Ames Group Transportation: Iowa State, Main Street, and Beyond

Quotes we have sent across Iowa start around $350–$495 an hour, which puts a typical four-hour night at $1,645–$2,000. Your price depends on the date, the city, how many hours you need, the bus and your group size.

The city's Special Events page requires the application at least 30 days before an organized event on city property such as streets, sidewalks, parking lots, or parks, and many events also need City Council approval. Events on Iowa State property or in the Main Street Cultural District need additional permission from those parties. Confirm the organizer's approvals before planning a bus route through the event footprint.

Ames states that closing a street on a CyRide route requires City Council approval, and CyRide buses run frequently through Downtown and campus. A longer vehicle should not stop in a CyRide stop or block a route. Ask the venue for a loading point off the transit corridor and check current CyRide detours, since construction changes routes during the year.

The stadium sits in the Iowa State Center complex with tailgating lots and university traffic control along University Boulevard and South 16th Street. Ask the university for its current charter and bus instructions, choose a meeting landmark outside the controlled lots, and expect long minimums because the postgame release is slow. Hotels on South Duff and the I-35 ramps back up at the same time.

Des Moines International Airport (DSM) is the commercial airport, about 35 miles south on I-35. Ames Municipal Airport handles general aviation only, so a charter flight might use it but scheduled airlines do not. State the airport clearly in the request, give the airline and flight number, and agree on waiting terms for the I-35 run if the flight is late.

61% of every request we get is for a Saturday, and another 20% for a Friday. That is why Saturday availability is the first thing to ask about. That's what other Ames planners asked for — your own headcount is what decides it. Count everyone who is actually getting on, then add room for luggage, coolers, instruments or formalwear. Ask each company for the legal seated capacity of the exact vehicle they're offering. Most Ames requests are for weddings, bachelor parties, and bachelorette parties, and those nights want different amounts of floor space for the same headcount. A bus rated for twenty seats is not twenty comfortable seats in formalwear.

Not necessarily. The images here are representative renderings of a vehicle class, not photos of a bus parked in Ames. The company covering your route names the assigned vehicle in writing when you book. Before you pay, make sure that writing gives the specific vehicle, its legal seated capacity, the features you're counting on, and what happens if it's unavailable on the day — including whether a replacement could be a different size or class.

Ask in your first message, before you have a quote. Accessible vehicles are a small slice of any local fleet and they need more lead time. Tell them how many passengers use a wheelchair or mobility device, the type and weight, whether anyone can transfer to a seat, and whether you need a lift or a ramp. Ask in writing how the device is secured, what the usable door and interior height are, and how much notice they need. Then check the accessible entrance and loading spot with each venue — Jack Trice Stadium and Hilton Coliseum and Stephens Auditorium and the Scheman Building at the Iowa State Center set their own access rules, and the right bus is no help at a door it can't reach.