With familiar creaks and groans, the Washington University shuttles rattle along their scheduled routes – an integral transportive element to freshmen and car-less students and a gas-saving, though not necessarily time-saving, device for other students and staff.

While most students are well-versed in shuttle stops and time schedules, few are familiar with the men and women behind the wheel. Unobserved in their daily and weekly rotations, an array of drivers with interesting stories and backgrounds regularly traverse campus.

Students who routinely ride the shuttles come to recognize certain drivers. Junior Lauren Jijina recalls riding a particular line every day last year with a particular driver always behind the wheel.

“I got to know [the driver] and he was really interesting because he was just working part-time while studying for an advanced degree at Saint Louis University,” she said. “A lot of people just get on and off without really paying attention to who’s driving.”

Too often, however, students rush on and off the shuttle without observing basic shuttle riding rules. “We aren’t supposed to drive them without an ID,” said driver Pat Pruitt, “so students really need to have their IDs ready.”

Pruitt also urged students to become familiar with shuttle route stops as many students rush up to shuttles, expecting to have doors opened wide. “Things can get dangerous when people aren’t where they are supposed to be,” observed Pruitt. “I hate to leave anybody standing, so it is better for our job and students if they know the pick-up points.”

While often having to deal with unobservant students, shuttle drivers are also privy to student shuttle commentary.

“It’s a great place to learn other people’s culture,” said driver Joseph Stan. “I even had some girls recommend a movie to me and we later discussed it.”

“The Red Line is pretty interesting because it’s usually freshmen acting like they are telling high school stories on the bus,” recounted Pruitt.

I rode along with driver Andre Harris one Saturday night for a loop of the Red Line to observe the shuttle flavor. It was a ride down memory lane for me as I recalled all those freshman shuttle rides, since now I just bum rides off of car-owning friends.

Topics of conversation on the shuttle included the sexual nature of fruit (think bananas and the recent sex issue of Student Life); Friday’s drinking stories and who passed out or hooked up with whom; and of course the recent spring break and all the homework left undone.

While interesting, Harris believed that the Red Line was not a favorite route of all drivers.

“I don’t think people like to drive the Red Line,” said Harris, “and I think a lot of people back out.”

Harris also found that the shuttle also provides a glimpse into University culture.

“You get to see some of the party crowds,” said Harris. “It never gets too rowdy, but I finally got to see how many Wash. U. kids drink. It tripped me out because some of those kids get wasted.”

All in all, though, Harris reports very few problems with students on the shuttle and finds that “students are pretty cool.”

But while students chattily banter about their own stories, they may not know the stories of their drivers. One driver, Orouj Samadzadeh, who goes by Sam, is an immigrant to this country and had a teaching job for 15 years prior to his immigration. He has a master’s degree in sociology and a bachelor’s degree in English literature.

“I wanted to continue studying,” said Sam, “but I have two sons in college and so I got this job here and also one at the airport to pay for expenses. I am satisfied with my job and I could teach, but my MA has to be ratified and that takes lots of money.”

There is more to shuttle drivers and the shuttle system than meets the student eye. “Students just don’t understand what we do,” said Stan. “They just hop on ready to go and get mad if the shuttles are a little behind. But we’re working for $8.50 an hour with no lunch breaks and that can be tough on us. Most students are really kind, but you don’t know what we do and don’t know if we are just working this part-time.”

An upcoming development to be dealt with by the shuttle community is the arrival of the Metro system. The Washington University Transportation Services Web site details the eventual phasing out of the Gold, Red and Blue Lines over the summer to be “replaced with Metro service that will largely follow the same routes and schedules previously served by the University’s shuttles.”

The site details, however, that the Green Line will remain as, “an important link between the Hilltop Campus and neighborhoods where large numbers of students live.”

“The big story is the Metro moving in,” said Harris. “[Drivers] aren’t really sure what’s going on but we want to be notified up front. A lot of us may not even be here after the summer. Guess we’ll find out soon.”

Students and drivers alike will have to learn about what the new system has to offer.

“I’m from D.C. so I like Metros and have more experience with them,” said freshman Aaron Shapiro, “but at the same time, I do like the idea of having a relatively exclusive chariot for transportation.”

More information about the Metro plans and the widely discussed Metro pass can be found on the transportation service’s Web site, transportation.wustl.edu.

Like any University student, shuttle drivers have to work on schedules, deal with traffic and coexist with a variety of people. We are not so different from each other – so get to know the men and women behind the wheel, and you’ll really go places.

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