Although increasing gas prices have affected almost everyone in the country with a vehicle, they have not yet affected CyRide.

CyRide, which has 10 bus routes throughout Ames and operates year-round for ISU students and Ames residents, is still staying close to its budget for the year, despite recent fuel price increases.

The service has 7,200 gallons of fuel delivered about every seven to 10 days that are kept in CyRide’s tanks. CyRide gets its diesel fuel from various companies, depending on changing prices.

CyRide’s current budget uses a price of $1.05 per gallon of fuel for one year. Although CyRide is currently paying about seven cents more than what its budget allows, it has not become a problem, said Bob Bourne, director of transportation for CyRide.

Bourne said CyRide was paying less than $1.05 in the fall, so the increase in prices for the spring is not creating a problem, because the lower prices in the fall are balancing out with the higher prices this spring.

“We look at things every year and season and make the adjustments that are needed,” Bourne said.

Most often, prices fluctuate with the season; they usually rise in the summer, drop in the fall, rise again in the winter and then decrease again in the spring. Although prices are not following the expected trend this year, Bourne said he expects they will decrease again in the fall.

Bourne said 70 percent of CyRide’s expenses come from labor expenses, while only 6 percent come from fuel prices, so a small increase in fuel prices should not affect CyRide too much. Fuel prices could still increase seven to eight cents before it would become a problem for CyRide, he said.

Although Bourne is not currently worried about the increasing prices, he said there is concern if the prices continue to rise.

“We worry about prices a year or two from now and try to prepare for those budget changes,” he said.

Stuart Huntington, associate professor of community and regional planning, said although higher fuel prices have not affected CyRide yet, they may in the future.

Huntington agreed prices usually follow a seasonal trend and said he is surprised prices have not decreased, as they normally do in the spring. Fuel prices are often very high in the summer, and Huntington said he does not think that will be different this year.

“I wouldn’t look for fuel prices to decrease again until the fall,” he said.

Huntington said if prices continue to rise, public transportation like CyRide may have to make some changes. Some of these changes may include cutting routes or schedules, charging a higher fare for riders, or getting more revenue from the city or university.

In addition to these changes, he said, a long-term effect is that it would be more difficult for public transportation to compete with other methods of transportation.

Bourne agreed cutting routes and schedules, charging higher fares and getting more revenue would all be possible solutions that could be implemented if fuel prices continued to increase. However, he said, it may not be more difficult for public transportation to compete with other methods of transportation since almost all forms depend upon fuel.

If the prices of diesel fuel increase, then gas prices for cars will likely increase as well. That would make transportation like CyRide more efficient rather than more expensive, Bourne said.