A new regional transit authority for the Madison, Wisconsin region is about to meet for the first time. The Dane County Regional Transit Authority will take responsibility for all transit development for Madison and its suburbs, though it sounds like the City of Madison will retain control of its transit operations for now.
The best news? The press tried to whip up technology wars by asking each new board member: "Should a regional transit system begin with a focus on expanded bus service or commuter rail?" Most of the board members refused to divide up the world that way, insisting that they were open to whatever form of transit best met the needs. If the new board can keep its focus on results instead of technologies, they'll go far.
This will be interesting to watch. The Charlottesville area in Virginia has been talking about starting up a regional transit authority, but they are still trying to figure out a way to fund it. The political jurisdiction for the city is very small (only 10 sq mi), and there is significant interest in extending the current bus lines out into the population centers of Albemarle County. It's been a difficult negotiating process without a central body.
Posted by: Daniel | 03/03/2010 at 04:59
I am extremely curious to see how this turns out. I just finished writing a lengthy comment for "sydney: grid networks for gridless cities" on everything Madison did wrong, which TypePad refused to accept without telling me why.
Posted by: Mark | 03/04/2010 at 17:05
Oops, I hate thinking of something else right after hitting send. With any results from this agency likely a ways away, I'm curious what your take is on Madison transit, especially given Madison's uncooperative to transit geography. My problems with it pretty much boil down to low frequency, very low off-peak frequency, and downtown parallel routes all coming at the same time because the routes all leave the transfer points at the same time.
Posted by: Mark | 03/04/2010 at 17:16
Thanks for the post! I wonder what search engine you use to find the desired film? I use rapidshare SE ( http://rapidqueen.com ), and you?
Posted by: Macy | 03/11/2010 at 03:06