There are funeral homes more upbeat than the 8 a.m. shuttle bus from Currier House to the Science Center.

Students sit slumped over like old men on park benches. Their back-packs droop beside them. After a few moments, it's possible to see the Quadlings hunch into themselves, half-dozing, half-reading organic chemistry notes. The bus is full as it lurches onto Garden Street.

The sun flashes in as the bus rattles past trees and buildings, but it's not welcome inside the bus. Students squirm to stay out of the light, and then settle back into the seats for a typically jolting ride to the Science Center.

Six buses run almost continuously to various spots around the Harvard campus, and the fleet inspires emotions ranging from gratitude to anger.

A ride in one can be kind of morbid, but students like them anyway.

"I love the shuttle buses," declares Rachel A. Siegel '96. "Shuttles kick ass," adds Bridger E. McGaw '97, who rides the Mather House to Science Center route twice a week. "I'm in Dunster and they save my butt every Tuesday and Thursday."

Not all undergraduates purr about the merits of the shuttles, however. (Purring is one thing the bus engines almost never do.)

The complaints of Kevin M. Mulcahy '97 include "the black holes in the schedule. Or maybe those evil drivers who act like they're going to stop and as you run towards them, take off."

Rachel E. Skiffer '96 says there's a basic problem with the buses: they need to be bigger. "A third of the school lives in the Quad," Skiffer says, "so how come they've got shuttle buses which seat 20 people?"

In fact, when Quad residents are herded onto the early morning buses, it can be nearly impossible to get a seat. "I always feel an urge to moo," Mulcahy says.

At the Wheel

Carl A. Tempesta, manager of garage operations and shuttle service, says all kinds of people drive the buses. The staff of 30 includes students, night drivers with other full time jobs, and retirees who drive part-time during the day.

Although some drivers seem faceless to students, others have achieved an unusual renown. Mary E. Baker '95, a student-driver of shuttle vans and resident of North House, has a following rivaling that of the Grateful Dead. Some call her "The Shuttle Queen."

"I'm particularly fond of riding the shuttle when Mary Elizabeth Baker is driving," says Dan J. Perry '95.

Drivers like Baker are rare, though. Most don't talk as much with students because they can't, says Malcolm I. Toussaint '95, a North House resident and seasoned shuttle driver. "There's not too much interaction with the students, because you're not really supposed to talk when driving," Toussaint says.

"You do get a lot of interesting questions from tourists when you're sitting at Johnston Gate, though," he added. "Stuff like the location of Harvard Yard."

The best time to ride the buses (all are relatively new; the oldest is a 1985 model) may be on Friday and Saturday nights, when shuttles can be more exciting than their passengers' destinations.

"Yeah, I've ridden it a bunch of times," says a grinning Erica S. Schacter '97. "Mostly drunk on Saturday nights out to the quad for a party."

"Coming home, it's loud and rowdy," she says. "By the end of the ride, everyone is beginning to pass out."

At those times, it's comforting to know that the driver are certified professionals, often from the area.

"It helps that the drivers are seasoned Bostonians...people who aren't from here could get us killed," McGaw says.

"I feel safe," Schacter adds. "But I'm also used to New York taxis."