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Local Leaders Hold Bus Rapid Transit Ribbon Cutting
More than 100 people gathered in a West Side parking lot this afternoon to celebrate Madison's updated bus system. Attendees mingled before the ribbon-cutting ceremony. With a view of the Chiboygan Eau Claire bus rapid transit station right across the street. Organizers passed out free coffee and pastries, new bus fare cards, and build it yourself cardboard buses. Mayor Satya Rhodes Conway says that bus rapid transit, or BRT, has been a long time coming. Madison has been talking about bringing rapid transit to our community for about 40 years now. And today, excuse my language, but I am damn proud to say that we have achieved that goal. The new rapid route runs from Madison's far west side across the isthmus and to the east side. It's projected to run every 15 minutes during weekdays and on Saturdays with a 30-minute service on Sundays. The new bus routes feature a new fare system, longer articulated buses, and faster routes using bus only lanes. And all of the BRT vehicles are fully electric, now making up a third of Metro Transit's fleet. Lieutenant Governor Sarah Rodriguez, who has a background in healthcare, said today that this will have a positive impact on public health in the city. The air that we breathe is so important to staying healthy. The city picked this route first to maximize the number of people served. Here's Rhodes Conway again. There are over 100,000 people who live and work within walking distance of the Metro Rapid Route A. And our community continues to grow and I expect that number to go up every single year. Bus rapid transit is good for the environment, it's good for commuters, it's even good for those folks who drive in their own vehicle alone because it will reduce congestion for everyone. BRT officially launched on Sunday and there have been some hiccups like bus stores not opening on demand and some glitches with fast fare kiosks. Veronica Vanderpool is deputy administrator for the Federal Transit Administration. She spoke with riders at a BRT stop. We heard some positive feedback and some people yelled some negative feedback. But you know that's part of it and we understand that it takes time to make adjustments and it takes time for people to modify their behavior but at the end of the day when we invest in good projects everyone begins to see the benefits. So how are riders using the new system and what do they think? Darius Scott is an amateur MMA fighter who goes by the moniker dangerous when he's competing. It was his first time using bus rapid transit last night as he rode to get to campus after a canceled dentist appointment. He says it was pretty relaxed. It feels like a subway to me like reminds me of the city or Florida you know I'm saying because that's where I'm from I'm from Orlando. That matches what transportation director Tom Lynch told reporters last month that BRT provides a light rail experience without paying for a light rail which transit estimates would cost 10 to 12 times more than BRT. Henry Fries represents the UW-Madison campus on the Dane County board. He hopped the BRT for the first time on Monday night. He says he's a big cyclist and sure enough rolled his bike on board too. You know right now I'm just taking the BRT it's the second day of the launch so I was going to take it out to Hilldale, Chobogan, Ave and bike back to just see what it's like and get a feel for the new routes which I'm super excited about. He adds that he'd like to see the legislature allow regional transit authorities which can help coordinate plans across municipal boundaries and could levy taxes to raise funds. Here it could help expand BRT to surrounding communities but the state legislature has repeatedly blocked different commuter projects in Dane County a lot of the urban centers. I mean we saw back you know about a decade ago there was a proposal to have a commuter rail project actually between some prairie and middletin which would have been super exciting by way of the SMS that was again blocked because we weren't able to get that RTA established. Katie and Bob both rode the bus in previous lives him and junior high her to get to work. Now they're retired and the last time they took the bus maybe five years ago but they bought a fast fare card at the East Washington and Baldwin station this morning. Well yeah we're trying it out because now we get a little card that says Metro fast fare and it's loaded with our money to get on the bus and we're going to like go somewhere but we don't even know where yet. We're going to joy ride. We're going to joy ride yes yes we're we're very joyful. Well it's fun you know I mean there's been a lot of complaints in the paper and what not about this and that and the next thing but we're going to give it a whirl. See how it goes. It's beautiful right now that's for sure. As the bus approached and the back doors opened Katie got on and tapped her fast fare card. I'm valid. One more time. For WORT News I'm Faye Parks. Shelly Pittman contributed reporting to this story.
Madison’s new Bus Rapid Transit system launched Sunday.
City, state, and federal leaders officially celebrated today at a ribbon-cutting ceremony near a new west side station.
Image courtesy: Faye Parks / WORT News.