If you ride the bus have you checked for Madison Metro route changes that might impact you? Feedback mostly seems to be about the UW Campus Route, Route 3, bus stops and Route 35. Hearing on Wednesday! Send you comments in today!
There is a short summary of proposed changes but be sure to look at the longer versions that describe in detail why the changes are being made. So far the comments (at the end) seem more negative than positive and seem to have some pretty big impacts. These route changes seem to be the most significant in recent years. See notes from neighborhood listserves at the end.
HOW TO GIVE FEEDBACK
5:00 pm Transportation Commission Madison Municipal Bldg 215 Martin Luther King Jr Blvd, Room 215 Madison, WI 53703
Public hearing is at 6:00.
Interested persons are encouraged to attend the public hearing to give feedback. Consideration will be given to views and comments expressed at the public hearing as well as to all written comments received.
Comments can be submitted at mymetrobus.com/feedback. Written comments can also be sent to: Metro Transit Public Hearing Comments, 1245 E. Washington Ave., Suite 201, Madison WI 53703 or emailed to mymetrobus@cityofmadison.com.
The Madison Municipal Building is accessible to people who use mobility aids and is equipped with assistive listening devices.
If you need an interpreter, translator, materials in alternate formats or other accommodations to access this service, activity or program, please contact Metro Transit at (608) 266-4904 at least three business days prior to the meeting.
SUMMARY OF PROPOSED CHANGES
Here’s a brief description of the changes. The full packet of changes is here and it has maps.
Route 3 – Improve On-Time Performance (Impacts routes 4, 7 and 37 and bus stops on Jennifer, Atwood and Walter)
This route chronically misses connections at transfer points, which causes large numbers of passengers to miss transfers and be late throughout the day. With a goal of reducing late buses to transfer points by 50%, a number of changes are being proposed to speed up the route including:
- Westbound service shift from MLK Jr. Blvd. to King St.
- Eastbound service shift from Winnebago St./Atwood Ave. to Eastwood Dr.
- “Via Division” segment eliminated – all trips operate “Via Winnebago.”
Consolidate stops on Jenifer St., Atwood Ave., and Walter St.
Additional routes affected:
• Route 4: Westbound service shift from MLK Jr. Blvd. to King St.
• Route 7: Eastbound service shift from Winnebago and Atwood to Eastwood
• Route 37: Eastbound service shift from Winnebago and Atwood to Eastwood.
Routes 32, 33 & 39 – To Serve New Pinney Library
- Route 32: Service shift from Acewood to Dempsey. Service loop proposed to operate counterclockwise at all times.
- Route 33: Service loop proposed to reverse.
- Route 39: Service removed from Buckeye and Vondron. All trips operate via Dempsey.
Route 29 – Northside Town Center Park & Ride Removed
• Service shifted from Packers/Northport to Aberg/Sherman Ave.
Route 35 – Cottontail
• Service removed from Kings Mill.
• Loop reversed on Langley/Cottontail
Route 50 – Rayovac Dr.
• Service shifted from Struck to Rayovac Dr.
Route 67 – West Towne Mall
- Service shifted from Ganser/West Towne Mall road to High Point/Mineral Point Rd.
UW Campus – Routes 80, 81, 82 & 84
- Routes 80 & 84: Revised routes schedules to help with overcrowding and keep buses on schedule.
- Routes 81 & 82: Revised late-night service
Bus Stop Changes
- Select stops are proposed to close, shift or change on Jenifer, Winnebago, Atwood, Walter, Odana, Mills, Regent, Gorham, Johnson, Hamilton, Milwaukee, Spaight, Rogers, Rutledge, and Oakridge.
SPECIFIC ROUTE CHANGES
Routes 3 & 4 – Reroute westbound buses from MLK Jr. to King St.
Staff propose shifting westbound Routes 3 and 4 service from MLK JR. Blvd. to King St. The shift will:
- Reduce travel time by 2 minutes
- Improve on-time performance – reroutes from several signalized intersections and heavypedestrian crossing areas on MLK Jr. Blvd.
