CyRide

CyRide is a partnership between Iowa State University, the ISU Student Government, and Ames, Iowa. CyRide provides public transportation to the community throughout the city of Ames. The word CyRide is a portmanteau of two words: Cy (which is the mascot of the Iowa State Cyclones) and the word ride. In January 2012, CyRide was recognized "as the nation’s small urban transit system with the highest number of rides per capita" at 106 rides per capita.[3]

Founded	1976
Headquarters	601 N. University Boulevard Ames, IA 50014
Locale	Ames, Iowa
Service area	Ames, Iowa, Iowa State University
Service type	Intracity bus service
Routes	14
Stops	Over 425[1]
Fleet	93[2]
Daily ridership	18,135 (FY2014)[2]
Operator	City of Ames Iowa State University
Website	Official Website

History

From the 1860s until the early 1890 college students were taxied to and from campus by a horse-drawn carriage that was operated by brothers, Nichols and Maxwell Livery. The town committee published a report on November 1, 1890 stating that there would be a benefit to create a railroad to replace the current system.[4]

On July 4, 1892, the rail line, named the dinkey (given by the size of the engine) departed from its barn on the east end of 5th street, for its first 2-mile (3.2 km) trip to the Iowa State University campus.[4] The dinkey ran on 30 lb/yd (15 kg/m) rail; that is small compared to the 136 lb/yd (67 kg/m) rail that is used today. The dinkey had three passenger cars that were often at maximum capacity because of the growing population of the city.

In 1929, the dinkey was replaced by a bus system that transported passengers to and from the Iowa State University.[5] In 1976 all operating buses were combined and CyRide was started as a city department. In 1981 Bob Bourne was the director of CyRide. He brought CyRide from a 12 bus, 3 route system to a 65 bus, 11 route system in his 25 years of employment at CyRide.[6]

CyRide buses

Routes

Route Number	Route	Starting Terminal	Ending Terminal	Major Streets traveled
1	Red West[7]	North Grand Mall	Ames Middle School	Mortensen Rd, Lincoln Way, Duff Ave
1	Red East[7]	Ames Middle School	North Grand Mall	Mortensen Rd, Lincoln Way, Duff Ave
2	Green West[7]	North Grand Mall	Ontario St & California Ave	Ontario St, Hyland Ave, 6th St, Grand Ave
2	Green East[7]	Ontario St & California Ave	North Grand Mall	Ontario St, Hyland Ave, 6th St, Grand Ave
3	Blue Campus[7]	S. 5th St	Bessey Hall	S. 4th St, Beach Ave, Lincoln Way, Osborn Dr
3	Blue S. 5th St[7]	Bessey Hall	S. 5th St	Osborn Dr, Lincoln Way, Beach Ave, S. 4th St
5	Yellow[7]	City Hall	City Hall	South Duff Ave, Lincoln Way
6	Brown South[7]	North Grand Mall	ISU Research Park	Bloomington Rd, Stange Rd, University Blvd Mortensen Pkwy, Osborn Dr
6	Brown North[7]	ISU Research Park	North Grand Mall	University Blvd, Mortensen Pkwy, Osborn Dr Stange Rd, Bloomington Rd
7	Purple Student Services[7]	Alcott Ave	Student Services	South Dakota Ave, Lincoln Way, Union Dr
7	Purple Alcott[7]	Student Services	Alcott Ave	Union Dr, Lincoln Way, South Dakota Ave
8	Aqua (Summer only)[7]	City Hall	City Hall	Grand Ave, 13th St, Furman Aquatic Center
9	Plum Campus[7]	Buckeye and S. 16th	Kildee Hall	S. 16th St, S. Duff Ave, Lincoln Way, Osborn Dr
9	Plum Buckeye[7]	Kildee Hall	Buckeye and S. 16th	Osborn Dr, Lincoln Way, S. Duff Ave, S. 16th St
11	Cherry West[7]	Student Services	West Mortensen Rd	Union Dr, Lincoln Way, South Dakota Ave, Mortensen Rd
11	Cherry East[7]	West Mortensen Rd	Student Services	Mortensen Dr, South Dakota Ave, Lincoln Way, Union Dr
12	Lilac West[7]	Student Services	Dickenson Ave	Union Dr, Lincoln Way, South Dakota Ave
12	Lilac East[7]	Dickenson Ave	Student Services	South Dakota Ave, Lincoln Way, Union Dr
14	Peach South[7]	North Grand Mall	Kildee Hall	24th St, Stange Rd, Osborn Dr
14	Peach North[7]	Kildee Hall	North Grand Mall	Osborne Dr, Stange Rd, 24th St
21	Cardinal[7]	Frederiksen Court	Frederiksen Court	Stange Rd, Osborn Dr, Union Dr
23	Orange[7]	Iowa State Center	Iowa State Center	Beach Ave, Osborn Dr, Union Dr
25	Gold North[7]	Towers	40 Schilletter	Welch Ave, Osborne Dr, Stange Rd
25	Gold South[7]	40 Schillitter	Towers	Stange Rd, Osborne Dr, Welch Ave
EASE	East Ames Service Extension[7]	City Hall	City Hall	East Lincoln Way, Dayton Ave, E. 13th St

