Public Transit

Metro Transit provides regularly scheduled fixed-route transit service and demand-responsive (i.e., no set routes or schedules) paratransit service for persons with disabilities within the City of Madison, Town of Madison, City of Middleton, a portion of the City of Fitchburg, and the University of Wisconsin-Madison campus. Commuter service only is provided to the City of Verona and paratransit service only is provided in the Village of Shorewood Hills. Metro Transit also provides supplementary school service within Madison Metropolitan School District boundaries, designed primarily to transport students in grades 6-12 who do not have access to regular fixed-routes.

Metro Transit utilizes a transfer point system with timed transfers at four major transfer points (east, west, north, south). A new minor transfer point was created in the City of Middleton as part of the restructuring of service in that city in 2007. Service is designed to provide for minimal wait times at this transfer point with some routes interlined to provide one-seat rides on the same bus. The Capitol Square also serves as an informal transfer point with service designed to allow convenient transferring wherever possible. Most routes continue to be oriented to serve the downtown and UW-Madison campus areas where the vast majority of weekday riders are destined. However, many of these same routes are also designed to provide “reverse commute” service to the growing peripheral employment/activity centers.

 

Metro had an average weekday regular fixed-route ridership of 38,000 to 40,000 in the fall of 2008 with school in session. The UW-Madison campus and supplemental school service boosted the average weekday total for the system to 53,000 to 55,000. The average weekday ridership during the summer was 28,000 to 29,000. According to the 2008 Metro on-board survey, over 90% of weekday transit trips were for work, school (K-12), or college/university/ tech purposes. See chart below showing the trip purpose distribution of Metro mainline passengers.

Metro made some service improvements in 2008 with the goals of improving on-time performance and the capacity of service in the Isthmus area. The most significant capacity increase—bringing back circulator service (Routes 10, 11) between the East Isthmus area and the UW-Madison campus—had to be postponed for budgetary reasons. Weekday service was added to the City View Drive area, East Springs Drive, MATC Truax campus, and new midday service provided to the American Center (where two major health clinics are located) as part of changes to Route 6. Route 6, which had serious schedule adherence problems, now terminates at East Towne Mall with new routes serving areas east of the mall. Route 20 was changed to increase midday service and add weekend and holiday service to the Dane County Airport. Route 38 was modified so that every other trip provides faster, more direct service to the UW-Madison campus, bypassing downtown. Minor alignment changes were made to other routes, including Route 55 to Verona and the Epic Systems campus.

Total Metro fixed-route ridership was 13.43 million in 2008, a 6.0% increase compared to 2007. This was the highest ridership total since 1979 during the energy crisis and second highest total on record. Since 1989, ridership has increased 48%. During this same period, the total annual number of revenue service hours has increased just 28%. The number of service hours peaked in 1999 the year following implementation of the transfer point system. From 2000 to 2003, total service hours decreased almost 10% due to tight budgets and implementation of service efficiencies. Since then, small increases have been made in service hours in conjunction with improvements implemented in 2004, 2007, and 2008. The total number of service hours in 2008 was still 16% higher than in 1997 prior to implementation of the transfer point system.

The figure below shows Metro fixed-route ridership and revenue service hours from 1990 to 2008.

Transit incentives such the unlimited bus pass programs negotiated with the University of Wisconsin, other major colleges, the City of Madison, and St. Mary’s and Meriter Hospitals, and the Commuter Choice program have played a major role in boosting ridership over the last 6-8 years. With the unlimited bus pass program, the university or employer purchases heavily discounted passes for all of its students or employees regardless of whether they choose to participate in the program. The price of the passes is based upon anticipated ridership. The Commuter Choice program allows employees to purchase passes or tickets at a pre-tax rate from their employer who has the option of subsidizing all or part of the cost of the pass/ticket. In addition to the service improvements and pass programs, high gas prices have also probably helped to boost ridership the past three years.

Other Public Transit and Specialized Transportation Services

The City of Monona contracts with a private provider to operate a weekday commuter route to downtown Madison and the UW campus. The city also contracts for the provision of flexible route service designed for the elderly and persons with a disability. The Cities of Sun Prairie and Stoughton and the Village of Marshall contract with private providers for shared-ride taxi service. The larger Sun Prairie and Stoughton systems provided 92,800 and 36,800 trips respectively in 2008.

The Dane County Department of Human Services (DCHS) Adult Community Services Division contracts with private providers for provision of several group trip and demand-responsive services for the elderly, persons with physical or developmental disabilities, and low-income persons. The Retired Senior Volunteer Driver Escort Program (RSVP) provides individual and small group rides for the elderly throughout the county when other options are not available. Rides are provided using volunteer drivers in private automobiles. Medical trips are the first priority for the program.