- Improve consistency and ease of service – eastbound and westbound buses follow the same routing pattern. Also eliminates current confusion of westbound buses passing eastbound passengers at stop on Main at Pinckney.
- Westbound riders from City-County, Madison Municipal and Monona Terrace buildings will have to walk two blocks to stop on the Capitol Square, or King at Wilson.
Routes 3, 7 & 37 – Reroute eastbound buses from Atwood Ave. to Eastwood Dr.
Staff propose moving eastbound buses to Eastwood Dr. for quicker, more direct service.
- New stop will be added at the pedestrian crossing on Eastwood at Russell St.
- Reduces travel time by 2 minutes.
- All trips travel via Winnebago, to Eastwood. Spaight, Rutledge and Division streets will continue to be served by Route 38 during peak periods only.
Consolidation of stops on Jenifer, Atwood & Walter
Consolidating stops will greatly reduce travel times and missed transfers. All proposed stop locations abide by Metro’s adopted bus stop spacing guideline of 1⁄4 mile between stops.
Route 32 – Move service from Acewood Blvd. to Dempsey Rd.
Staff propose shifting service from Acewood Blvd., where there is low ridership, to Dempsey Rd. between Milwaukee and Cottage Grove Rd. New routing provides additional service to the new Pinney Branch Library on Cottage Grove Rd. at Dempsey. Route 35 would still serve Acewood between Milwaukee and Cottage Grove Rd. during peak hours.
Proposed route would also operate consistent, counter-clockwise service all day. Currently Route 32 reverses directions at different times in service.
Route 33 – Reverse service
Route 33 currently operates clockwise during the morning peak period and counter-clockwise in the afternoon peak. Staff propose to flip that so the route would operate counter-clockwise for the morning commute, and clockwise for the evening commute. This changes coincides with the proposed Route 32 change to better service residents on Merryturn Rd.
Route 39 – Eliminate service on Buckeye & Vondron roads
Proposal includes eliminating Route 39 service from Buckeye and Vondron roads in order to serve the Pinney Branch Library during peak commute times. All trips leaving the East Transfer Point will use Dempsey to Cottage Grove Rd
Route 29 – Move service from Packers Ave. to Sherman Ave.
Metro will no longer be able to utilize the Northside Towne Center park-and-ride lot. Due to this change, staff propose moving service from Packers Ave., to more residential Sherman Ave.
Route 35 – Eliminate service on Kings Mill Way
Staff propose to remove bus service on Kings Mill Way and reverse the direction of service to reduce tight, hard right turns.
Route 50 – Eliminate service from Struck to serve Watts & Rayovac
Staff propose to remove service from Struck and shift to Watts and Rayovac to provide all day service to high density job center, Exact Sciences.
Route 67 – Shift Service to High Point Rd. and Mineral Point Rd.
- Proposal eliminates service on interior West Towne Mall streets and shift service to more reliable streets.
- Also addresses winter weather travel issues on the hill on Ganser Way.
- Route 67 service extends farther west to serve high density areas near Tree Lane.
- Route 67 & 15 service is more consistent.
- Riders traveling to Metcalfe’s Market will have a 0.25 mile walk to nearest stops on Mineral Point or D’Onofrio.
Routes 80 & 84
Route 84 proposed routing to UW Hospital
Staff proposed re-routing Route 84 to serve the UW Hospital, and serve both westbound and eastbound stops along the route.
Route 80 & 84 proposal for standard weekday service:
- From 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. (mid-day): Route 80 operates every 5 minutes between the UW Hospital and Lake St., Route 84 operates every 15 minutes between Eagle Heights and Charter St.
- From 4:30 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. (afternoon peak): Route 80 operates every 7 minutes between Eagle Heights and Lake St., Route 84 operates every 30 minutes.
Route 80 proposal for standard weekend service:
• Increased frequency on Route 80 from noon to 8 p.m. Bus to operate every 25 minutes.
Routes 81 & 82
Staff propose a complete restructure of Routes 81 and 82 late night service. Service eliminated east of Franklin St. Route 81 proposed to serve west side of campus, Route 82 to serve east. [Proposed routing on next page.]
