Light Rail in Madison? (Milwaukee, Kenosha: low crime, neighborhoods, schools)

[Milwaukee Jason]

I was wondering if people think Madison will get light rail within the next few years. I live in Milwaukee and am very frustrated that the city is so behind others, like Minneapolis. Part of me thinks that progressive Madison will actually beat Milwaukee in getting light rail. Thanks for your thoughts.

[Drover]

A cost-benefit assessment weighs heavily against light rail in a small, low-density city like Madison, so the city's light-rail fetishists are not likely to get their wish any time soon. Where do you want to go that a bus can't take you?

[Milwaukee City]

Originally Posted by Milwaukee Jason

I live in Milwaukee and am very frustrated that the city is so behind others, like Minneapolis. Part of me thinks that progressive Madison will actually beat Milwaukee in getting light rail. Thanks for your thoughts.

Okay, I said I would never post here again however, Milwaukee does already have a passenger train. It's called the Hiawatha Line with 8 daily round trips between downtown Milwaukee-Milw.Airport-Racine-Glenview-downtown Chicago. It's a dedicated line and if you have ever riden it you would know nearly every car is packed with people. Also Milwaukee has the KRM line in the works which will run from downtown Milwaukee along south shore through all the Milwaukee eastern suburbs down to the Metra stop in Kenosha. Also in the works is a trolley for downtown Milwaukee/East side area/Third Ward.

So I would be careful when you say behind others and to think Madison which has no passenger train service what so ever will pass up Milwaukee in terms of public transit. You're comparing a city of 2,000,000 to a city with 480,000.

[remcycle]

...the problem with that is that the Hiawatha doesn't even stop until it gets to Sturtevant so I wouldn't go so far as to say it even helps in terms of serving the suburbs. That train exists to funnel Milwaukeeans to Chicago so they don't have to drive 90 miles to work or O'Hare.

And the KRM will be a great thing...if the Environmental Impact Statement ever gets written...and that's before it even gets designed, engineered and/or funded. I'm sure it'll happen, but it's going to be quite a while.

The point is, as opposed to diesel-locomotive commuter rail, I think Milwaukee Jason was referring to the fact that one can't jump on an electric train in downtown Milwaukee and ride it to, say, Shorewood or Wauwatosa or West Allis or even Waukesha. Cities with similar populations such as Vancouver (578000), Portland (550,396), Boston (608,352) or Denver (598,707) already have extensive light rail systems serving their downtowns, surrounding neighborhoods and suburbs, so in this respect Milwaukee is woefully behind.

[Milwaukee City]

Originally Posted by remcycle

Cities with similar populations such as Vancouver (578000), Portland (550,396), Boston (608,352) or Denver (598,707) already have extensive light rail systems serving their downtowns, surrounding neighborhoods and suburbs, so in this respect Milwaukee is woefully behind.

The problem with this argument is that the city of Boston is smaller and so is VC however you're not including the whole Boston area of 6 million and VC with a metro population of 2.5 million which is bigger than Milwaukee's 2 million. VC also has a pop density of 14,000/sq mi and Boston has a density of 13,000 people per sq mi to compete with Milwaukee's 6,500/sq mi.

I agree Milwaukee should have a light rail of some kind and the Hiawatha does stop at the Milwaukee airport 10 miles south of downtown. Madison in my mind could have a system but I don't know how successful it would be since everything is already so close.

[ryanj0]

Originally Posted by Milwaukee City

The problem with this argument is that the city of Boston is smaller and so is VC however you're not including the whole Boston area of 6 million and VC with a metro population of 2.5 million which is bigger than Milwaukee's 2 million. VC also has a pop density of 14,000/sq mi and Boston has a density of 13,000 people per sq mi to compete with Milwaukee's 6,500/sq mi.

I agree Milwaukee should have a light rail of some kind and the Hiawatha does stop at the Milwaukee airport 10 miles south of downtown. Madison in my mind could have a system but I don't know how successful it would be since everything is already so close.

If Madison had a light rail, it would need to go throughout the city.. The one that was proposed was for downtown only and makes no sense.. Madison Metro is horrible for cities of it's size. Madison Metro takes you one nand a half to two hours to get from one side off town to the opposite side.. Cities half our size can do better than that... It's a shame too because Madison is rather liberal and there's a lot of people who would probably prefer mass transit just to be green, but with the inefficiency it makes no sense... Why take 2 hours on bus when you can get there in a half hour or less by car..

[Milwaukee City]

Originally Posted by ryanj0

Madison Metro takes you one nand a half to two hours to get from one side off town to the opposite side

Are you talking about the bus system? I have taken the bus from the bottom of Milwaukee to the far northwest side and it took 2.5 hrs on two buses. But Milwaukee County is a large county from North to South, it's the same height as Dane county but it's all urban so if it takes 1.5-2hrs just to go through Madison that is very bad. It's sounds like more of a poor planning of bus lines rather than the city traffic itself.

[ryanj0]

Originally Posted by Milwaukee City

Are you talking about the bus system? I have taken the bus from the bottom of Milwaukee to the far northwest side and it took 2.5 hrs on two buses. But Milwaukee County is a large county from North to South, it's the same height as Dane county but it's all urban so if it takes 1.5-2hrs just to go through Madison that is very bad. It's sounds like more of a poor planning of bus lines rather than the city traffic itself.

Yes I am talking about the bus system, it is horrible... It can take two hours to get from one side of town to the other. And I'm not talking about county, I am talking about town, Dane County has no regional transit authority yet, but it seems like a fairly popular idea amongst many of the people who ran for city council this year and many who won... It is very bad and very poor planning... I am well connected and have spoken with several Madison officials about ways to make it more efficient, to no avail, yet... They listen, but I think many are too afraid to change the bus system.. Funny, people who were allies of Obama, afraid of change, haha...

[Milwaukee City]

Does madison have regional bus service like Milwaukee has Megabus, badger bus, coach USA and other county freeway fliers. In Milwaukee you have coach usa which has dedicated service to waukesha and oconomowoc and megabus to Chicago-stl-detroit. and Washington county express and ozaukee county express and bus service to racine and Kenosha. Granted it's not as sexy as hopping on a el train and taking down to Kenosha but their is a lot of bus ervice that can take you anywhere in the 6 county area of Milwaukee. I live real close to Milwaukee's intermodal station and for me I can hop on any regional bus or train and be anywhere but that's b/c I live right by the downtown train station.

[ryanj0]

Originally Posted by Milwaukee City

Does madison have regional bus service like Milwaukee has Megabus, badger bus, coach USA and other county freeway fliers. In Milwaukee you have coach usa which has dedicated service to waukesha and oconomowoc and megabus to Chicago-stl-detroit. and Washington county express and ozaukee county express and bus service to racine and Kenosha. Granted it's not as sexy as hopping on a el train and taking down to Kenosha but their is a lot of bus ervice that can take you anywhere in the 6 county area of Milwaukee. I live real close to Milwaukee's intermodal station and for me I can hop on any regional bus or train and be anywhere but that's b/c I live right by the downtown train station.

Well we do have that sort of... Megabus, badger bus, and coach USA all service Madison, but not in the way you're talking... They service us as in busses to Milwaukee or Chicago, they don't go anywhere else (unless you want to charter one for thousands of dollars)... We have no real form of regional transit... Unless you consider Milwaukee and Chicago regional... It is unfortunate, as nice as Madison is, we are extremely low crime, we have many parks, some decent schools, yet our public transportation sucks... That's about the only place Madison, as a city, is way behind on it's times...