Ames alcohol drinkers can avoid driving drunk by catching CyRide or using the Ames Taxi Service, both available throughout the day and night.

“Cabs are a good alternative for getting home after a night out drinking,” said Terry Engel, driver and manager of the Ames Taxi Service. “We are available 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and we are quite affordable.”

CyRide is another option.

CyRide provides transportation with fixed routes to several different destinations all over Ames. The buses run daily from 6 a.m. to midnight and cost 35 cents for students when they present a current student fee card.

The “Moonlight Express” route runs through the campus area free of charge on Friday and Saturday from 10 p.m. to 2 a.m.

“It is totally free and very safe after a night out drinking,” said Mike Peterson, senior in elementary education.

“The only bad thing is it isn’t available during weekdays, or after 2 a.m. during Friday and Saturday,” he said. “If my friends and I go out drinking, we make sure we have a sober designated driver, or we call the Ames Taxi Service because sometimes we are still partying after 2 a.m. and need a ride home.”

Catching a ride with CyRide, Ames Taxi Service or a sober designated driver are recommended alternatives to driving after drinking.

Ames Police Chief Dennis Ballantine said someone who drinks three to four cans of beer or one shot of hard liquor in an hour will probably have a .10 blood-alcohol level, the point at which a person can be charged with drunk driving.

“If someone has a blood-alcohol level of .10 or above, and we, the police, pull them over, then their first offense could mean two days in jail and a $750 dollar fine. They will lose their license for six months, their insurance goes way up, and they must take a drunk-driving class,” Ballantine said.

“If they’re stupid enough to drive while intoxicated the second time and be pulled over, the consequences will be more severe and they could lose their license for up to a year due to drinking and driving,” he said.

CyRide Transit Director Bob Bourne said Ames students and residents should take control of their actions and avoid the consequences of driving drunk.

“The funding of CyRide is allocated by the CyRide Transit Board, who obtain money through a variety of subsidies,” Bourne said.

The CyRide board has six members, consisting of ISU students and administration and Ames residents, such as Ames City Council members. The board allocates its subsidies to maintain operating costs, providing services for students who are not able to drive themselves.

“The city of Ames pays 34 percent, while the university administration pays 14 percent, and the government student fee allocation [$19.73 per ISU student] pays for 50 percent of the CyRide operating cost of $3.5 million per year,” said Warren Madden, ISU vice president of business and finance and administration member of the CyRide Transit Board.

“If each student is paying $19.73 per semester, they might as well use the CyRide they are paying for and not drive after drinking,” Madden said.