Judith Davidoff
A Madison Metro bus on the Capitol square.
Madison's Transportation Commission approved tweaks to Metro's newly redesigned bus system July 12, with more significant changes expected in December.
In the first month of service, bus riders contributed more than 80 pages of feedback on Madison Metro’s newly redesigned bus system, which went into effect June 11. Metro staff shared that feedback at a July 12 meeting of the Transportation Commission and proposed several tweaks to address some of the biggest concerns.
The most significant tweak, which received unanimous approval, will be restarting direct west-side service to the UW Hospital. “We are restoring part of the old route 38 down to Sheboygan [Avenue], which I think will be popular,” Sean Hedgepeth, Metro’s planning and scheduling manager, told commissioners. “We heard a lot of feedback on this. I know a lot of folks that work at the hospital, they had a direct ride before.” Metro staff will now be directed to move forward to implement the change.
Hedgepeth said other changes will include improving the timing of transfers on the west side between A, F, and R buses; running two more Route 80 buses funded by the University of Wisconsin to reduce crowding; and other fixes to improve on-time performance.
Late buses, missed transfers, and arrivals not lining up with times shown on navigation apps were a major theme in bus rider feedback that Metro shared with the commission. “Instead of 25 minutes [commuting], as it was before the route change, I spent more than an hour because I had to change from the A to the F route,” wrote one anonymous commenter. “Bus A was late, and bus F left without waiting, which forced passengers to wait for the next F when transferring.”
In addition to late A buses, which run from Watts Road on the west side to East Towne, construction and detours this summer have also caused delays on Route C, which connects the UW Hospital to the far east side, and Route 75, which runs from the Capitol Square to Epic’s campus in Verona. Metro’s own summary of feedback on the new system noted that “Drivers/supervisor staff have expressed concern that Route B’s schedule is too tight.” Route B connects the far north and far south sides and will become a Bus Rapid Transit route next summer.
Metro staff told commissioners that the small changes were what they had the ability to implement quickly with limited data, and that larger changes would have to wait until December. Any larger scale changes would likely involve a public hearing to allow for more public input and discussion.
Ald. Barbara Harrington-McKinney suggested one future change she’d like to see is more frequent service on Route L, which serves the Owl Creek neighborhood near the Dutch Mill Park & Ride on Madison’s far southeast side. “I don’t want that kind of area to get left behind,” said Harrington-McKinney. The route, which also connects north side residents to the Pick ‘n Save grocery store on Shopko Drive, currently runs once every 75 minutes, including during peak hours. Without offering specifics, Ald. Yannette Figueroa-Cole also indicated she would be providing feedback to Metro in preparation for changes in December.
A number of older residents and people with disabilities wrote in their comments about struggling with the longer walks needed to reach stops in the new system; they also expressed concern about long transfer waits and unsheltered stops during winter or bad weather.
“Route B now forces me to walk with my mobility gear 15 minutes before I can reach a stop to get on, and 20 minutes once I get off,” wrote one rider. “The new bus system is a nightmare for disabled patrons.”
At the same meeting, the commission reviewed its ongoing plans for improvements to sidewalks, signals and boarding pads to improve accessibility throughout the system. “After the redesign, 87% of about 1,400 stops…are considered accessible as of right now,” said Mick Rusch, Metro’s marketing and customer service manager and interim chief development officer. Metro considers a stop accessible when a wheelchair user can enter or exit from a “smooth and stable surface” like a concrete bus pad or a sidewalk that stretches all the way to the curb. After more work this summer, Rusch said the system should have just 70 inaccessible stops by winter.
“Our outreach person has already been in touch with caregiver agencies and so we’re going to reach out to them again and ask them to ask their clients what stops might be problematic for people,” said Rusch. That information will help Metro prioritize which stops to improve first.
Metro has also urged riders struggling due to a disability to apply for paratransit service, which takes riders curb-to-curb. But one commissioner said that wouldn’t be a sufficient option for many bus riders with a disability.
“Pushing people to use paratransit is not a viable option,” said Denise Jess, the executive director of the Wisconsin Council of the Blind and Visually Impaired. “Paratransit is overstressed, the folks that use it have long wait times, and frequently can get to their locations late.”
Said Jess: “We really need to look at our paratransit system too, because that needs a redesign.”
