NEWS
Students could see bus route changes
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by Lynn Heidmann
Tuesday, March 28, 2006
Proposals to change some Madison Metro bus routes faced debate at a neighborhood meeting for students and campus area residents Monday.
Since proposals would change services on several routes in southwest Madison, neighborhoods around the city were asked to meet and give feedback to staff members before the public hearing in May.
Though Madison Metro transit schedule planner Colin Conn said he regrets eliminating service, it all comes down to statistics and availability of funding.
"We could do anything without money constraints, but unfortunately there are all kinds of tradeoffs," he said. "I hope we will have [more timely] schedules, and if you've got to save money doing it, that's what you have to do."
The biggest concerns presented regarded eliminating service in several areas to create more economic and time efficient routes elsewhere.
Yet Associated Students of Madison bus pass coordinator Margaret Bergamini noted not all of the route changes and money constraints will affect students negatively.
For example, she said students living south of Regent Street would greatly benefit from increased bus coverage in the area.
"I think that there are some changes that greatly improve service for the student community, and there will be some things that affect them a little more negatively," Bergamini said. "But many of the changes will be positive."
Additionally, Conn said one proposal that would immensely improve bus service on campus would be the introduction of a new route, which he said will be paid for by the University of Wisconsin Transportation Department.
The new route, which would run until 6 p.m., will be a 15-minute loop servicing the new residence halls on Park Street and allow them to directly connect to the rest of campus.
"We always have the purpose of improving transportation to, from and around campus," Conn said.
UW freshman Brandon Roeder agreed introduction of a new south campus loop connecting the new dorms and offices to other campus areas will be extremely helpful to new students.
He also said it is helpful the Metro services are considering this new area in advance so incoming students can take advantage of the resource.
"I think connecting the new southeast area housing to other parts of campus can only be a positive, especially during winter," Roeder noted.
Several residents at the meeting expressed concern for eliminating service in less dense areas in favor of quicker routes.
Yet Conn argued the consideration is difficult because it is a debate between taking out unnecessary loops to save riders five minutes every day and making others walk 10 minutes.
"This is difficult because we can't make everything work for everybody," he added.
Conn said there will be several other neighborhood meetings before the public Parking and Transit Commission meeting in April, and Madison Metro will take suggestions into account and work on "tweaking" routes to accommodate as many needs as possible.
"Having forums like this is a good thing because we have people taking notes identifying the problems," he said. "Now there are things we can look at and try to make sure they work."
Susan De Vos (March 28, 2006 @ 8:32am):
While it is good that Metro is connecting with groups around the city, the constraints on service cited are often artificial and could be more flexible than might appear. Metro itself may not have the resources alone to provide the service it would like to, but it would be possible for Metro to partner more with other entities, thereby extending its purview. A good example currently is the UW's involvement with certain routes as well as its unlimited pass program.
What about other institutions in the vicinity? Has Metro even looked into the possibility? If not, why not? Instead of route numbers, specially-funded routes could be named after the benefactor, similar to the way UW now often names buildings including the art museum. Good bus service widens the geographic area for student housing options among other things.
