A city transportation committee recommended Wednesday the city Council adopt plans to review possible locations that could accommodate an indoor bus station to serve buses traveling through Madison.
The Pedestrian/Bicycle/Motor Vehicle Commission voted unanimously in support of a resolution approving an agreement between the city and the consulting firm Kimley-Horn & Associates, Inc., which would allow the partners to move to phase two of a comprehensive downtown transit development plan.
According to Ald. Satya Rhodes-Conway, District 12, phase two will include a study of the most suitable downtown sites for construction of a bus station, and proximity to campus will be one of the criteria.
“A major consideration there is going to be is how accessible it is for students,” Rhodes-Conway said.
She also said a bus terminal in the city is needed to decongest the current pick-up and drop-off point in front of Memorial Union.
“They stop at the union, they stop at the gas station, they stop at the North Transfer Point but there is no place where one could walk inside and buy a ticket and wait for a bus,” Rhodes-Conway said.
The resolution would allot $432,000 to phase two of the project, and funding would come from the federal Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery grant, worth more than $1 million, awarded to Madison several years ago.
If the Council approves the resolution at its March 5 meeting, the city will create an ad hoc South Capitol District Planning Committee for the purpose of launching the South Capitol Transit-Oriented Development District Planning Study.
