After seeing its highest ridership in 20 years, Metro Transit should make improvements for customers, try new routes, and continue talks on extending service to neighbors, general manager Catherine Debo says.

Metro should open a new transfer station in Middleton, offer connecting routes between its South and East Side stations, simplify schedules, and explore traffic signal prioritization at some locations, Debo and Metro staff say in a draft strategic plan for 2006.

The bus system should also acquire more digital signs, experiment with heating systems in some shelters, and buy "attractive, back-lit shelters" with advertising to raise more revenue, the plan says.

"Our ridership has grown dramatically for the last five years," Debo said. "We want to see that continue to grow. This is in the tradition we've established in trying to improve the system."

The system, however, still faces financial challenges due to fuel and other expenses, and service changes must pay for themselves, she said.

The city's Transit and Parking Commission will consider the draft strategic plan at its regular meeting at 5 p.m. today at the Madison Municipal Building.

The commission will eventually finalize a plan and schedule public hearings before route changes are made this fall.

After a major change from a Downtown hub to transfer station system in the late 1990s and cost troubles with overtime and other expenses, Metro has increased ridership each year since 2001, Debo said in a report to be presented to the commission tonight.

Since 2000, fixed-route ridership increased 1.24 million, or 12 percent, to 11.3 million, she said.

Metro, Debo said, can continue to boost ridership by reaching out to other communities, redistributing service hours, nd improving performance.

The draft strategic plan calls for service changes on the South and West sides, including a new northwest transfer station, tentatively to be located at the intersection of University Avenue and Branch Street in Middleton.

The new transfer station will allow better off-peak service in Middleton, Middleton city administrator Mike Davis said.

"We're looking for a significant upgrade," he said.

Metro also should continue talks to extend service to Cross Plains, McFarland, Oregon, Stoughton and Sun Prairie, Debo said. "The TPC is very supportive of efforts to develop a regional public-transit system," commission chairman Carl Durocher said.

Meanwhile, Metro can provide better connections between the East and South transfer stations, including a route on the East Side of Lake Monona, Debo said.

"Our objective is to find areas with overlap, duplication, and ways of providing more effective service," she said.

Metro must be careful with cuts. "I think we've wrung every type of inefficiency out of scheduling," Durocher said. "When we reduce service, it's going to impact somebody. It's not easy."

The city should create more park-and-ride lots, starting at the east transfer station and possibly around the west and south stations and Alliant Center, Debo said.

To improve service for riders, Metro can better time arrivals on major routes like Monroe Street and use technology to lengthen the timing of green lights when buses are running late at certain intersections. "I strongly support any additional amenities that help riders have a more pleasurable experience," Durocher said.

The city, Debo said, should also support state legislation that would allow a regional transit authority with taxing power.

"It's something that's got to happen sooner rather than later," she said.

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