Eric Murphy
The bus route changes have caused headaches for AJ Hardie, OutReach program director, right, who has spent a lot of time trouble-shooting transit options for visitors to the center.
OutReach program director AJ Hardie says the bus is a “lifeline” for the people his organization serves. Those seeking out the LGBTQ+ community center for its food pantry, library, computers, and meeting spaces used to be able to take route 20 from the north transfer point to a stop right outside the building. But since Madison Metro’s redesign, the closest stop serving the center, located near the airport, is a quarter-mile away. Another stop on the more frequent B route would require a walk of a little less than half a mile.
“For some folks it may not be an issue to walk that far, but the queer community has higher rates of mobility and disability issues,” says Hardie. “It’s already impacted people’s ability to access our services, including some of our regulars who are in here once or twice a week to use the computers and to just kind of be in a queer-friendly space.”
There were also some empty seats at the most recent meeting of the Madison Area Transgender Association, which uses the center’s meeting space. “There were regulars there that were missing, and they’ve had to not come back because of the bus system,” says the center’s transgender advocate Gabriel Loredo.
Metro spokesperson Jessy Stammer acknowledges the redesign has closed bus stops and led to longer walks, an expected impact of the new system. “It’s an unfortunate consequence of changing a transportation network. However, staff tried to balance this and maintain manageable distances to bus stops, especially in areas with vital community services,” Stammer tells Isthmus via email. “If there are coverage gaps in our service, we encourage people to submit feedback to help us identify areas in need.”
The redesign, which went into effect June 11, reduced the number of routes, changed from numbered to mostly lettered routes, and closed hundreds of stops while creating hundreds of new ones. Now, buses generally run more frequently on main thoroughfares rather than through neighborhoods, which Metro hopes will provide more direct service and reduced travel times for passengers.
A Metro representative visited OutReach to alert the organization of the upcoming changes and to provide a new system map. Staff has now shouldered the burden of interpreting the new maps and planning out rides for clients — or determining other options.
“It causes a lot of stress among staff because now we have to figure out, how can we get people places, how can we ourselves get places, how do we get people to us?” says Hardie. “We’re a nonprofit. How do we create money out of nowhere to provide cab rides or Ubers or whatever it may be for people to get out here now? If we’re thinking about five or six people who regularly get out here on the bus for a support group meeting…we can’t afford to do that for every group that has meetings here.”
Tarah Stangler, the organization’s opioid overdose prevention coordinator, says the city’s public engagement and outreach efforts for the redesign lacked a human touch and connection with community members. “Madison can’t decide if it wants to stay that home-y, hippie, really welcoming and affirming space, or if it wants to switch into this more metropolitan idea,” says Stangler.
“Despite the efforts of the city,” Hardie adds, “it’s really not been super helpful.”
Stammer says Metro invites riders to submit their feedback: “We continue to be very eager and willing to meet with any agency or group to provide clarity, discuss the new service, or help riders with trip-planning.”
After monitoring the new bus system in its first weeks, Metro is making a few safety tweaks, says Stammer, including moving a stop that created a blind spot at the Kwik Trip location at the intersection of Maple Grove Drive and McKee Road. Some changes to routes and schedules are also coming, but Stammer says those will be discussed at a future meeting of the Transportation Commission. Stammer says complaints about west-side service to UW Hospital and late-arriving buses will be at the top of the agenda.
Downtown at the Madison Senior Center, program and outreach coordinator Laura Hunt says some of the people who visit the center have had a tough time making the transition to the new bus system.
“Right now, I hear a lot of confusion,” says Hunt, who assists about 100 seniors a day, helping them find resources, connect with other agencies, and participate in programming. “I don’t know if they’ve decided yet whether it’s worse or better, but they’re definitely very confused.”
Hunt says the longer walks to bus stops have already made an impact. “Even though the bus comes more often, they have to walk farther, which for older adults is more burdensome,” says Hunt. Like the staffers at OutReach, Hunt says she expects the problem to get worse “in less than ideal weather, which we have frequently here in Wisconsin.”
Hunt was well aware of the city’s outreach efforts ahead of the route overhaul, which included emails, public information meetings and “ride guides” to help riders in the weeks before and after the changes took effect. “I feel bombarded,” she says, “but I’m not sure how the people who aren’t getting all that information and hearing it announced at countless meetings are receiving it.” While the city delivered preliminary schedules to the Senior Center, says Hunt, “the [ride guides] weren’t here in our actual building, they were out at the bus stops.”
Metro staff are advising riders having difficulty with long walks due to a disability to apply for paratransit service, which is operated by contractors who provide door-to-door trips. The service requires a written application, a 30-minute in-person assessment of functions like “gait and balance,” and takes up to three weeks to determine eligibility.
Qualifying for the service is not a given, says Hunt. “I know it’s not always easy to qualify, and they have limitations because of their funding.”
Want more of the story? Earlier this month, Eric Murphy rode the new bus routes during the first days of the system relaunch. Read his report on isthmus.com.
