Wednesday, June 28, 2006
Favorable survey results are leading a study group here to move forward with plans to seek Madison Metro bus service to the village in 2008.
More than half the Cross Plains residents who returned surveys distributed in April said they would be interested in Metro service. Of the 228 positive responses, 201 expressed interest most in weekday service. Nearly 100 respondents identified downtown Madison as their primary destination.
Metro thinks this is an accurate account of interest in service to Cross Plains, said Catherine Debo, Metro general manager, at a meeting with the study group Tuesday.
The survey was sent to 2,300 homes, some outside the village, on its bulk mailing list, with 415 returned. It quizzed respondents on their primary destination, preferred days of the week for use, riding frequency, arrival and departure times and preferred pickup point.
Based on the results, Metro planning manager Sharon Persich developed several route options, operating weekdays only and employing one bus, which she presented to the group.
Two options would cycle a bus three times between Cross Plains and Middleton during peak morning and afternoon travel periods. One of the options would have the bus circulate through west Middleton office, shopping and business areas on the return to Cross Plains. Possible stops include the Middleton Business Park, Greenway Station and Middleton High School.
A third option would provide direct service between Cross Plains and the Capitol Square, twice in the morning and twice in the afternoon.
A fourth option would combine transfer opportunities to the Capitol Square with two or three trips in the morning, and two direct service trips from the Capitol Square in the afternoon.
All routes would include a 10-minute loop through Cross Plains with several stops. The proposed loop would not use Main Street. "We felt that putting the bus on Main Street might jam up traffic," said group member Jim Zwettler.
All options except option three would include transfer opportunities in Middleton.
Some group members were uncomfortable with the low percentage of surveys returned. But Persich said the response is typical of other usage surveys Metro has conducted. Sun Prairie, Stoughton, Oregon and Evansville are other communities considering bus service.
"I guess I'm not troubled if the response is typical and it's 55 percent favorable," said group chairman Randy Case.
Persich put the estimated annual net cost to the village for Metro service at between $58,374 and $74,380, based on an estimated adult fare of $1 and taking into account a 60 percent subsidy the village can receive through the state transit aid program.
Jan Klock, village administrator and clerk-treasurer, said a decision on bus service funding could be made by village referendum, but it's too early yet to determine how the funding would be approved. In any case, bus service would have to be cleared by the Village Board, which would want assurances of state funding before proceeding.
The village has submitted a letter of interest regarding the transit aid program, and application for that funding can be made this fall. "It would have to be budgeted. We would have to know," Klock said.
Survey results have prompted Klock to continue discussions with the villages of Black Earth and Mazomanie over establishing a park-and-ride service in Cross Plains. "We know we have a lot of people coming through town from those communities," she said.
Debo said that realistically Cross Plains is not going to see a financial contribution to the bus service from those two villages, but that there would be an opportunity for added fare revenue.
Setting up a park-and-ride to connect to the Metro service could add revenues to the route, reducing village expenses and possibly allowing for a second bus, said group member Ed Pelowsky.
The study group agreed to wait for input from Black Earth and Mazomanie on the park-and-ride possibility before meeting again. The Village Board also awaits word on the park-and-ride idea, Klock said. Route options and times also are not set in stone.