Moving to Madison, do I need a car?

[mad420]

Originally Posted by rekuci

It was one freak incident. It could happen anywhere. You're suggesting the OP not ride buses because of it, which yes I think is stupid.

Tens of thousands of Madisonians ride the buses every day without getting burned to death by a nutcase, just as millions of students attend every university in the country without fear of being randomly shot to death, just as millions of people live and work in NYC and DC. Pick something more legitimate about the bus system to worry about please.

Nope you missed my point. I was just throwing in some interesting bus history that doesn't happen every day, not even in big public transport hubs like SF. I never suggested they not take the bus.

[tchemgrrl]

It depends on several factors. If you are working somewhere downtown (ie within a few blocks of State St or the Capitol) or on the UW campus, AND if you are living within a few blocks of one of the main bus routes, AND if you're a person in good enough health to walk a few blocks here and there, then it's absolutely doable. I don't drive and I got by just fine for the 6 1/2 years I lived in town. The bus system is pretty good for a city of Madison's size, and there are lots of regular people who depend on it for their day-to-day travel. If you drive and want to occasionally go farther afield, Community Car is a handy and reasonably-priced option if you live near one of the cars.

On the other hand, as other people mentioned, it can be very difficult to travel from areas inside the transfer points to areas outside them, or even worse, from outside one area to outside another. This is partly due to the shape of the city--all the buses that go across town have to go through the same area, so the engineers found it more convenient to have a few buses do that, and the rest of the buses travel around the outskirts. It probably saves gas but it's not real handy for, say, getting to the mall which is a ways past the transfer point.

If none of that scares you and you want to make a go of it, the main quality-of-life things I'd recommend for going car-free are to 1) get a bike and a helmet (St. Vincent De Paul's often has bike sales with very inexpensive bikes) and 2) look for a place close to a grocery store. Nothing worse than coming home to an empty fridge during a snowstorm and knowing the closest snacks are a 30 minute bus ride away.

[Maintainschaos]

I live in Madison and don't have a car. In agreement with some of the comments already stated, the biggest hassle is grocery shopping. That being said, when you don't have a car, you plan where you live, meaning you need to take a look at the bus routes and decide what section of the city is where you want to live. Getting groceries via bus is fine, you just have to go more frequently during the month and buy fewer things each time you're there.

Oh and there's also Community Car (very similar to ZipCar in bigger cities): Welcome to Community Car