Some say Badger Bus' plan to close is shortsighted

Thursday, April 09, 2009

From an article by Kristin Czubkowski in The Capital Times:

By most accounts, the proposed redevelopment of the Badger Bus depot on West Washington Avenue into a mixed-use retail and luxury apartment site is a relatively modest project, maxing out at five stories along one of the city's most prominent corridors. But it's what the development will replace -- a downtown transit hub that has been in place for decades -- that is generating controversy and sparking discussion about the future of downtown transportation in Madison.

The Madison Peak Oil Group and Madison Area Bus Advocates, two local organizations that frequently work together on transportation issues, have advocated at numerous meetings in recent weeks for a transit center downtown. Madison Peak Oil Group member David Knuti said city officials have shown interest in their argument, but little desire for action.

"Obviously nobody's making it a priority," Knuti said. "The long-term bus thing is really going to be a mess when the station gets shut down."

According to John Meier of Badger Bus, the company has discussed redeveloping the depot site for several years. Badger Bus regularly runs between Madison and Milwaukee, stopping at Johnson Creek along the way, and provides charter and tour bus services, as well. The bus, which costs $35 round-trip from Madison to Milwaukee, is popular among University of Wisconsin-Madison students, who comprise 80percent of Badger Bus' current customer base. . . .

Whether high-speed rail even goes into downtown Madison may be another factor in where a major transit hub is located. Currently, the state Department of Transportation has expressed "a strong preference" for putting a high-speed rail stop between Minneapolis and Milwaukee at the Dane County Regional Airport, Mayor Dave Cieslewicz said, and there may be an advantage to putting a hub at the airport if that's the only rail stop in Madison.

"Ideally, you would like a hub to be in your downtown, but there are advantages to putting it at the airport," he said. "Our airport has the advantage of being very close, a 10-minute ride to downtown. … I think in our case, having it at the airport might work."

Ultimately, despite being an "exciting time" for transit, Cieslewicz and other officials agree that it is likely that Madison will operate for at least part of 2009 or 2010 without a downtown bus depot.

"It is fair to say that the proposed Badger Bus station (redevelopment) absolutely has brought to the forefront the implications of the fact that we don't really have a clear plan for an expanded public transportation system downtown," Verveer said.