Proposed Bus Stop Changes
Gorham/ Johnson St.
Move bus stops towards signalized intersections and to locations that are more accessible. New stop locations are also better placed for event detouring.
- Close bus stops on: Gorham at Hancock, Gorham at Pinckney, Gorham at Carroll, Johnson at Carroll, Johnson at Pinckney, Johnson at Hamilton and Hamilton at Johnson.
- Open new stops on: Gorham/ Johnson at Butler, Gorham/Johnson at Wisconsin, Johnson at State, and Johnson at Butler.
Milwaukee St.
Even out bus stop spacing on Milwaukee St. between E. Washington and Fair Oaks.
- Close bus stops on Milwaukee at: Farwell, Waubesa, Oak, the railroad crossing and eastbound at Fair Oaks.
- Open new stops on Milwaukee at: Corry and the Starkweather Creek Path.
Spaight, Rutledge and Oakridge
Improve on-time performance and even out bus stop spacing.
- Close bus stops on: westbound Spaight at Baldwin, northbound Rogers at Spaight, Rutledge at Russell, and Oakridge at Dunning.
- Open new stops on: westbound Rutledge at Rogers.
Other Stop Closures:
- Close Stop #2593 on eastbound Odana at Seneca (6 daily boardings).
- Close Stop #0739 on northbound Mills at College Court (16 daily boardings).
- Move Stop #0226 on westbound Regent at Campus Mall to W. Washington Ave. (0 daily boardings).
- Close Stop #1725 on eastbound Oakrigde at Atwood (0 boardings) and Stop #1905 on eastbound Atwood at Lakeland (1 daily boarding). Open new stop on eastbound Atwood at Oakridge.
- Move Stop #1628 on westbound Atwood at Lakeland to Oakridge (5 daily boardings).
CONCERNS RAISED SO FAR…
UW Campus Routes
Route 80
- The proposed changes to Route 80 will result in a significant drop in ridership. A move to express service only on campus means staff and students will not be as easily able to move to meetings and classes. Also, the route changes restrict access to a limited part of campus. The 80 bus needs to go to Engineering and 21 North Park, Union South and the Kohl Center. It seems these changes are meant to provide a commuter bus for Eagle Heights residents, not a circulator service for a wide range of campus users. If that’s the route you want to take, give it a new number and leave the existing 80 alone.
Route 81
- The restructuring of route 81 will leave me with fewer options to return home on Ingersoll street from campus using public transportation late at night. I regularly use it on thursdays and Friday’s to return home after most East bound routes are not frequently running. It would not be possible to walk because I am often being heavy instruments with me to and from rehearsal. Please do not restructure routes.
- I am strongly opposed to the proposed change to 81 (eliminating service east of Lake St). There are few buses that provide late night service in general and many students live in the area 81 services. The 81 is a safe and convenient option for many. I have often taken this bus home after class or event on campus and as a female rider, this is one of the safest ways home later at night.
- I strongly think that bus 81 should continue going up the east side to Ingersoll. I am a graduate student at UW who works many late nights on campus, and I have trouble finding a late bus home to the east side. The 81 is the only bus you can catch late at night right on campus. I hope this evening service can continue connecting campus to the east side in the evenings. Please consider that most graduate students do not live in the square block around campus where most undergraduates live, and we rely on busses that connect campus to the east and west sides of Madison, especially at non-rush-hour times.
- I see little difference between route 80 and the proposed route 81. Maybe I am not understanding the difference(s) other than times of operation, but it seems ridiculous to change the 81 to mimic the 80 route and disregard East Johnson. This change completely excludes anyone past Franklin Street and the Capitol Square from having access to a free and safe late night bus route. Due to the proposed changes, I would have to walk over 25 minutes from the proposed 82 Franklin Street stop in order to reach my place of residence.
