CyRide Fall 2026 - welcome back!

Welcome and welcome back to ISU everyone! For those of you who are new students or new to the sub, I'm Mike and I've been at CyRide for coming up on 12 years. I've done pretty much every operations-related position at CyRide, so if you have any questions don't hesitate to ask. I will generally try to post CyRide-related topics throughout the year if it affects the Iowa State or Ames community. There are also quite a few other CyRide employees in the sub that are generally happy to help answer questions.

TL:DR is at the bottom for those who just want the bullet points

Fall Schedule and Cyclone Welcome Weekend

Fall schedule started on Monday, August 17th 2026. Please note that this week before classes, 8/17-8/21, we will be running a modified break schedule Monday-Friday and some routes and/or shaded lines on the timetables will not operate. Full service will begin on Saturday, 8/22 until Thanksgiving Break.

Please be aware that Labor Day is a City Holiday, and CyRide will not be operating on Monday, September 7th.

Detours...(if you ride Orange you'll want to read this)

The start of this year is going to be a little interesting. With the LeBaron expansion not yet completed as well as the Lake Laverne project, this means major route modifications until either Morrill Rd or Union Drive on the North side of Lake Laverne opens back up.

Here is the link to the detour posting and map.

• 23 Orange will be the most impacted route, with stop closures at the MU, all of Wallace Rd, Lied Rec, and Richardson Ct. We are encouraging those that need MWL/Richardson Ct or Lied Rec/Forker to catch the #3 Blue on campus for a return trip.
• 9 Plum will be less impacted, with stop closures at the MU and along Union Drive before Knoll Rd.
• 21 Cardinal has no stop closures, but expect delays due to the detour out to Lincoln Way.
• Those needing #6 Brown will need to either walk to Welch Rd on the west side of Lake Laverne, or catch it just south of Chamberlain St on Lynn.

Why Lincoln Way for Orange?

Due to the significant amount of traffic and pedestrian congestion in these areas, as well as changing construction patterns, the right turns from Morrill Dr to Union (west side of MU) or Union onto Wallace are impractical due to the frequency our routes and turn radius of our buses.

As soon as construction is completed, you can expect these routes to go back to normal.

New buses!

This year, CyRide received five new 40' Gillig Electric buses, two new New Flyer 60 ' articulated buses, and two new standard Gillig 40' buses (unfortunately, no double decker buses from the April Fools post.).

This brings our current electric fleet to 7, and our articulated fleet to 9. While articulated buses will likely stay on Orange for the time being (outside of special events,) you will likely see our electric fleet serving a variety of CyRide routes this year.

Facility Grant

I'm happy to share that CyRide received a $14.6 million dollar grant for facility expansion and improvements. CyRide has evolved and expanded significantly over the past 50 years, and this grant will help store more buses indoors, allow us to convert 20 buses to biodiesel, and expand our training area.

Read the Iowa State Daily or City of Ames News article for more information!

Gas is expensive...ride the bus instead!

On my way to work today, I saw that fuel at Casey's was $4.19 per gallon, and I personally don't see it coming down significantly any time soon. Please allow us to help keep your fuel costs down by riding the bus! A portion of CyRide's funding depends on state and federal funding, and that funding is calculated by how much ridership we have (btw, we're 3rd in the nation for ridership per capita, just behind NYC and San Francisco, so it's a pretty big deal.) High ridership allows us to continue providing the route selection and frequency that we currently offer.

As of now, Transit App and MyState will generally provide the most up-to-date predictions for buses. And as mentioned before, CyRide provides the premium version of Transit App at no cost to riders. Ames Ride is another free, accurate alternative to Transit App and MyState.

Additionally, please feel free to call us directly if you have any questions about how to ride or how to get somewhere. Our dispatchers are here from the start of service until the end of service, so you will be able to get an answer pretty much any time our routes are running.

Thank you!

I enjoy making these posts, and I hope that they are helpful. As always, if anyone has questions, feel free to let me know.

TL:DR

• Fall schedule started 8/17 with a modified break schedule; full service starts on Saturday, 8/22 until Thanksgiving break. No service on Labor Day, Monday September 7th.
• Major detours and stop closures in effect for #6 Brown, #9 Plum, #23 Orange. Minor detour for #21 cardinal.
• 5 new electric buses, 2 new articulated buses, and 2 new standard diesel buses.
• 14.6M Facility grant, more storage indoors, bio bus conversions, and training wing.
• Gas is expensive, ride the bus! Call us for how-to information. Transit App and MyState will be your best bet for predictions.