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From the Transit & Parking Commission's agenda for Monday eve: CITY TRANSIT AND PARKING COMMISSION Regular Meeting, MONDAY, OCTOBER 20 , 2003
Conference Room 300
Madison Municipal Building 215 Martin Luther King, Jr., Boulevard
A. PUBLIC HEARING - 5:00 P.M.
1. Metro Transit service changes proposed for implementation in January 2004:
* Elimination of Route 10 in connection with the proposed introduction of 15-minute off-peak headways on weekdays in the Jenifer and Johnson/Gorham corridors
* Replacement of Route 11 with expanded Route 38 commuter bus service
2. Customer input concerning the following alternatives to present plans proposed for implementation in January 2004:
* Re-routing of the new Route 9 from the East Transfer Point via Schenk's Corners, First Street to/from the Johnson/Gorham corridor and UW campus, rather than current plans to send Route 9 via North Street/East Johnson to the Johnson/Gorham corridor and UW campus
* Re-routing of westbound and eastbound Route 3 in the Central Business District
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THE DOMINOES! THEY ARE FALLING! Details of the 10 & 11 cannibalization & some historical parallels
Hidden under this title:
"Halloween 'glass-free zone' eyed for State Street" and buried several paragraphs down, The Capital Times regurgitates a Madison Metro press release on axing 2 critical isthmus bus lines. [Relevant section of article appended below and full article can be found at http://www.madison.com/captimes/news/stories/59126.php]
The reporter was too lazy to actually interview real bus patrons, but at least it alerted me that this all out assault on isthmus transit has actually been expanded beyond the previously announced cuts.
If you will recall, I was lambasted by two transit and parking commission members for my "paranoid" postings regarding the axing of the #10 line a few weeks ago. In self-parody I remarked (a la Herr Doktor Professor Kissinger) that Cambodia (the #11) would be next to fall. I really was hoping that this stretch of the imagination would be just that. In fact, those of you on the bikies list may recall that we were assured by the chair of the transit and parking commission that the #11 was not under consideration for cutting ("The proposal does maintain route 11 which bypasses the square as it provides south-side-of-Isthmus to Campus service in the peaks").
Well, it looks like the Khmer Rouge is marching on Phnom Penh.
I've already bored you with all of the great things about our Beloved 10 bus (the 4th most productive line in the fleet, doncha know!), and the absurdity of shipping that service out to the people who won't ride the bus and despise those of us who do.
Now that we've come to find out that they've expanded the assualt to the 11, I'll bore you further about the merits of this heavily used commuter line. (You're lucky cuz I don't have the time to do so in quite the same detail....) Our isthmus neighborhoods have a lot of hospital and campus employees -- VA & UW hospitals, billions & billions of academic staff and even a few profs (You know who you are, the folks who want to have a decent job, and a decent life!), not to mention the hordes of grad & even a goodly number of undergrads. These are the folks who willingly walk, bike, take the bus, carpool, you know, do the right thing by the environment, their community, etc. They take the bus in droves! The droves flock to the #11 bus starting all the way out at Schenk's Corners. By the time the bus heads west out of the Willy St. neighborhood, toward the Bassett hood, it is standing room only. Why? Because the bus is fast. It is direct. It goes all the way to the UW/VA hospital complex. To those destinations, it is time competitive with every other mode there is *including das deathmobile!!!!*
NOW THE PAID EXPERTS WANT TO CUT THE 11, and cannibalize & ship the service out to the burbs. As I said in previous postings, expanded service to the burbs is fine, but it should not be done by pitting one neighborhood vs. another neighborhood.
They claim that the 38 will be a fine substitute for the 11. Once again, they ignore the fact that bus riders also have time constraints. The 38 will add a minimum of 7 minutes each way to their commute time. That will be 14 minutes a day taken away from people's families, friends, bar buddies, etc.
It is sad that the management of this transit system takes their customers so absolutely for granted. Last month they fought for and won a way to drive away (a minimum of) 3% of their ridership through fare increases (they even admitted to this at the last meeting!!!!). This month they are fighting to drive away ridership through service diminishment.
In reading the minutes, and counting the votes, it appears that there is a tight split on the commission. By going to the commission meeting Monday night, there is a good chance that you could sway a critical vote or two from adopting these disastrous cuts.
-Mike Barrett Nattering nabob of negativism ********************************************
"Halloween 'glass-free zone' eyed for State Street"
By Judith Davidoff October 18, 2003
Halloween revelers heading to State Street will likely need to leave their glass bottles at home.
....[stuff deleted]...
Bus route changes: The panel will also hold a special hearing on a few bus route changes proposed for implementation in January.
Among the changes being proposed are the elimination of Route 10 and replacement of Route 11 with expanded Route 38 commuter bus services.
The meeting will be held at 5 p.m. in Conference Room 300 of the Madison Municipal Building, 215 Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd.
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