can never be too prepared, as I’ve learned from many experiences.
Given the especially unpredictable nature of Florida weather, I recommend that you keep an umbrella with you when choosing to take the bus. Nothing is worse than getting to your bus stop nice and dry and then walking into a monsoon when you step off the shuttle.
Getting on the bus
One of the biggest mistakes people make when taking the bus is not knowing how to find the bus stops. Yes, there are dots clearly marked as stops in the StarMetro route map; however, from personal experience, I’ve learned that many of those are wrong.
Each dot on the route map has a name and a number when you click on it, which is what you should keep in mind when looking for your stop. The actual places where the buses stop have a tall sign that notes the routes and the stop number. These signs can often be found a couple of yards from the digital location, so the online map isn’t always the most reliable resource.
I also recommend getting to your stop several minutes early. Many of the buses use the same stops, so you also need to make sure that the digital sign on the front of the bus matches the route you want to take.
When you’re about to board your bus, make sure you never try to enter through the exit door. Instead of using the door near the center of the bus, you need to use the door up front by the driver.
You can take electric scooters on the bus with you, but if you have a bike with you, many of the buses are equipped with a front bike rack.
once you’re on the bus
Most of the buses aren’t overly busy, and very rarely are they full, so always try to put at least a seat of distance between you and strangers just for courtesy.
Before you get to your stop, you must indicate that you want the driver to stop. All the Seminole Express buses are outfitted with a bright yellow line that you can pull to indicate a stop or a button on the sides of the bus that you need to press. It can be a little intimidating to have to signal for a stop, but I promise that sitting on the bus for the entire loop again is far more embarrassing.
When you get off the bus, try and exit through the middle doors at the center of the bus and be sure to thank your driver!
Navigating the bus system can be tricky at first, but once you understand how to find the bus stops and navigate the routes, it’ll be a breeze! Using the bus will save you a long trek in the hot weather to your next class, or save you a commute to campus using your car.
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