With a little help from the Boy Scouts and the Maple Hall remodeling project, a record-setting number of passengers boarded the CyRide buses last year.

The recorded 2,872,119 passengers amounted to a 4.5 percent increase from last year’s total, said CyRide Director Bob Bourne.

Much of the increase was credited to the chartered CyRide shuttle buses for Boy Scouts attending the National Order of the Arrow Convention held last summer, he said.

The 79,000 Boy Scout riders contributed to the 253.4 percent increase of summer riders in 1998.

The renovation of Maple Hall, which led more students to live off campus, also added to the number of passengers on last year’s bus routes, Bourne said.

He said changes in bus route schedules allowing for more frequent arrival times made it easier for students to travel on buses last year.

Although most routes saw only small increases in the number of passengers, the Red, Brown and Gray routes experienced a dramatic increase in ridership.

The Brown route, which travels from Towers Halls to campus, saw a 10.3 percent increase from 1997.

Deb Dalstrom, a Brown route bus driver, noticed that while the mild winter caused fewer Towers residents to take advantage of CyRide, it did not affect the overall increase in riders for the year.

“[Ridership] was lighter before it got colder,” Dalstrom said. “The nastier it is, the more people you get.”

Some Towers residents said they find the bus convenient to take to class.

“If it’s there and it’s convenient, why not use it?” said Aaron Shady, freshman in pre-engineering and resident of Wilson Hall.

Bourne said the Red route, which runs from North Grand Mall, 2801 Grand Ave., to Mortensen Parkway, carried more than 500,244 passengers in 1998, a 1.2 percent increase from 1997.

He said there are plans to double the number of buses on the Gray route next year to provide more service to students who live in the northern part of Ames.

The Gray route experienced a 98 percent increase in the past two years, and Bourne said CyRide hopes putting more buses on the route will add to the convenience.

CyRide’s plans for the future include extending the Yellow route, which travels south from City Hall on Duff Avenue, to run until 10:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday nights. Bourne said this will allow more time for students to spend at the movie theaters and bowling alley.

Starting in August, Bourne said CyRide will begin using larger buses for the Moonlight Express, a free service on campus that runs from 10 p.m. to 2 a.m. on Fridays and Saturdays.

He said larger buses will be used to provide better service to the increasing number of students who use this route.

“It is important for students to know about this change with the Moonlight Express,” he said. “Many students will not read the sign or board the bus because they are expecting a mini-bus.”

Although the profits from CyRide were higher than ever in 1997, the company has no definite plans to lower prices for bus passes. Bourne said a committee will meet in the spring to vote about fees.

He said most of the profits from this year will be used to pay wages and put additional buses on routes for the added convenience of passengers.

“We’re always happy to have more passengers,” Bourne said.