It’s 4:30 on a Friday and the line of cars in front of me stretches for miles. The Beltline is wound up tight, and my mind with it. I’m sure you’ve been there. Idling in traffic is annoying at best, and maddening at worst.
Slowly moving through tight lanes and being bound up by construction and congestion is enough to make my skin crawl. Could there be hope? The City of Madison recently began surveys to determine what improvements could be made to the beltline highway system.

The Beltline is a major transportation route for many Madison College students, and carries thousands of people everyday to their jobs, homes and school. With such high usage, accidents could happen at any time. An average of 1.3 crashes a day happen on the beltline. That’s over 400 crashes a year. Ouch.

However, most of the options focus on building new beltlines around the area. Up to three new beltlines have been proposed: north, south, and one that traverses the Isthmus. Research continues on what options could help, but building three new highways just seems like a good way to ensure what will seem like 30 years of nonstop construction.

There are better options that could reduce congestion and increase safety.

Improving the bus system in Madison could quickly alleviate some of these problems.

The Madison Metro bus system services much of the area and usually arrives on schedule. But it is also limited in some ways, which can be frustrating. Currently, five bus lines travel across the beltline. Many of these routes end service early, around 6 p.m or 9 p.m. Some routes only run during the rush hours.

Weekend service is generally much more limited. There isn’t even a bus that goes directly past Truax on the weekends, even though there are still scheduled classes and events.

However, if these issues could be improved, and people can be encouraged toward public transportation, travellers could experience less congestion.

If the city is trying to improve transportation for the area, expanding Madison Metro service should be part of the solution. Every person on a bus becomes one less car on the road.

Expanding hours and routes to serve more people would reduce beltline congestion without additional construction.

The beltline problem is larger and more complicated than can be solved by a singular solution, but increasing mass transportation services should be considered for the future of a busy but happier Madison.