Madison is a mid-sized city located in Wisconsin, about 130 kilometres west of Milwaukee. The metropolitan area is home to 680,000 inhabitants, of which 269,000 live in Madison city proper. The city is distinct among other midwestern cities by its unique geography, with the dense city centre built on an isthmus formed by Lake Monona and Lake Mendota. Several other lakes are found throughout the metropolitan region, which precipitate a unique pattern of growth.

There is a strong case for a rapid transit network in Madison:

• Distinctive geography has created strong transit corridors through the core

• The city centre is a strong hub, with a high concentration of public sector jobs, shopping districts, residential growth and event venues

• Madison has historically demonstrated progressive urban policy, exemplified by projects like the State Street pedestrian mall

• Pre-war neighbourhoods adjacent to the city centre have a walkable and transit-conducive street grid

From 2004 to 2014, Madison Metro (Madison’s transit agency) saw a 40% increase in ridership. 58,000 daily trips were taken on Metro in 2018, in a service area of about 260,000.

Madison’s existing transit system is a hub-and-spoke style bus system, with routes connecting major terminals to important points in the city. A large proportion of routes serve suburb-city centre commutes. Terminals are designated as ‘transfer points’ on the system map, and four are located in various suburbs of the city. In the city centre, most routes loop around Capitol Square. This serves as another important transfer point, although this is not denoted by Metro.

Almost all routes operate with 30-minute or 60-minute headways. The 30-minute routes form the basis of the bus network. Service typically ends before 23:00. Route 80 and 84 are university-funded routes that provide zero-fare trips between UW campus, downtown, and Eagle Heights every 15 minutes throughout the day, with late night service.

Bus Rapid Transit

As it looks to the future, Madison is currently exploring options for a bus rapid transit system – although, it will resemble a BRT-lite system. Supported by investments in bike and pedestrian infrastructure, Madison has potential to be a transportation leader among small/mid-sized university cities.

I have proposed a rapid transit concept for Madison based on travel patterns, population density, employment density, growth nodes and existing infrastructure. Modes and stop locations were chosen based on demand, and the possibility of utilizing existing infrastructure.

Alignment methodology

Building on the existing network

As Madison’s existing bus network does not offer much variance with respect to headways, little information about corridor demand can be gleaned from frequency. The only corridor with frequent service is between the large UW campus area and the city centre – a very obvious corridor to include in the scope of a rapid transit line.

An alternate approach is to identify corridors where many services interline. These corridors can indicate where there is established demand, which may not necessarily reflect where major destinations or high densities occur. Below, I have highlighted such segments in red on the existing system:

West of the isthmus, the primary corridors are Campus Drive/University Avenue, Park Street-Fish Hatchery Road, and Whitney Way.

East of the isthmus, the primary corridors are Washington Avenue and Milwaukee Street.

The city centre presents many options; several routes consolidate on three corridors that run the length of the isthmus. Gorham Street/Johnson Street (a continuation of of Campus Drive/University Avenue) and Washington Avenue are the primary corridors, which connect to corridors to the east and west of Madison’s city centre.

Existing infrastructure and right-of-ways

It is best practice to take advantage of existing infrastructure when designing a rapid transit network – this reduces cost, construction timelines and potential community opposition. OpenRailwayMap is an excellent and easily accessible source:

The freight railway from central Madison to Middleton coincides with the major transit corridor identified previously, and presents as an opportunity for rapid rail transit. Other railways can potentially support rail service to Stoughton, Cottage Grove, Sun Prarie and Waunakee.

Population and employment density

It is ideal to establish rapid transit between/along areas where the highest concentration of people live, work and study. The conceptual system’s LRT, BRT and priority bus lines are overlayed on population and employment density maps to show how the system can serve these areas:

There are nine noteworthy areas with high employment density and/or population density:

1. Downtown

2. University

3. Burr Oaks

4. Allied Community/Dunn's Marsh

5. Maple Woods

6. Monona

7. Airport Area/East Town

8. West Town

9. Greenway Station/Middleton

Proposed Lines

Light Rail

LRT will form the core of the system, transporting the largest proportion of rapid transit users. Both lines serve the most popular corridors in Madison. LRT will utilize new viaducts, crossing gates and existing freight rail rights-of-way to increase average speed outside of central Madison. A 2.65-kilometre transit mall on Campus Drive/Johnson Street (2.25 km), Pinckney Street (200 m), Mifflin Street (90 m) and Webster Street (110 m) will allow trams to move at street level through the city centre with less traffic interference while simultaneously providing more infrastructure for pedestrians and cyclists. Since Johnson Street will no longer allow general vehicular traffic, University Avenue will be converted into a two-way street.

Bus Rapid Transit

The BRT system supports corridors where demand does not necessitate LRT.

Rapid Bus

The proposed priority bus system provides frequent and reliable transit access to areas of the city unserved by the proposed rapid transit network. Madison’s 8-route priority bus network will feature 15-minute or better all-day service, queue jump lanes, some forms of transit signal priority, and enhanced shelters. The network will also operate throughout the night, with 30-minute headways. Due to interlined priority bus lines, bus lanes will be installed on a short segment of Washington Avenue west of the Capitol. The geography of Madison prevents a comprehensive grid network, however the priority corridors do provide orbital and radial services that connect to rapid transit.

Ponder at these alignments in detail below:

The network by the numbers

Trams, trains and busses

The proposed Madison network is quite large for a city of 680,000. However, it is not unrealistic in similarly-sized cities outside of North America. Given that all of the suburban rail and much of the light rail system can be built on existing rail rights-of-way or wide streets, construction costs can remain low. The most significant costs may be associated with the construction of elevated guideways for the LRT system. Regardless, Madison’s strong city centre, progressive urban policies, transit-conducive geography and large university population are fundamental to supporting such an expansive transit system.