CyRide hosted a public meeting Thursday to discuss proposed changes to its route system.

It took place in the Ames City Hall and although only a handful of people showed up, Ames residents still took the time to learn more and voice concerns.

One of the residents was Angie Schreck, executive director of the Assault Care Center Extending Shelter and Support. 

Public transportation is a big concern for ACCESS as it has scattered locations across Ames. Schreck said many of its clients rely on public transportation, so it is in the organization’s interest for CyRide to effectively serve all of Ames.

“We’re always looking for accessibility for our clients,” Schreck said.

ACCESS also relies on volunteers, especially from Iowa State University. Many of these volunteers rely on CyRide to get around.

Schreck was concerned that no CyRide routes go out toward the south side of Ames by the airport, where ACCESS has recently opened a new office.

“Their option of including a peach route, [which would go out by the airport], would be wonderful for us,” Schreck said.

The issues that affect ACCESS reflect those of countless other organizations in Ames, which is why Sheri Kyras, CyRide director of transit, is leading the change in CyRide’s routes with the public’s best interest in mind.

Kyras recalled the significant amount of growth CyRide has seen in the past eight years, going from 4 million rides per year to 7 million.

“Basically we still have the same route structure [as eight years ago],” Kyras said. “We’ve just added more and more buses to fill our needs. This is about, are we doing this right? Are there other things out there that can make us more efficient?”

Kyras said both of CyRide’s proposed scenarios have received positive feedback from the public.

“People like what we’re doing with both scenarios on the west side,” Kyras said.

CyRide’s change is led by a desire to improve accessibility to its customers. Kyras hopes to decrease wait time, bus crowding and walking distance to bus stops.

“A challenge obviously is we’d like to be doing a lot more, but we have budget constraints,” Kyras said.

CyRide currently has an online survey open to the public where users of the transportation system can voice their concerns and give feedback about what they’d like to see in the upcoming route changes.

The survey can be found at www.surveymonkey.com/r/mycyride.