If Iowa State University were a heart, it would be experiencing the first symptoms of a heart attack. The high enrollment at Iowa State has been like copious amounts of cheeseburgers and bacon slowly clogging the arteries of campus.

CyRide, the crucial blood platelets of the university, are being jam-packed with passengers. And while CyRide has been able to add more buses, work still needs to be done.

Members of the CyRide transit board have appeared before the Ames City Council to plead for help in figuring out how to combat the influx of students riding during the winter months (and even in nicer weather). Matthew Goodman, a member of the Ames City Council, sits on the CyRide transit board and has constantly kept the ISU bus service at the forefront of many conversations. While council members are trying to find new accommodations in Ames for the dense student population, Goodman continues to point out how new living spaces will affect CyRide.

And although CyRide is a crucial part of the ebb and flow of transportation at Iowa State, it seems nothing is being done to relieve the stress of drivers and students.

On any given day, one can see a line of red and yellow vehicles backed up from the design building to State Gym. The transfer stop is crowded more than ever with students coming from West Ames to campus, trying to find the right bus to get them to Science I or Kildee Hall.

Professors, lecturers and all educators, let it be known that the days of making it from the design building to the Food Science Building, in the 10-minute window that you could do in 2005, are over. With nearly 35,000 students making the trek from one class to another, the sidewalks have become a battleground for space and time. Work with us on your attendance policies; we aren’t coming in late on purpose.

For students, watch where you’re going. Time and time again you’ve heard from the Iowa State Daily editorial board to be mindful of others and passing buses. With a record spring enrollment, it’s more crucial this semester than any other spring semesters before. With more and more of us using CyRide to get around campus because of the nearly zero degree temperatures, allow yourself time to get from class to class. It isn’t appropriate to assume a CyRide driver is able to slam on his or her breaks at your convenience, nor is it their responsibility to take fault when hitting a car or student because you were too caught up in your texting or that Taylor Swift song on your iPod.

Whatever can be done to aid the drivers and all of those who go into operating the CyRide transportation system should be done. It’s hard to ask for more money for one budget against hundreds of others, but CyRide operators are in the trenches dealing with aimlessly wandering students and overcrowded buses each and every day. At the very least, send them a thank you.

Although there have been successes already in addressing the increased enrollment issue, there is still plenty of work to be done. Hopefully working toward coming up with a way to ease the stress of the CyRide operation is at the top of that to-do list.