Popular bus routes 10 and 11, which travel through the Bassett Street neighborhood and on to campus and east to the Capitol, will no longer travel the isthmus on a daily basis. The new bus schedule that removes the 10 and 11 routes will take effect Jan. 20. Though a commuter will not see the 10 or 11 bus barreling down Bassett, Madison Metro Transit schedule planner Colin Conn said he does not believe cancellation is the right way to describe the bus routes’ fate.
“Cancelled is such a harsh word,” Conn said. “They’re going to be replaced.” He explained that bus route 38 will provide service for the 11 route, and the 3 and 4 buses will replace route 10. Conn also said the 9 will replace the number 10 bus on Johnson Street.
“They are nice routes,” Conn said. Conn, whose job it is to schedule the times and routes for the Metro, said the new routes will be a “pipe dream” in terms of efficiency and service.
Conn said the new bus schedules will allow a bus to arrive at a bus stop every 15 minutes instead of every half hour. The new routes will also cut down on “bus caravans”; instead of buses following each other, the arrival times will be split up more efficiently.
“Mostly, we’re trying to improve service on the east side,” he said, adding the new routes will provide a more direct line east of the Capitol instead of “taking a tour” for some several extra minutes.
Though Metro’s position is that this will both improve service and efficiency, some members of the community believe it might be ill conceived. Gina Hayes, a University of Wisconsin staffer who works on west campus and lives in the Bassett neighborhood, voiced concern of the bus routes that will soon be absent from her area.
“Primarily students and a couple of disabled people live in our neighborhood … and our bus is so crowded,” she said, adding she thinks the bus company should post the changed schedules and routes at the current bus stops so passengers know the alterations. “(I think they’re popular) especially because they go all the way to the hospital and Linden.”
Conn did acknowledge doubters and said he “can see their point, but the new routes (aren’t) that much different,” and added he is not worried “in the least”about overcrowding of buses.
City Council president Mike Verveer, who also lives in the Bassett neighborhood but normally walks to his law classes on campus, has heard uneasiness about the upcoming bus schedules from people living in the Marquette neighborhood east of the Capitol.
“I’m taking a wait and see attitude,” he said, adding he’s hopeful the professionals at Madison Metro changed the number 10 — the city’s fourth-most popular route — and the 11 productively.
“I believe the passengers will be well taken care of,” Verveer said.