Fares

Iowa State Students

Undergraduate students of Iowa State University are able to ride CyRide without paying the normal fare by presenting the bus driver with their Iowa State identification card[8]. This is necessary on all bus routes except the 21 Cardinal, 23 Orange and 25 Gold Routes which always allow passengers to travel without charge. Iowa State University charges a fee each semester to all undergraduate students for CyRide service. This student fee is paid to CyRide to subsidize the cost of operations.

An ISU Card allows students to board any bus for free

Reduced Fare Riders

To qualify for reduced fare, you must be a student in grades K-12, a senior citizen, or a person with a disability. The reduced Fare is US$0.50[8] for a one way trip. Multiple tickets can be purchased at a time, if a ticket book is purchased in advance. Reduced fare ticket books come in a packet of 10 which cost US$5.[8] Ticket books can be bought at local grocery stores, Ames City Hall, and CyRide headquarters.

Full Fare Riders

Full Fare Riders covers everyone else who is riding. The regular fare is US$1.00.[8] Full fare riders can also purchase multiple tickets in advance. Ticket books come in a packet of 10 which cost US$10.[8] Ticket books can also be bought at local grocery stores, Ames City Hall, and CyRide headquarters.

Children Under Five

Children under the age of five are free with an accompanying adult. There may be no more than three children per adult.[8]

Additional Services

Buses preparing to depart for Moonlight Express

Moonlight Express

In 1984 Cyride started to operate a Friday and Saturday nights service called Moonlight Express which has been dubbed "the drunk bus" by students.[9] This system was put into service to allow students to socialize with their friends while offering a safe alternative to driving while impaired. Between the hours of 10:30 pm to 2:30 am the moonlight express will stop at any stop along a moonlight route.

In the time Moonlight Express has been running, there have been no drunk-driving fatalities in Ames during its hours of operation.[10]

Dial-A-Ride

Dial-A-Ride is a door-to-door service that caters mostly to elderly and disabled persons. This service take people within ¾ mile from any fixed Cyride route. A Dial-A-Ride rides need to be scheduled the day before to ensure a spot. In 2005 Dial-A-Ride was turned over to the Heart of Iowa Regional Transit Authority (HIRTA) which is operated out of the Heartland Senior Services site in the Ames area.

Equipment

CyRide currently operates a variety of different transit buses. Much of CyRide's fleet consists of 40 foot buses but there are six 62 foot articulated buses used in high-capacity service and several small buses used for lower-capacity services. The majority of CyRide's 40 foot bus fleet was manufactured by Gillig while the remaining 40 foot bus fleet was manufactured by Orion. CyRide maintained a few GM New Look 40 foot buses for training purposes but none currently remain on the active fleet list. The 62 foot articulated buses were manufactured by Nova Bus. Much of the current fleet can be referenced in the table below.

