This is the third part in a series about the leaders of the City of Madison.

Ald. Robbie Webber, District 5, represents a large portion of the University of Wisconsin student population, and since 2001 she has been working to make transportation easier and safer for the people of Madison — especially its student population.

Webber said she concentrates on issues involving traffic flow in the city, including bike lanes and parking. Because Madison is located in a relatively small area between two lakes, it is far denser, and therefore functions as if it were a very large city in terms of parking and traffic, she added.

According to Webber, most complaints she receives relate to traffic issues.

"Rude drivers and speeders are a big problem in any city," Webber said. "But when you have lots of kids in the area and people speeding down the street, that's a huge deal."

Currently, Webber is working to increase funding for the busing system in the city. She said people are increasingly moving farther away from the center of the city or campus for cheaper, nicer housing. Yet at the same time, she added, the city is trying to cut back on funding for busing, which only discourages this movement.

Webber said she is also working with the university on a new Campus Master Plan that was introduced last week. The plan deals with land use and where new buildings will go on campus.

"Land use and transportation use are very closely linked," Webber said. "Depending on where buildings are located, we can promote public transportation, walking or biking instead of driving."

Promoting alternate forms of transportation would also help with the ongoing problem of parking. She said parking has always been a problem for the UW campus.

"The thing that has changed is now everyone expects to be able to park their cars," Webber said.

Besides acting passionately about issues concerning parking, traffic and transportation on campus, Webber said she is strongly concerned with student involvement in city government.

Involvement in city government by the general population is infrequent, Webber said, and involvement by students is even rarer.

On campus, Webber's constituents include everyone west of Camp Randall Stadium, which includes half of the Lakeshore Residence Halls, the engineering campus, the pharmacy school and the hospital. However, because she does not appear in the media as often as other alders, a lot of her constituents do not know who she is.

Jacob Halverson, a UW student and one of Webber's constituents, admitted he did not know Webber was his alder, even though he considered himself well informed about the local news and government.

"I do not know who [my representative] is partly because I am still unacquainted with the city of Madison," Halverson said. "But also, I don't know what kinds of things he or she has done to help me personally as a student on campus."

Webber said she enjoyed being a part of the political process and people should get involved because it is good to have a voice in the community. However, Webber also expressed her occasional frustration with the common council and the political scene.

"Many people do or say things for personal advancement in government and they like to play to the media," Webber said. "I think it's important to just work for the greater good of the city."