Our architect has been busying developing various designs for the south side storage addition. Final design will be selected on April 26. Construction is still on schedule to be started in the late summer or early fall. (Bob)

OPERATIONS:

Summer Schedule Highlights
There will be a 10-minute Red/Blue route running from about 730am to 11:30am and 3:00pm to 5:30pm. The Red East follows the Red to State Gym, and then becomes the Blue North through campus. The morning Blue North trips will travel straight up Stange Road to 24th to #40 Schilletter where it will run a Blue South to campus. At Kildee Hall, it becomes the Red West bus like this last school year. In the afternoon, the Blue North bus will use the normal route through UV and Schilletter, then use 24th to Stange to campus where it becomes the Red West.

Yellow route will not run from 11:00am to 3:15pm except for a singe 12:26pm trip (including Saturday).

Orange route will detour while Union Drive is closed. After leaving Beardshear, it will use Morril Road west of the Union to Lincoln Way to Beach and back on route. The stop at Lincoln Way & Beach will be temporarily put back for anyone wanting the Linden Hall stop.

Purple will detour while Union Drive is closed. From the Friley Food Dock, it will use Union Drive - Bissell - Pammel - Wallace - Osborn and back on route.

Driver Run Picks: Summer and Fall run picks will be on the following dates:

Summer Full Time: April 5 to April 8
Fall Full Time: April 12 to April 15
Summer Part Time: April 13 to April 19
Fall Part Time: April 21 to April 30

There will be handouts for the newer drivers in April about how run pick works and what to expect. Check the windows near Barb’s office for late breaking run pick news. (Tom D.)

Gates on Osborn Drive: When encountering a gate that will not open along Osborn Drive, contact base for assistance. The dispatchers have gate keys, which will open these gates if they refuse to open. Do not take matters into your own hands. Breaking off a gate arm does damage to the gate’s electronics and internal mechanisms. (George)

Help a Laneworker: Now that the weather is warming, when you return to base to park your bus at the end of your shift, please close all windows and roof vents. Also walk through your bus and pick-up any rubbish or lost items. Doing the above will make the laneworker’s life easier when they clean and refuel your bus. (George)

Spring Forward: Daylight Savings Time begins Sunday, April 4^th. Don’t forget to set your clocks one hour ahead. (George)

Window to Window: All Drivers and Dispatchers should be wearing only their CyRide issued uniform when they report for duty. It is fine to wear your own coats, jackets, etc to and from work. However, when you report to the Dispatch window and go out to your bus you should have only your CyRide uniform on. If you would like uniform shorts or any other items and do not have them please let Joanne know and she will order them for you. (Barb)

New Instructors: Congratulations to our new instructors for successfully completing the Instructor training program.

Angela, Eric O., Jordan, Nathan S., Ben F., Seth and Ian.

VEISHEA: VEISHEA is Friday, April 16 and Saturday, April 17. We will NOT be providing the free shuttle service (parade shuttle) between Iowa State Center and campus on Saturday, April 17, before the parade and after the parade.

There will be numerous road closings for the festivities. Typically, they close Welch Ave. and Lower Friley on Friday, April 16 through Sunday, April 18. On Saturday, most of campus will be closed for the parade. We will post information on the window between the office and garage, as it becomes available. (Barb)

School Tours: It is that time of year, CyRide will be helping pre-school and grade school students become better bus riders. We charge a $20 user free. This fee can be applied toward ticket booklets.

CyRide offers two individual programs: a Pre-Riders program designed for younger children and an Independent Riders program designed for older children. Each program includes a bus wash, safety talk, and several promotional items. If you are interested in being involved in school tours, please let Brent or Jenny know. (Barb)

The air-conditioning season is rapidly approaching. The shop will be busy cleaning the systems and adding Freon where needed. When you run your AC, if it is not adequate, please write up a card.

983, a bus formerly known as PACE, is being slowly readied for service, just waiting for a 40 foot Gillig to collapse into a pile of rust. It should be out sometime in the early summer.

912 is in the paint shop and will return to service soon after its extreme makeover. The mini paint jobs on the 980 and 981 will be expanded to look like 982 over the summer.

More Madison Orion V’s are coming our way. We purchased nine used buses and they will be stored at CIT during the summer and then slowly added to our fleet as other buses fade away.

We will be buying a load of soy diesel and using it in some of the old Orions, some GM’s, and some of the 40 foot Gilligs. If the fuel reduces odors and emissions, we will use it in the old buses whenever the weather is above 50 degrees. Below 50 degrees at fuel delivery time can cause some problems.

Don Tope has been promoted to mechanic to replace Dan Rekemeyer who has started a lawn care business. We will be looking for a mechanic assistant in April.

We still have not been able to find a maintenance supervisor. The job title and duties are being changed and we will be looking for an Assistant Transit Director – Maintenance and Facilities. We are going to advertise in Passenger Transport and hope to have a good group of applicants by early May.