Out-of-state students looking for a ride home for the weekend now have another way to make the trip.

SchoolRider, a Twin Cities bus service company, began making stops in Ames and Des Moines Sept. 20 and will continue service throughout the academic year.

Patrick Brink, public relations specialist for SchoolRider, said the bus service will provide direct connections from Ames to Minneapolis. Students in Milwaukee, Madison, Wis., Duluth, Minn., Morris, Minn., Fargo, N.D., and Grand Forks, N.D., also have access to SchoolRider.

We talked to parents, students and college administrators and it was a natural decision,Πhe said.

Brink said SchoolRider¡s rates are very competitiveŒ with Greyhound.

Greyhound makes stops in every city,Œ he said. With college students, we don¡t need to do that and they can spend more time at their destinations.Œ

SchoolRider picks students up at the Memorial Union on Fridays and drops off on Sundays, Brink said.

We use luxury coaches with bathrooms and many have VCR and DVD capacity,Œ he said. You also get to ride with other college students.Œ

SchoolRider services are ideal for students without cars or with protective parents. Though not geared toward the general public, their services are open to anyone, Brink said.

Tickets are available exclusively online at www.schoolrider.com.

We believe that college students are very computer-savvy,Œ he said. Instead of trying to find a local place to sell tickets, the Internet provides convenience and we use PayPal, a reputable firm that uses security for transactions.Œ

Ricardo Rodriguez, marketing manager for Greyhound, said its CampusLink program provides Northeastern University and Boston University with non-stop service to Hartford, Conn., and New York.

After being stopped in the early 1990s due to bus strikes, the program was brought back last spring, he said.

Greyhound¡s marketing department is frantically workingŒ to research other areas in the nation that could benefit from campus bus service, Rodriguez said.