Joined by other city officials, Satya Rhodes-Conway addressed the public last Friday, unveiling her $200 million-plus Bus Rapid Transit initiative for Madison.
The program, MetroForward, seeks to provide faster, more direct service on a route with dedicated travel lanes and traffic signal priority to transport riders where they need to go more efficiently.
“By the year 2050, we are projecting that in Dane County there will be an additional 85,000 new jobs, 100,000 new residents and an additional 800,000 new trips on our roads… We can’t have a super-highway through the Isthmus and gridlock in the rest of the city,” Rhodes-Conway said. “We need to get ahead of this growth now and build a modern rapid transit infrastructure that lifts our growing economy.”
County Executive Joe Parisi echoed these sentiments and highlighted what he believes to be a problem in Madison: rush hour.
“Any one who drives during rush hour knows we need multiple options for getting around town, from bikes to buses to cars,” Parisi said. “We’re coming together to do the hard work that we need to do to ensure that as our community grows and thrives, that we don’t spend more and more time sitting on University Avenue, Odana Road, the Beltline, you name it.”
The initial plan is to implement a preliminary east-to-west service that would cost an estimated $120-130 million.
About half of the total project cost is expected to be covered by federal grant money.
Rhodes-Conway also emphasized the city’s efforts to subsidize rides for individuals and communities in need — as well as students.
“I’m very excited to provide more access to folx who need to get to transportation on the bus,” Rhodes-Conway said. “We need to raising a generation of bus-riders. So it’s important for them to be able to have access to those services.”
The mayor also announced plans to renovate their bus-holding facility and add a satellite facility — increasing the overall city bus capacity. Additionally, Metro will move to an all-electric bus fleet in 2020, with full conversion in 2023.
The fourth public meeting regarding transportation will be held Thursday, September 26 from 6 to 8 p.m. at Madison College in room D1630.
