As summer has come to an end, and guys are setting up their Xbox accounts and girls are setting up their enormous wardrobes, students may be wondering how their transportation is going to fit into this equation. There are certain steps incoming students must take in order to register a car, bike, unicycle or other vehicle.

Car registration

To register your car, it’s actually pretty simple. Students must first log on to their AccessPlus account. Easy enough? Next, they have to click on the “Student” tab and select the Parking Division tab, which is toward the bottom-left side of the screen. This section will give you a step-by-step walk through of car registration for 2011-2012 school year.

Where you park is based on a first-come, first-served system. So if you haven’t registered your car yet, you may be parking at Jack Trice Stadium this year.

Stadium parking is where most incoming freshmen end up. Seeing as there is little parking surrounding the dorms, and returning students are given preference in parking registration, there are rarely any spots left to new students. The stadium is the default parking area.

Walking

If  students choose not to bring a car to Iowa State, then there are many other ways they can get around.

Iowa State provides many walking, biking and dual-use walkways for its students. It may take a few extra minutes to get to class or the nearest Caribou Coffee on foot, but it is completely free.

Additionally, walkers and runners should stay on the right-hand side of the path. It’s also polite to stay on the paths; venturing off them leaves unwanted trails through the grass.

Biking

If you find walking too slow, but car registration too costly, then there is a happy medium for you. Students may register their bicycles through Iowa State or through the city of Ames.

Iowa State and Ames share a biking community contract, so if a student registers a bike with Iowa State, they will be good to go with the city as well.

“Make sure you register your bike with the campus or the city,” said Mark Miller, program manager for ISU’s Department of Public Safety. “In case we find your lost bike, or if it’s stolen, we can look up the registration number and get it back to you.”

Throughout campus, there are some common courtesy rules to be followed, whether you’re on a bike or just walking. It’s always polite for bikers to tell pedestrians which side they are approaching from by saying “on your left,” or “on your right.” 

CyRide

Iowa State and Ames also has a bus system called CyRide, which makes it easy for students to get from one side of the campus (or town) to the other.

For ISU students, riding on a CyRide is free if you have your student ID card. The circulator buses that go around campus can be ridden free at all times. The routes and maps for CyRide can be viewed online at cyride.com.