Iowa State Daily Editorial Board: Tim Davis, Jamey Hansen, Tim Frerking, Chris Mende and Keesia Wirt.

Due to a decrease in people riding Cy-Ride’s red, green and blue routes, Cy-Ride is considering doing a study on charging riders 25 cents for riding the orange route, which is currently free.

According to the Department of Public Safety, the decrease in riders is attributed to the fact that commuters can drive to school and park for free in lots A4 and B6 at the Iowa State Center, then ride the orange route for no charge.

The orange route is the only bus route that, for the most part, is designed to get people solely around the ISU campus and not the entire town of Ames.

Because Cy-Ride is having trouble getting people who live off-campus to ride the bus does not mean they should punish the people who use the the orange route around campus.

If Cy-Ride puts a cost on shuttling around campus, it discourages people from using the free parking which was designed to bring commuters to campus in the first place.

Although Cy-Ride’s intentions may be to prevent people from driving to campus, it will also affect those students who use the orange route to get to and from the College of Veterinary Medicine, the Iowa State Center for various school-related functions, and those who simply wish to get around campus during the day.

Currently, there is an emphasis to keep people from parking on central campus by letting them park at the Iowa State Center and commute, but if there is a charge for parking there it will discourage them from parking at the center and could result in more people deciding they may as well park on central campus.