- I feel strongly that the new 81 route should continue to serve further east on the isthmus than Franklin Street. As I graduate student, I have often taken the 81 home after evening teaching or studying on campus. Having a bus that helps minimize the amount of walking I need to do alone at night has been critical to my feeling of safety. Many graduate students live on the isthmus (at Norris Court and on East Dayton, for example), and I believe the new 81 route should continue to be an option for those living or traveling further east than Franklin.
Route 82
- I currently board the 82 on Regent St, take it back to the Union, then get on the 81, which drops me (eventually) at Johnson and Pinkney. I get on the bus around 1:25AM and it get me home by 2AM. I’m concerned this complete restructuring will mess up my ride, but without times (especially transfer times) I can’t really tell anything. I count on these buses to get home from work during the school year and I’m worried they won’t work with the new schedules.
Route 84
- Full support proposed change to Route 84: Additionally, proposal includes re-routing Route 84 to serve the UW Hospital, and serve both westbound and eastbound stops. Anything that can be done to ease the burden on route 28 westbound in the morning and eastbound during afternoon peak is much appreciated.
Route 3
- Please DON’T cut route 3 off of Rutledge St. Doing so leaves this area with only rush hour bus service. And a four-five block walk to the nearest stops. The result will be more car use. Living in a block with more senior citizens, I know this will discourage bus use generally.
- I am a long-time bus rider — over 45 years. I rely on Madison Metro for almost all my motorized transportation. I live on the 1700 block of Rutledge St, on what is currently the via Division route of Route 3. My neighbors & I used to have lots of Madison Metro mid-day alternatives including Route 10 which ran several times an hour throughout the day. First you cut the entire mid-day Route 10 on Rutledge & Division, a burden for me & my neighbors. Currently we have only ONE hourly mid- day alternative — the via Division Route 3 that runs once an hour. You are proposing to entirely eliminate via Division Route 3. I understand & commend your efforts to improve Route 3 on-time performance, but by cutting via Division Route 3 you will force folks who live from Yahara Park to Jenifer — blind & visually impaired & otherly-abled neighbors, & families with young kids, all of whom ride Madison Metro — to walk many blocks to Winnebago to access Madison Metro. This will be especially difficult in bad weather — rain, snow, ice. Please reconsider & keep via Division Route 3.
- I do not want the Division Street / Rutledge St. part of Route 3 removed. Winnebago is 7 blocks from my house, Atwood 6 blocks. This leave us with Peak Time coverage only. Even if I time it perfectly it is still a long walk late at night or in temperatures near zero. As it is you are removing the stop nearest my house at Russell and Rutledge (which I can live with)!!
- For the Route 3 changes I believe you are doing a disservice to the people who live on the via division route. I believe that that route must be re-allocated to still keep a community together. With route 67, I believe a disservice is done to the people who are in need of those businesses especially with Von Maur coming soon.
- It looks like every stop eastbound between Riverside and Division is being closed. If that is true, this is a pretty serious safety concern. Where is the safe, well-lit walking path to get from a bus stop to the area between Winnebago and East Washington, including Main St. and Second St.? (Many people drive and park along E. Wash and in that area, in order to commute by bus to downtown, campus, and other points west on route 3.) That area between Riverside and First St is dark and creepy. Please don’t remove the Atwood@First St stop. With that, one can walk along First toward E. Wash past the church, and that is well lit and has more pedestrian and auto by-standers. There are far fewer buses that run down E. Wash at night, so trying to use the E. Wash and First St stop is not a very good option (the #14 and 15 stop running; the 6 is as infrequent as the 3…). Thank you for your consideration.
- I do not support the proposal of eliminating service on Rutledge St./Division for Route 3. A lot of people, including myself use the bus stops on Rutledge in the mornings to go to work. It’s conveniently close to my house and moving the service would be more difficult for everyone.
Jenifer, Atwood & Walter Stops
There were 5 positive comments about this.
- Hi, I don’t think that eliminating bus stops on Few and Brearly Streets among a few more are going to get people to their destination any quicker. There will be more bus riders at the new locations that will take the same amount of time to load the bus.
- (Person is against bus stop consolidation. Content not appropriate.)
