Commuting to Milwaukee from Madison (Oconomowoc, Lake Mills: school, college, living)

[nada]

Hi,

My husband and I are relocating to Madison, I'll be going to school there, but my husband will be working in Milwaukee. Is it possible to commute from Madison to Milwaukee and vice versa? Is there any consistent source of public transportation there on a daily basis? Also is it feasible to drive there, does anyone know the commute time, and or traffic, and commuting during the winter?

Also does anyone know of any areas to live in which would be equidistant to both cities?

Thanks

[JoshB]

I think there is a rideshare program. I'm not sure though. With gas @ $4.19 a gallon I wouldn't be driving that far. I would seriously check out a rideshare program.

[i_am_hydrogen]

By car, it takes about 1:10-1:30 to drive between the two. Public transportation options include the Badger Bus and Greyhound.

[quijote]

I believe Megabus, a much cheaper alternative to Badger Bus and Greyhound, has started or will start service between Milwaukee and Madison.

low cost inter city travel

Edit: On second thought, after looking at their webpage, they don't yet offer service between the two cities. But check on them once in a while, things may change....

[Sorge]

Originally Posted by nada

Hi,

My husband and I are relocating to Madison, I'll be going to school there, but my husband will be working in Milwaukee. Is it possible to commute from Madison to Milwaukee and vice versa? Is there any consistent source of public transportation there on a daily basis? Also is it feasible to drive there, does anyone know the commute time, and or traffic, and commuting during the winter?

Also does anyone know of any areas to live in which would be equidistant to both cities?

Thanks

1 to 1-1/2 hours is a correct estimate of the travel time from/to Madison/Milwaukee. Buses are going there a few times a day, so if your husband works close to a bus stop, he's lucky.

Traffic is usually ok, can be heavier in Milwaukee due to rush hour, weather, accidents, etc.
One potential problem is that sometimes, at least a few times during this winter, the road can be closed due to snow storms.

[MidwesternBookWorm]

Originally Posted by nada

Is it possible to commute from Madison to Milwaukee and vice versa?

Yikes - I hope you have one of those hybrids that gets 50+ MPG, or else that one of you is going to be pulling in some BIG bucks. That's gonna be one pricy commute.

I do know a couple of people who live in Lake Mills, about 30 or so miles east of Madison. It's a very small town, and I don't think it's really half-way between Madison and Milwaukee, but they seem to enjoy living there.

You may want to start a thread in the state-wide forum about communities midway between the two cities. I suspect that most people who cruise the Madison forum are less likely to know a lot about communities farther away.

[everwinter]

Lets do the math for gas.
Lets say you drive a mini van, an 05 Dodge Caravan for example gets 25 highway mpg.
150 miles round trip from East Madison to Milwaukee
So 6 gallons of gas used x $4.15 for a gallon = $25 a day, $125 a week & say he works 50 weeks a year, that equals a nice $1,250 a year in gas alone under ideal conditions if I did the math right.

[Sorge]

Originally Posted by everwinter

Lets do the math for gas.
Lets say you drive a mini van, an 05 Dodge Caravan for example gets 25 highway mpg.
150 miles round trip from East Madison to Milwaukee
So 6 gallons of gas used x $4.15 for a gallon = $25 a day, $125 a week & say he works 50 weeks a year, that equals a nice $1,250 a year in gas alone under ideal conditions if I did the math right.

$6250 to be correct.

[everwinter]

Thanks, don't know how I figured 125 x 50 = 1,250. Blurry late night vision.

[Milwaukee Ronnie]

There is a lot of new development happening out in Oconomowoc right now. Technically Ocnomowoc is part of the Milwaukee Metropolitan area; it's about 30 minutes from Downtown on a good day, about 45 minutes to an hour on a bad day. But on any day it's also only about 40 minutes or so from Madison.

Transit between Milwaukee and Madison consists of buses. I remember as a college student back in the '90s the round trip between Madison and Milwaukee was about 15 bucks. Today it's 34 bucks. While they now have something called "Badger Bucks" which could get you up to a 30 percent discount if you travel frequently, in all honesty you'd be better off driving from a monetary standpoint.