Thursday August 9, 2007 By ANGELA MIHM NIGRO Correspondent for The Capital Times CORRECTION: A story Thursday from a public hearing on Madison Metro attributed a quote incorrectly. It was Metro Transit planner Tim Sobota, not Ald. Tim Gruber, who compared bus scheduling to a mathematical puzzle. (Published 8/13/07) Not having to wait a half-hour for another bus after missing a connection by a minute. Being able to get to and from the airport any day of the week. Practical routes scheduled for Overture Center shows. Those are some of the requests made Wednesday evening at a hearing at the Villager Mall on Park Street by those who ride - or would like to ride - Madison Metro buses. Comfort was also a concern. Madison resident Mary Sarto told the commission charged with improving the buses that she rides Metro every day to work and as a senior, she is "less and less able to withstand the winter conditions." As it is, she waits for her connections under "Josie's burned out awning" at the corner of Regent and Park streets. Sarto wondered what she would do if the awning is ever removed and encouraged that for the "comfort and safety" of all Metro users, the city look into grants specifically for sturdy, warm shelters. Among the handful who turned out for Madison Metro's long range planning committee's hearing, others said that the newer shelters replacing the old brick structures offered less protection from the elements. But most of the criticism of the system focused on schedules that leave commuters waiting and make bus travel to some key destinations such as the airport and the Overture Center difficult. Ald. Tim Gruber, who represents a west side district and sits on the panel, said that scheduling routes is a tricky "mathematical puzzle." And the transit system in recent years has seen budget problems as fuel costs soared. The city has increased its subsidy and raised fares to meet the deficits. Sue Adams, a state employee who gave up her car for daily commuting and has been riding Metro for 10 years, encouraged the transit system to recruit more riders with unlimited ride pass contracts and to go greener with more hybrid buses. She said for downtown routes between the Capitol and the UW-Madison campus, the bus is the fastest and cheapest way to go. Encouraging more bus ridership, she said, is "the right thing to do environmentally." NEXT MEETINGS:
Today at 5 p.m. at the Madison Public Library, Pinney Branch, 204 Cottage Grove Road. |