-Mike **********************************************
Proposed Metro Changes Lauded
Public Hearing At 6 PM THURSDAY
The Capital Times :: COMMUNITIES :: 1B
Wednesday, May 28, 2003 By Judith Davidoff The Capital Times
It sounds almost too good to be true.
"You're drastically increasing service with relatively no increase in labor costs," said Tim Wong, a member of the city Transit and Parking Commission, of proposed Madison Metro schedule changes.
The committee will hold a public hearing on the proposals at 6 PM Thursday, with an informational session at 5 PM in Room 260 of the Madison Municipal Building. If approved, the new schedule would go into effect on or after August 31.
More frequent service through the isthmus would be one notable result of the changes, said Jesse Kaysen, chair of the committee. This would happen because the departure times for most bus routes, with the exception of Route 5, would be changed from the east transfer station.
The change would likely eliminate the "bus bunching" on the near east and west sides of town, where two and three buses follow each other downtown, Kaysen said.
"On Jenifer Street you end up with (Route) 4 and 3 and 10 all stacked up like train cars, which is idiotic," Kaysen said. During off-peak hours, buses would travel through the isthmus to downtown roughly every 15 minutes instead of 30 minutes, she added.
A series of changes is also on the table for southeast Madison, with expanded service hours and locations served. For instance, more buses would run throughout the day to the World Dairy Center, and the new Dean Medical Clinic on U.S. 51 would also get bus service.
The proposals for the southeast part of town were formulated after Metro conducted a resident survey, Kaysen noted.
A few areas with very few bus riders are losing service entirely, though those riders will have access to routes just a couple of blocks away, she said.
A detailed description of proposed schedule changes is available at www.mymetrobus.com/2003/PublicHearing0503/HearingMain.htm.
Kaysen encourages the public to provide feedback on the proposed changes.
"They seem like really good ideas, but we'd like to hear what the riding public has to say," she said. "We don't want to change for the sake of change. I want to make a system that works better for the riders."
Specific proposals include:
Expanding the geographic areas served by Metro's paratransit service for people with disabilities.
Pending approval by Monona, adding service between Monona and Madison.
Expanding service on Route 38, which runs from southeast Madison to the UW-Madison campus.
Discontinuing Route 16, which runs east to north, and replacing it with enhanced service to the Dane County Regional Airport and limited-stop service between the east transfer and north transfer points.
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