Partying students looking for a ride to their next Friday night stop may have more of a wait this semester due to changes to CyRide’s Moonlight Express.

“Basically, we’re having people walk a little bit to get to the primary bus routes,” said George Smith, a CyRide supervisor.

Students who were accustomed to being picked up at their house don’t have that luxury unless they are located in areas not heavily populated by students, such as northeastern and southwestern Ames. Students in those areas will now be picked up by a door-to-door minibus and may have to transfer to a bus on the main routes.

“It’s a lot more efficient for us,” Smith said. “Before, we were just bouncing around town like pingpong balls with the smaller buses.”

CyRide has implemented three shuttle routes to cover the majority of Ames. Routes A and B run every 20 minutes, and Route C runs every 40 minutes.

Brian England, a Moonlight Express driver, has received a lot of complaints from veteran riders who claim the express is not what it used to be.

“Most of the complaining went on in the first two weeks,” England said. “Now you don’t hear so many.”

“I don’t think it’s a good idea,” said Andrew Osborne, junior in political science.

Osborne is concerned that walking might discourage students from taking the bus.

“If people don’t want to walk to a bus stop, then they might drive drunk,” Osborne said. “That’s not a good thing.”

Despite the changes to CyRide’s service, there are more people riding than before, said England, who drives between 10:30 p.m. and 2:30 a.m.

Budget constraints were part of the reason for route and service changes, Smith said.

“We’re looking to save money,” he said. “Our costs were getting out of control.”

Larger buses are being used by CyRide a lot more now, which is cheaper and “a lot safer” because of a surplus of room and good lighting, Smith said. Packing intoxicated people into a small bus “led to a lot of fights.”

The Moonlight Express began running in 1984 and was funded solely with student fees until 1998 when partial funding from Iowa State and the city of Ames began. The service offers free rides on Friday and Saturday nights when school is in session. Students looking for a ride may call the dispatcher to receive directions to the nearest bus stop.