A counterfeit CyRide bus is charging students for Moonlight Express rides on weekends.

Bob Bourne, director of CyRide, said they received a phone call from a passenger who was picked up last weekend at Lincoln Way and Stanton Avenue by the fake bus and charged $2.50 for the ride. The passenger said an old CyRide bus that had been auctioned was driving around the Campustown area with a sign in the window advertising “Moonlight Express.”

“We are concerned about it because they are using our image and Moonlight Express is a CyRide service, so they are using our service under false pretenses,” he said.

Ames Police Cmdr. Randy Kessel said they haven’t investigated this yet and don’t know specifics.

“We don’t know if this is illegal yet,” he said. “We don’t know if it is someone who has just purchased this and is driving around or if it is a taxi company and they have a license.”

If someone is picking up people and providing them with rides, they have to have a chauffeur’s license, Bourne said.

He said they have talked to John Klaus, Ames city attorney and will be out this weekend looking for the bus and, if it picks up people, they will probably call the police.

CyRide auctions off old buses that are worn out, and there are a lot of them around town used for tailgating, Bourne said.

The fake bus is a small CyRide bus, called a mini bus, which does not have the outside identity numbers or the CyRide logo on the side, Bourne said. He said they couldn’t identify the bus because they have not gotten the license plate number.