Madison Area Bus Ways

Source: University of Wisconsin-Madison, Transportation Services, Division of Facility Planning & Management My Experiences with Madison Metro Transit as a UW-Madison Student Paige Gahagan | November 15, 2023 Like many students attending the University of Wisconsin-Madison, I rely heavily on the bus transportation of Madison’s Metro Transit. I live on the outskirts of campus and take the bus to class every day. Now a junior, I got my first bus pass at the beginning of my sophomore year. It was easy. I simply picked one up at Union South after swiping my Wiscard. Before the bus system was redesigned, I had an easier time getting to and from class. I could take more routes (8, 15, or 70) while many of the new routes (A, B, D, F, G, J and O) are of no use to me. They do not serve the southeast side of campus where many students reside. Rather, I rely heavily on Routes 38 and C. However, the 38 only comes every 30 minutes, not particularly useful since you can miss it wh

The Case for Still Masking on Madison Metro in 2023 Dan Fitch | October 4, 2023 Bus Stop in Downtown Madison in 2022 -- COURTESY Will Cushman We all know that it feels like many Americans have given up on masks in public, but the bus is one place in Madison that you can reliably see some folks masking up. What's the science behind masking on transit? And why might you want to consider joining those who mask on public transit, and encouraging others to mask up?. Attitudes in our society seem to have a steady, almost magnetic drift toward "COVID is over." But a quick look at the wastewater maps , especially right here in Wisconsin , will show that COVID is certainly not over; it's just killing fewer people than at its height. It's still harming folks and disabling them. As I write this, my partner is quarantining with a nasty case of COVID that has left her unable to do much of anything for days. Deaths due to COVID in the US fell below 1000 a we

Experiencing the Post-COVID Transition on a Madison Metro Bus Tianyu Zhao | September 28, 2023 Although COVID-19 seems to have been either forgotten or normalized by many people by 2023, it can still be serious for some, elders especially. Furthermore, those who may have little risk themselves should still take care not to spread the disease. Such thoughts prompted me to wear a mask while on the bus, to see how people reacted, and to see if anyone else still wore a mask. First Day > On the first day, I started my journey at the bus stop near the Nicholas Recreation Center on the UW campus. While waiting for the #80 bus with others who were mostly students going to class, I noticed that no one else wore a mask. That made me feel a bit isolated. Although the bus stop used to have a sign telling passengers that they were required to wear a mask while on the bus, such a sign was no longer there. Nor was there a sign on the bus. This makes sense since most people

Construction Disruption: A Day in the Life of a Madison Metro Transit Rider Krishna Nukala | July 23, 2023 The start of the Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) system construction project may mean that Madisonians will have greater access to public transport, reduced commute times, and more equitable and efficient bus services. However, ever since the start of the BRT construction project in April 2023, transit riders have borne the brunt of road closures, lane closures, bus detours and closed sidewalks. This disruption has led to longer wait times at stops and reduced frequency of buses. “Even though the BRT project was meant to encourage the use of public transport in the future, the fallout from how its construction has been handled lately will only lead to increased frustration among transit riders and eventually reduced ridership”, said Vaibhav Vemuganti, a graduate student at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and a transit rider. A Univerity of Wisconsin Madison Metro

Two shaky methodological fundamentals upon which Metro's network redesign plan and its equity analysis are based are: 1) how proximity is conceived and measured; and 2) how the low income population is conceived and measured when determining equity. Shaky foundations lead to shaky conclusions. How shaky? Sensitivity analyses, often performed by a third party, could provide reasonable estimates. Proximity as Distance and Travel Time "These are simple measures that combine existing distance, time and population information." (p. 40 of the Alternatives Report August 2, 2021) Not simple at all! Let us first consider distance. Distance How realistic is it to consider distance to a bus stop measured with a ruler on a flat map? If measuring distance without consideration for possible impediments is how the Redesign Study came up with its ¼ mile rule, what does one think when reading in the study's own 2021 Alternatives report: For transit, freeways are barriers, not c

The purpose of this note is simple: it provides a snapshot of what an independent review could do and shows why one is necessary for the bus redesign's study report. In reporting results from the survey performed in the first phase of research in 2021, Table 3 on page 6 of Phase I Community Engagement Report reports that 17% of the entire sample thought "maximize access to jobs and opportunities" was one of transit's top objectives. Many more - 29% - thought "basic access to everyone who needs it, wherever they are" was one of transit's top objectives. Thus the report muses thoughtfully (p.6): "This particular response data ... suggests the desire for more of a coverage network among all respondents, including frequent transit riders, lower-income individuals, people of color, persons with disabilities, seniors, and young adults." Also according to the figures in Table 3, roughly 58% (1,606/2,764) of the respondents are "frequent trans