submitted by Larry Larrabee; photo by Neil Fauerbach
Tom Lynch, Director of Transportation for the City of Madison, began his presentation by acknowledging the significant contribution of 13-year Director of Metro Transit, Chuck Kamp, for his energy and foresight in bringing the system into the future. Mr. Lynch then shared important aspects of Madison’s transportation system and its future.
First there is the need to prepare the city and county for 2050 with a projected population of one million people that will require doubling downtown parking to 20,000 spaces and two additional traffic lanes in each direction on East Washington Avenue.
The director then explained the direction the department is taking in developing Bus Rapid Transit (BRT). BRT is defined by buses being no more than 15 minutes apart, off-board payment and the use of dedicated bus lanes with their own traffic signals to avoid congestion. Light Rail (LR) is no longer being considered because of the significantly greater cost. Fifteen miles of LR in Madison would cost one billion dollars while BRT will cost $128 million. Twenty larger cities have chosen BRT over LR.
Tom stressed the benefit of BRT based on numerous studies of other cities using that system. Every dollar spent on RBT produces four dollars of investment by corporations and boosts employment for a half a mile around each bus stop.
His department anticipates construction for Madison’s BRT to begin in 2022 and to be complete in 2024. The challenge will be dealing with current inadequacies in the bus barn and stagnant funding from the state.
He concluded his presentation by challenging those present to make use of the two free bus tickets Metro Transit was providing after our meeting and take a ride in the next two months with the idea that those who do so will become supporters for the bus rapid transit concept.
If you missed our meeting this week, you can watch the video here.
Who knew about early Wisconsin’s gay history? Really, no one. But now, thanks to Richard Wagner, this story is out of the closet with his new, scholarly, and extensively illustrated book, We’ve Been Here All Along (Wisconsin Historical Society Press).
Brad got into swimming with sharks “by accident” — he was scuba diving in Stuart Cove, Nassau, Bahamas, and was asked to be a safety diver by the staff of the Discovery Channel who were there filming sharks in the area.
We are living in the information generation – constantly bombarded by new information and larger and larger amounts of data. In fact, the world is changing so rapidly that the future has become a complete unknown. That unknown is creating anxiety and interrupting everyone’s ability to live happy lives. Through his pursuit of the science of happiness, Dr. Niraj Nijhawan has uncovered specific root causes of unhappiness and developed steps that people can take to reprogram their brains and escape this crisis.
Rotary Club of Madison, Wisconsin 