A second -- and larger -- set of changes to CyRide bus service takes effect Monday, Aug. 13. A first wave was implemented in early May. The changes are part of CyRide 2.0, a comprehensive plan to improve bus travel throughout Ames built on more than a year of study and public input.
A key change for the university community is that the College Veterinary Medicine campus no longer will be serviced by the orange route, which will continue to function as a free circulator between central campus and the Iowa State Center commuter lots. A new weekday-only route, the peach route, will traverse from Vet Med to North Grand Mall via the east part of campus, Stange Road and 24th Street.
The blue route, which previously connected north Ames to campus, now will focus only on the south portion of the route, providing service between central campus and the South Duff Avenue commercial district, via South Fourth Street.
The brown route, formerly a weekday-only route that services the ISU Research Park via the Towers residence halls, has added Saturday service all the way to the research park and Sunday service as far south as the Towers.
The gold route is a new free weekday-only circulator between Schilletter Village student apartments and the Towers residence halls via central campus. It will operate on a 10-minute interval from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. (30-minute interval before and after that window).
Beginning Aug. 13, two new routes will provide additional service between campus and the residential area of southwest Ames popular with ISU students. The cherry route is the new name for the former red 1A route, which provides additional service, only on ISU class days, to and from campus via South Dakota Avenue and Lincoln Way. The lilac route is a weekday express option, providing service only during morning and late afternoon peak hours, from Dickinson Avenue to campus via Mortensen Road and State Avenue.
CyRide eliminated the silver route, a Sunday night shuttle from the stadium lots to the three residence hall neighborhoods, due to low rider numbers.
Riders who use CyRide's NextBus app should update their bus stops, as they've all been renumbered to coincide with the other changes.
Already in place
Key changes implemented May 5:
- Fare rollback to 2011 prices. The cash fare for a single ride is $1, down from $1.25. Bus passes for ISU faculty, staff and post docs subsidized by the ISU parking division also decreased. An academic year pass now costs $180, instead of $230.
- Drivers won't wait for a rider who is late but trying to catch a bus. With more frequent intervals on most routes, the intent is to keep routes -- and riders -- on schedule.
- In another effort to keep buses running on time, transfers will only be guaranteed at City Hall. Buses won't wait for late-arriving connecting routes on campus.
CyRide has summarized all the route changes in an online document.
Related stories
- First phase of CyRide changes is coming May 5, April 12, 2018
- Implementation planning begins for CyRide route changes, May 18, 2017