Bus Number	Length	Manufacturer	Bus Type	Model Year	Notes
105-110	40'	Gillig	Advantage/LF	2012	[11]
126-128	40'	Gillig	Advantage/LF	2010	[11]
180-184	40'	Gillig	Advantage/LF	2012	[11]
186-189	40'	Gillig	Advantage/LF	2008	[11]
418-425	40'	Gillig	Advantage/LF HyBrid	2010	[11]
429-432	40'	Gillig	Advantage/LF HyBrid	2010	[11]
501-504	40'	Orion	Orion VII	2006	07.501[11]
660-661	62'	Nova Bus	LFS Artic	2013	[11]
Various	40'	Gillig	Phantom	2001	700,762,763,778,785,789,792,793[11]
949-952	40'	Orion	Orion V	2005	05.501[11]
953-958	40'	Orion	Orion V	2000	05.501[11]
1111-1116	40'	Gillig	Advantage/LF	2015	[11]
1136-1138	40'	Gillig	Advantage/LF	2018	[11]
6101-6104	62'	Nova Bus	LFS Artic	2016	[11]
7116-7124	40'	Gillig	Phantom	2002	7119 inactive[11]
7130-7133	40'	Gillig	Phantom	2002	[11]
9070-9077	40'	Orion	Orion V	2002	05.501[11]

Future

CyRide is considering bringing a "fare-free" system to all Ames residents. CyRide currently receives 270,000 dollars from paid fares that will have to be compensated for some other way[12]

In 2009 CyRide was one of 42 applicants to receive a TIGER grant through the Federal Transit Administration. This allowed them to purchase 12 new Hybrid buses at a cost of $6 million. The new buses - dubbed 'Cybrids' - will get an estimated 6 mpg. The current fleet averages about 4.5 mpg fuel efficiency.[13]

Awards

• 2018 State Bus Roadeo Winner in small bus division[14]
• 2017 State Bus Roadeo Winners in both large and small bus divisions[15]
• 26 State Bus Roadeo Winners (as of June 2016)
• 2015 State Bus Roadeo Winner in large bus division[16]
• 5th place in the 35' bus division at the 2007 APTA International Bus Roadeo
• 2nd place in the 35' bus division at the 2004 APTA International Bus Roadeo
• 2002 APTA Gold Safety Award Finalist
• 1999 APTA Neil E. Goldschmidt Silver Safety Award Finalist
• 1997 APTA Neil E. Goldschmidt Silver Safety Award Winner
• 1996 APTA AdWheels Award Winner
• 1995 APTA Neil E. Goldschmidt Silver Safety Award Winner
• 1993 APTA Neil E. Goldschmidt Silver Safety Award Finalist
• 1992 Public Risk Management Administration Achievement Award
• 1991 APTA Neil E. Goldschmidt Silver Safety Award Finalist
• 1989 UMTA Outstanding Public Service Award
• 1989 UMTA Administrator's Award[17]
• 1983 All America City Award

References

1. Cyride. "Signals". June, 2013. Retrieved December 2013. Archived 2015-09-23 at the Wayback Machine
2. CyRide. Statistics. Retrieved December. 2014. http://www.cyride.com/index.aspx?page=1240
3. Cyride. "Signals". January, 2012. Retrieved December 2013. Archived 2012-05-09 at the Wayback Machine
4. Ames & College Railway Dinkey
5. Dinkey Timeline
6. Borne Transit Archived 2008-12-08 at the Wayback Machine
7. Cyride.com: Today's Routes
8. "Fares". CyRide. CyRide. Retrieved 5 Nov 2018.
9. Culberson, Becky (2005), Iowa State University : Off the Record (College Prowler), retrieved 2008-02-23
10. Cyride Moonlight Information
11. "Active Fleet". CyRide. CyRide. Retrieved 5 Nov 2018.
12. Fergusen, Kyle (2008-02-18), "CyRide considers opening doors to all", Iowa State Daily, retrieved 2010-03-08
13. Schleuter, Sara (2010-01-10), "CyRide goes green with hybrid buses", Iowa State Daily, retrieved 2010-03-08
14. "Iowa's Top Bus Drivers Selected at Iowa Public Transit Association's Annual Roadeo". Iowa Public Transit Association. Iowa Public Transit Association. Retrieved 14 Nov 2018.
15. "Iowa's Top Bus Drivers Selected at Iowa Public Transit Association's Annual Roadeo". Iowa Public Transit Association. Iowa Public Transit Association. Retrieved 14 Nov 2018.
16. "Iowa Public Transit Association Crowns State's Top Bus Drivers". Iowa Public Transit Association. Iowa Public Transit Association. Retrieved 14 Nov 2018.
17. Borne Transit Archived 2008-12-08 at the Wayback Machine