CyRide Solution Coming in Late September

Sheri Kyras, CyRide Transit Director, said the municipal bus service will not know how it is going to resolve its $250,000 operating deficit until at least late September.

CyRide Board of Trustees will review possible options at a meeting Thursday but won't decide what to do until after a 6:30 p.m. Sept. 1 public input meeting at City Hall.

Remedies include increasing eliminating or reducing routes, and asking its funding agencies for more money. The Iowa State Government Student Body, the City of Ames and Iowa State University share the cost of the service.

If fares were increased it would likely be in quarter increments, Kyras said. The cash fare is currently at $1 for regular riders. Ninety percent of the riders are Iowa State Students who pay to ride through student fees.

Any changes to the service wouldn't be immediate, Kyras said.

CyRide prepares its annual budgets about a year in advance and underestimated fuel prices for fiscal 2012 which began in July. The estimated price of fuel was $2.50 per gallon. In July, the average price was $3.21. The service expected a jump.

“We did not expect it to be that high,” Kyras said.