Buckle up: behind the wheel of the Joey

Most University students are endearingly on a first name basis with the University shuttle, referring to it as "the Joey." They are not, however, on a first name basis -- or even a full-name basis -- with the Joey's drivers. Sure, upon boarding the shuttle they may smile and offer a courteous "hello" to whoever is behind its wheel, but beyond that? In most cases, nada.

With this, the second in its new profile series, the Daily hops on board the Joey and discovers the woman behind its wheel every weekday morning from seven to two p.m.

Somerville resident Sheila O'Laughlin, mother of three and grandmother of four, is that woman. An extremely experienced driver, she has had a school bus license since 1979. She also holds a sightseeing license and a motor coach license. "Most of my twenty years experience has been in driving," she said.

At 7:10 a.m. every weekday morning, O'Laughlin starts her rounds from the Mayer Campus Center. Throughout the course of her shift, she makes approximately 28 circuits from the University's Medford campus to Davis Square, stopping at the Campus Center, Carmichael Hall, and the Olin Center before arriving in Davis.

Though usually hovering around 20 minutes, the time it takes O'Laughlin to complete each full circuit depends on the volume of vehicle traffic at the time. As the Daily spoke to O'Laughlin on this day, the Joey was encountering a high volume, slowly inching its way down Packard Avenue. "I have the most traffic during my shift," O'Laughlin said in mock exasperation.

Nearly finished with her second school year working at Tufts, O'Laughlin has developed a vehicle preference. If given the choice, O'Laughlin's favorite shuttle to drive is the "midsized shuttle with the two doors [because] it's easier to load and unload," she said. (Other shuttles used by Joseph's Limousines on the University campus include a smaller, mini-school-bus-size one and a larger, tour-bus-size one.)

For the most part, O'Laughlin has found University students to be very well mannered. "Most are very nice," she said. O'Laughlin has, however, had to deal with the exceptions -- sometimes very vocal ones -- to that rule.

"There are always one or two who give you a hard time," O'Laughlin told the Daily. "A lot of people keep asking me to let them off at different places, and it's kind of frustrating and a little irritating sometimes. I don't want to be mean, and I can't let them off."

So how does O'Laughlin handle it when one of these "bad seeds" becomes relentless?

"Last week I had a student who tried to flag me down at a stop that I wasn't supposed to stop at," she said. "He became extremely enraged and irritable. I had to have him removed from the bus by the police because he was too enraged."

Such complications aside, O'Laughlin enjoys driving the Joey. "If I didn't like it, I wouldn't be doing it," she said. What are the best aspects of her job? "I like the hours," she said, adding that she "usually [manages] to get a few minutes to read the newspaper, so that isn't too bad."

There is one aspect of her job, however, that irks the otherwise content O'Laughlin. It is a part of driving the Joey that few students are even aware of: drivers are required by the police to record the number of people who travel on the shuttle every day.

"I would definitely want to change the fact that I have to take a count of the exact number of people who travel the bus every day," O'Laughlin said. "I can't keep an accurate count... it's a waste of time. If I thought it benefited anyone, I wouldn't mind, but I doubt they even look at the numbers. And I leave people behind sometimes because I'm counting. I could do it once a month but everyday is unnecessary."

When asked what her favorite music to listen to on the job is, O'Laughlin said, "I always listen to music. I like to listen to WSKS because it won't offend anyone. It's soft rock. I have a lot of professors on board who I don't want to offend!"

Of WSKS, O'Laughlin said that "it's relaxing. It doesn't make you feel like you want to get out of your seat and dance, not too much rock 'n roll."

Hmm...doesn't sound like the premiere listening choice of the average Tufts student. Or is it? "I don't think students like it too much," O'Laughlin said, "but I've heard them singing along, even if they don't want to admit it to their friends!"

As she maneuvered the Joey out of a traffic jam with an oncoming truck, O'Laughlin told the Daily that driving the University shuttle is not her only job. Her year-round job (including when Tufts students leave for the summer and there is no longer campus shuttle service) is as a tour guide for Old Town Trolley Company in Boston. "All MA residents go free if they bring one paying guest!" O'Laughlin said enthusiastically.

As O'Laughlin stopped at the Olin Center and students filed out of the shuttle, most acted courteously -- only one failed to say "thank you." And with that, O'Laughlin and the Joey were off: one round down, 27 more to go.