Bus numbers

Back before Covid, before the bus reorganizations but after they first started running them to this town, I'd drive to or be dropped off at the bus stop and ride downtown. I never saw more than 15 people on the (rush hour only service) buses, and usually about half that. I liked the convenience--I could use my time much more usefully than I could driving--but wondered just how heavily the town was subsidizing the ride.

The city then expanded bus service, including an in-town only route, which I have used twice. Once again, I wondered: how much was that subsidized?

Budget shortfalls are bringing a lot into public view. Last year Metro Bus+Paratransit had 113,951 riders on this town's lines. Counting weekends as a single day, that comes to about 9 riders per bus run. That's more than I expected, based on what I see through the windows, but OK. To be clear, there are two circulator lines, and one which links to Madison downtown. I just assumed everybody rode the circulator.

The contract with Metro this year is for 2.04 million. That's about 18 dollars per ride, all lines included. Fares were about 2 bucks (and there is some state aid, but that doesn't reduce the cost per ride, just changes who pays), so the city itself subsidizes 600,000 -- a bit over 5 bucks a ride.

Madison Metro got itself a reputation for exploitive contracts with the suburbs, but 18 dollars a ride? You'd have to put 2 people on every seat to make 2 dollar fares alone pay for the contract.

For the in-city short hops, a taxi costs less than the real price for the bus ride. I wasn't expecting that.