Madison Area Bus Ways

Figure 1: Proportion of Population Of All Ages Non-Driver in Dane County by Town, Village or City - April 2024 Source: https://experience.arcgis.com/experience/afd5879501f344039f2c2482e959cdf5/page/Page/ on 5/9/2025 It may come as a surprise to some that even with a rather restrictive definition, between 30 and 40 percent of Dane County's population is non-driver according to the Wisconsin Department of Transportation. Non-drivers are restricted to those who do not have a registered car or driver license. They tend to be youths, aging adults, low-income individuals, disabled people or people who just prefer not to drive themselves. They also live throughout Dane County. Someone who mainly uses a non-car travel mode such as a bicycle but still drives a motor vehicle on occasion may be an ally but is not a non-driver according to this definition. In contrast, someone who rides everywhere in a car but is always driven by someone else is a non-driver. This is a short geograph...

What’s Better: Traveling by Bus or Car? Aeinna Kumar | March 8, 2025 While traveling by car offers more scheduling flexibility and privacy than traveling by bus, there are also many benefits to traveling by bus that at times can make it the preferred travel mode. Traveling by bus instead of by car can be more affordable, better for the environment and results in less traffic. I am a college student in Madison. I used the Madison bus when starting college in 2022 because I had no other ride option. It was a good experience. Although I later got a driver license and car, and started driving to college, I will never forget the experience of traveling by bus. That included walking about 1.2 miles from my home to the bus stop. While driving can be convenient because you can travel on your own schedule, using the bus teaches patience and can be the reason to wake up and get out of the house to do something every day. Using the bus helped me realize what I am working ...