Service Reductions: 996 fewer ISU students has meant a large decrease in ridership. We expect to finish the year somewhere between 8% to 10% lower than last year. The bigger problem is that fewer students means less revenue through student fees, and the Transit Board adopted a budget that will require $112,000 in service cuts, primarily on routes that are mostly ISU student riders. Final decisions are expected on Feb. 16.

The student trust fund that provides the revenue for CyRide will be about $140,000 in debt by the end of the year and will probably not change in the following year. Enrollment projections show a further decrease of another 1,000 students over the next four years. Iowa is one of the few states in the U.S. that has a decreasing number of high school graduates. Add in the high tuition increases in the last few years and the difficulty for international students to get student visas, and you have the primary reasons for decreases at ISU and for our ridership loss.

We have done several things this year to cut costs, like eliminating most travel and training and Iowa Public Transit Assn membership. Two part time positions with health benefits are open and will not be filled next year. We have also lowered our fund balance, which is similar to your checking account balance, to accommodate the increases in fuel prices. Many drivers are shutting off their buses and driving more gently when schedules allow it. The extra efforts to avoid waste are greatly appreciated.

Winter Is Officially Here: Our first major snowstorm has finally arrived. Everyone did an outstanding job, especially all the new drivers – Bravo!

Interior Temperature of Your Bus: As the weather continues to stay cold we should talk a little about the interior bus temperatures. All buses heat differently, and weather conditions will affect the interior temperature of your bus. Drivers should frequently walk through the bus to monitor the temperature of the passenger seating area as well as referring to the interior thermometer. During winter, drivers will maintain their passenger compartment temperatures between 65-68 degrees F. This ensures that passengers in winter clothing do not become uncomfortable. If the heater does not raise the temperature to this comfort range, the dispatcher should be notified. (Barb/George)

Uniforms: Now that we may be experiencing some colder, more unpleasant weather, I want to remind you that you can get some extra uniform items to keep you warm. If you would like a stocking hat, vest, or sweater, talk to Joanne. If we do not have one on hand, we can order one for you. You should always be wearing CyRide issued items. No other jackets, caps, hats, etc. should be worn when driving. (Karen)

Gate Cards in Windows: Drivers, please do not stow your gate card between the two panes of the driver’s window. When the window is inadvertently closed on the card, it causes internal damage (crimping of the card) rendering the gate card useless. (George)

Mini-van Necessities: The mini-vans (units 968 and 969) are stocked with glass cleaner and paper towels if you should need them to keep these vehicles tidy. They are located in the black plastic box in the back of these vehicles. (George)

Awards: Congratulations to the drivers who were recently honored for earning Safe Driver Awards. They are: Rick Maxwell-21yrs., Jim Prior-18yrs., Bob Sturm-9yrs., Pete Baty-8yrs., Julie Orning-7yrs., Nathan Shimanek-5yrs., Blair Burroughs-3yrs., Rosemary Scott-2yrs., James Carver-1yr., Nathan Sanderson-1yr.

Congratulations also go out to the drivers who earned the Perfect Record Award for 2004. They are: Rick Maxwell-15yrs., Glenn Crosswait-13yrs., Randy Lien-12yrs., Karen Goodman-6yrs., Phil Hodges-6yrs., Paul Klimesh-4yrs., Noel Owenson-4yrs., Ray Coffey-2yrs., Nancy Nelson-2yrs., Rosemary Scott-2yr., Chris Williams-2yrs., Joni Etheredge-1yr., Angela Beaman-1yr., Nathan Shimanek-1yr., Angie Weller-1yr., Eric Williamson-1yr., John Botten-1yr., Janeen Goedken-1yr., Kody Harris-1yr., Joe Johannsen-1yr., Jim Lee-1yr., Eric Ollie-1yr., Bob Sturm-1yr. (Karen)

Current Memos Book: We are working on bringing back the Current Memos Book to keep in the break room. This will be a binder that will have copies of all current memos (except those that expire such as Holiday or Special Event topics). We are currently working on copying current memos and putting the book together. It should be out within the next week. You can use this book to look up memos to refresh your self on procedure, changes, and reminders. All policies changes or updates can be found in the copy of the Driver’s Manual in the break room, which is up to date.

The memo book has been used in the past but was difficult to keep up to date. All of us who write memos are going to do our best to put a copy of new memos in the book and then keep it up to date. Let me know if you have comments. (Karen)

HIRING AND TRAINING:

VOERC UROY ERBKA (Nancy Nelson)

Hiring Test: 12 people attended the hiring test we held on January 24. Since we are currently fully staffed, the test was given to update our list of people who are eligible to be hired. The eligible applicants will be trained in late spring, through the summer to be ready for fall semester.

Instructor Training: Our annual Spring Break instructor training will be held again this year. We will be contacting drivers who meet the criteria of 1040 driving hours and an employee performance score of 3.25 or higher in mid-February. Talk with Barb or Jenny if you are interested or have any questions.

Stop Requested: The shop has recently started an equipment improvement project that will standardize the "Stop Requested" light on older buses. Once the conversion is complete, the light should stay on until a door is opened like the 50 and 70 series. Units 900, 909, 910, 912, 966, 980, 982, 983, and 984 have been converted. Schedule permitting, the project should be complete by March 1st.

An update was recently received from Orion on the four new buses being built for CyRide. As it stands now, the last new bus should come off the assembly line on June 15^th with delivery scheduled shortly thereafter. Work is also progressing on specifications for a new shop truck. The new shop truck will replace unit 854. (Rich)

HISTORY: Bus 884 on Feb. 16, 1982 at 5^th/Clark. The driver was Karen Martens running an extra from Central Jr. High (now City Hall) on the Red route going north. This trip routinely averaged about 85 to 90 junior high school students. 884 was originally from Long Beach, CA, number 5110, and is shown before it was painted in CyRide colors. It was sold to the Chicagoland Bus Museum last summer and is now being auctioned on eBay until Feb. 6. (Bob)