- The Rogers stop is frequently used in comparison to other stops not being cut. I know many people who use this bus stop. I do not believe cutting this stop is the best solution.
- I don’t think you should close the Rogers St. stop as those are the closest to Marquette Elementary/ Okeefe Middle school, older children use that stop if they stay after school for programming, parents use that stop when bring kids to school or picking them up, and people that come to the school for events and voting use that stop (consider closing Riverside instead)
Route 35
- It is understandable if Route 35 needs to be reversed due to tight, hard right turns, but Instead of just plain eliminating the Kings Mill Way stop, which has served a number of condo associations and apartment complexes on that street for more than a decade, it would make sense to, instead, move the stop to the corner of Buckeye Road and Kings Mill Way, somewhere between Cottontail and Kings Mill Way on the return to Buckeye Road. There is a turn lane there that would accommodate a bus stop without disrupting traffic on Buckeye Road. It is a long-haul uphill to the newer Cottontail and Langley stop for the hundreds of residents that live on or off of Kings Mill Way.
- My grandson has a disability. He has a form of Autism that makes chane difficult. He works during the week and this would complicate his schedule.
- I take the 35 bus on Langley and dell it’s so close to my work it would be so inconvenient if it closed I’m disabled.
Bus stop Closures
- Stop 2593: Odana & Seneca (EB)
He called to say, that his neighborhood doesn’t have any sidewalkes, and in the winter. It could be very dangerous to walk down the hill, so he hopes this one doesn’t get closed. - Stop 2593 Odana & Seneca (EB)
I noted today that there is a proposal to close my bus stop #2593 at Odana and Seneca/Gregory. Though I’m unable to attend the public hearing next week on Mar 11, I called the metro service to provide my displeasure along with feedback regarding this potential closure. I think it is also important that I share my thoughts with you.This bus stop is essential for our community on Gregory St, though technically it is on the Nakoma side of the street. Our neighborhood does not have sidewalks, so going down the hill during certain times of winter is treacherous. By eliminating bus stop #2593 on eastbound Odana at Seneca, the metro service is hurting the residents who are not able to walk down this hill in order to catch the bus. We rely on this bus stop day in and day out, particularly during the winter. A closure of this stop would not simply be an inconvenience it means some residents, including myself, would have to find alternate and more expensive ways to transport ourselves to work.
Others
- Eliminating Bus Access to City and County Buildings makes no sense at all.
- I am a regular rider of the Route 29 bus and use the Park & Ride in Northside Town Center. I am quite surprised to hear that this stop is potentially to be eliminated and that parking may no longer be available. This mall is vastly underutilized and the parking lots are almost always empty, yet this park and ride stop location is crucial to several faithful Metro riders to get from their Madison Far North side homes to their downtown work or school destinations. I would have to think some sort of proposal could be worked out and a happy compromise achieved to retain the Park & Ride services in this mall location. It appears that addition communication between the city and the mall’s owner(s) is a much needed and necessary commodity here. The North side of Madison is growing and becoming a more desirable part of Madison for residents and businesses. I strongly believe Metro would be losing out on potential future revenue and also be doing a disservice to the Northside residents (present & future) by making the proposed changes to this route. Speaking personally, without this Park & Ride location, using the Madison metro bus for my workday commute would most likely not be feasible anymore, and I would seek out other means of transportation.
- I want to register a comment regarding your proposed rerouting of route 32 off of Acewood Blvd. completely. I am from New Beginnings Alliance Church at 602 Acewood Blvd. We share this building with Victory Hmong Alliance Church. Besides the two churches, the Acewood Alliance Food Pantry is in this building, it is also used as a polling place, and the Rolling Meadows Neighborhood Association meets in it. For people in the area that don’t have a car or who can’t drive, the stops by the church building are important, very important. I urge you to please just reduce the service to the street if you must make some cut but don’t completly take Route 32 off Acewood Blvd. all together. I personally cannot drive due to a vision problem and yes, I do get car rides from friends and family but I cannot always do that and need dependable bus service to get where I need to go.
