Last Thursday, the Dane County Board voted in favor of creating a regional transit authority to preside over the planning of the public transportation system around Madison. With big projects like the new Central Library and Edgewater redevelopment looming, the RTA makes sense. It is a wonder that there was no governing body to guide the growth of the transportation system before, which probably accounts for the lack of progress in high-speed rail and bus route updates.
The most important goal of the RTA should be to focus on connecting Madison to surrounding cities in an efficient manner, saving the ever-growing Dane County metropolitan area from becoming further bogged down by traffic using environmentally friendly solutions. Madison is considered a city of the world, and its transportation should reflect this idea. It's also about maximizing the opportunities we are given, rather than just settling on a smaller system that will have minimum impact.
There is currently a debate over a commuter rail that would run to downtown Madison, but this proposition is only an appeasement that would delay or halt the development of long-distance high-speed rail. Traffic in Madison is not reason enough to break ground on commuter rail. Even after adding lanes to the highways, there is still rush-hour traffic and this is just a byproduct of living near a city. In the interim, the bus system could be more finely tuned to handle the current ridership more efficiently. Until we see a drastic increase in the demand for public transportation, it will be better to focus on connecting Madison to its larger, Midwest community.
Of course, the newly created RTA has its fair share of questions that it must answer if it is to facilitate a more organized and connected Madison. The most pressing is how it will carry on without funding. Currently, the RTA is just a title and a symbol of transit progress. The RTA does have the ability to levy taxes, and they will try next year to pass a referendum increasing the sales tax by up to half a cent in represnted counties on sales tax in represented counties. The referendum is just as important as the creation of the RTA, if not more so. The RTA's ability to make sound decisions and create a more efficient transportation system will be based on its passage.
Student activism again played a large role in city politics, as students turned out again for the creation of the RTA. The hope is that the RTA will reflect the environmental idealism as well as the push for progress shown by students. Students came out to show they care about public transportation, a basic convenience that every growing city should allocate some resources to.
Again, the student voice resounds loudly and makes a positive impact on the Madison area. This is something we support strongly, and we hope it spreads into other areas of city politics. It only makes sense to make sure our cities are connected. This allows us to expand our local community and make Madison more inclusive to all. Students will benefit directly from a regional rail system, and so will the Madison community. The first step was to make a body that will focus its resources on making sure this happens. Now is time to make regional transit a reality in Dane County.
