CyRide

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 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[7]

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 buses - dubbed 'Cybrids' - have an estimated 6 mpg. The fleet previously averaged about 4.5 mpg fuel efficiency.[8]

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.[10] 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[10] 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.[10] 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.[10] Full fare riders can also purchase multiple tickets in advance. Ticket books come in a packet of 10 which cost US$10.[10] 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.[10]

CyRide currently operates a variety of different transit buses. Much of CyRide's fleet consists of 40 foot buses but there are several 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 is manufactured by Gillig while the remaining 40 foot bus fleet is manufactured by Orion Bus Industries. 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 (as well as two 40 foot electric buses) are manufactured by Nova Bus. Much of the current fleet can be referenced in the table below.[14][15]

Fleet number(s)	Photo	Year	Manufacturer	Model	Powertrain	Notes
105-110		2012	Gillig	Low Floor 40'	Cummins ISL9 Voith
126-128		2010	Gillig	Low Floor 40'	Cummins ISL Voith D864.5
180-184		2012	Gillig	Low Floor 40'	Cummins ISL9 Voith
186-189 (formerly 0819-0822)		2008	Gillig	Low Floor 40'	Cummins ISL Voith
418-425, 429-432 (formerly 118-125, 129-132)		2010	Gillig	Low Floor HEV 40'	Cummins ISL Voith DIWAhybrid	Nicknamed "Cybrids". Delivered in July 2010. 423 is retired following an accident.
501-504 (formerly 1-4)		2006	Orion Bus Industries	Orion VII	Cummins ISL Voith	501 is retired.
660-661		2012	Nova Bus	LFS Artic	Cummins ISL9 Voith D864.5	Delivered in February 2013.
949-952 (formerly 994-997)		2005	Orion Bus Industries	Orion V	Cummins ISM Voith
1111-1116		2015	Gillig	Low Floor 40'	Cummins ISL9 Voith
1136-1138		2018	Gillig	Low Floor 40'	Cummins L9 Voith
1139		2019	Gillig	Low Floor 40'	Cummins L9 Voith
1142-1144		2020	Gillig	Low Floor 40'	Cummins L9 Voith
1145-1148		2022	Gillig	Low Floor 40'	Cummins L9 Allison
1163-1170		2023	Gillig	Low Floor 40'	Cummins L9 Allison
3151-3156		2021	Ford	E-450
6101-6104		2016	Nova Bus	LFS Artic	Cummins ISL9 Voith
6149		2021	Nova Bus	LFS Artic	Cummins L9 Allison
6150		2022	Nova Bus	LFS Artic	Cummins L9 Allison
7157-7158			Nova Bus	LFSe+		First electric buses in CyRide fleet.
9070-9077 (formerly 970-977)		2002	Orion Bus Industries	Orion V	Cummins ISM Voith	9071 and 9077 are retired.

• 2018 State Bus Roadeo Winner in small bus division[16]
• 2017 State Bus Roadeo Winners in both large and small bus divisions[17]
• 26 State Bus Roadeo Winners (as of June 2016)
• 2015 State Bus Roadeo Winner in large bus division[18]
• 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[19]
• 1983 All America City Award

The ridership and service statistics shown here are of fixed route services only and do not include demand response. Per capita statistics are based on the Ames urbanized area as reported in NTD data. Starting in 2011, 2010 census numbers replace the 2000 census numbers to calculate per capita statistics.[20]

	Ridership	Change	Ridership per capita
2003	4,848,494	n/a	95.58
2004	4,529,451	06.58%	89.29
2005	4,177,180	07.78%	82.35
2006	4,224,428	01.13%	83.28
2007	4,471,336	05.84%	88.15
2008	4,737,992	05.96%	93.4
2009	5,258,530	010.99%	103.67
2010	5,348,981	01.72%	105.45
2011	5,587,101	04.45%	92.44
2012	5,774,124	03.35%	95.54
2013	6,250,952	08.26%	103.43
2014	6,777,675	08.43%	112.14
2015	6,704,537	01.08%	110.93
2016	6,708,382	00.0%	111
2017	6,453,494	03.8%	106.78
2018	6,194,467	04.01%	102.49
2019	5,704,328	07.91%	94.38
2020	2,534,349	055.57%	38.2
2021	2,792,048	010.17%	42.09
2022	3,669,894	031.44%	55.32
2023	4,142,196	012.87%	62.44

• 
  CyRide buses
• 
  Buses preparing to depart for Moonlight Express
• 
  2012 Gillig Low Floor #105
• 
  2012 Gillig Low Floor #181
• 
  2008 Gillig Low Floor #187
• 
  2010 Gillig Low Floor Hybrid #425
• 
  2006 Orion VII #502
• 
  2005 Orion V #952
• 
  2015 Gillig Low Floor #1114
• 
  2018 Gillig Low Floor #1136
• 
  2020 Gillig Low Floor #1142
• 
  2023 Gillig Low Floor #1169
• 
  2016 Nova Bus LFS Artic #6104
• 
  2002 Orion V #9076
• 
  2010 Gillig Low Floor Hybrid #429 interior
• 
  2006 Orion VII #504 interior
• 
  2022 Nova Bus LFS Artic #6150 interior
• 
  2022 Nova Bus LFSe+ #7157 interior
• 
  2002 Orion V #9074 interior

• List of bus transit systems in the United States
• List of intercity bus stops in Iowa