- Route 50 – Ah, am I missing something here? It’s a 5 minute walk from Exact Science to Rayovac and Schoeder Rd. and in order that Exact Sciences employees don’t need to walk this short distance, you are proposing to eliminate service to 3 senior citizen communities and 3 schools?
- I am concerned about the accessibility impacts of the proposed Route 67 change for riders traveling to/from Metcalfe’s Market and adjacent stores.The current plan depends on a “.26 mile accessible walk” between Metcalfe’s and a new stop on D’Onofrio. On a recent walk through that area I found that the pedestrian connection is not very good, and may pose challenges for people with mobility issues.The main problem is that there is no continuous sidewalk on the northern side of West Towne Way adjacent to Metcalfe’s Market (a point emphasized on my walk by encountering a sidewalk dead-ending into a snow pile, as shown in the attached photo). In order to reach D’Onofrio, pedestrians will have to cross West Towne Way (something already required with current stop placement) and then continue westward via the sidewalk on the south side of West Towne Way. Walking along this stretch of sidewalk encounters busy driveway traffic at the REI store entrance, and requires an additional street crossing at Zor Shrine Place.
Assuming the new 67 stop on D’Onofrio will be located “far-side” of the intersection with West Towne Way, bus riders will then have to re-cross West Towne Way back to the north side. This requires a total of 3 crossings of streets including two crossings of West Towne Way, which has poorly regulated crossings and often has heavy traffic.
As a relatively young able-bodied pedestrian, I found this route surprisingly challenging due to the multiple street crossings, heavy traffic, and lack of sidewalk continuity. I can only imagine this would be significantly more difficult for people with mobility issues, and a challenge to anyone carrying a heavy load of groceries.
The proposed change only seems fairly “accessible” if there are plans to extend the north side sidewalk on West Towne Way to connect all the way to Metcalfe’s. With such a connection, reaching the bus stop would require no crossing of streets and face relatively minimal cross-traffic from driveways. If such a sidewalk connection is planned before service changes in August, then the new routing of 67 may be acceptable, but as- is, the lack of direct pedestrian routes is a major concern.
- I think the change in the 67 route will make it harder to access the shopping areas behind West Towne Mall. I like how currently I can go to Kohl’s, Office Max, and Nordstrom Rack without having a long walk to the bus stop. I also like that Metcalfe’s and Barnes&Noble are close too. It will be a lot harder to make sure I build enough time into my shopping trip to walk to and from Mineral Point Road.
FEEDBACK FROM NEIGHBORHOOD LISTSERVES
MARQUETTE NEIGHBORHOOD
Changes that affect the near-east side include removal of stops (including the ones at Wil-Mar, which hosts meals/classes/meetings/
Show up for meeting on the 11th if you can.
PROPOSED AUGUST SERVICE UPDATES Wednesday, March 11, 6:00 PM
Madison Municipal Building 215 Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd. – Room 215 Please use Doty St. Entrance On Wednesday, March 11, Metro Transit and the City of Madison Transportation Commission will hold a public hearing at 6 p.m. to discuss potential service updates proposed to go into effect in August.
There will be a meeting Wednesday 11 March at 6:00 pm at Madison Municipal Bldg room 215 to discuss the proposed changes to the 81 bus route. The 81 current comes as far east as Ingersoll, but the proposed route change (with a new number) brings the bus only to Franklin St. This will remove Tenney-Lapham from this important campus bus service.
The Northside Towne Center owners are not renewing an easement agreement with Madison Metro to allow route 29 to have a park & ride stop there (they tried doing this last year but relented). Metro is being forced to move the stop to N. Sherman Ave where no parking is available for commuters. This will cause a significant drop in ridership and perhaps threaten the viability of the route.
Also the route will no longer go down Northport Drive & Packers Avenue. Instead it will go down N. Sherman Avenue and Aberg Avenue, resuming its Packers Avenue route there.
You can contact Metro and your elected officials to encourage them to make the Warner Park parking lot a park & ride stop. Riders could board in the park parking lot and the bus could still travel down Northport. Or maybe there is better solution.
Details of the proposed change are below and at: https://www.cityofmadison.com/
