Highlights from the Bus Rapid Transit Ribbon-Cutting

Image credit: Robbie Webber

Today, the Madison community cut the ribbon on Metro’s new Bus Rapid Transit system. Mayor Satya Rhodes-Conway was joined by local, state, and federal leaders at a celebration ceremony located near the new Eau Claire BRT Station.

“Madison has been talking about bringing rapid transit to our community for more than 40 years now and today, excuse my language, I am damn proud to say that we have achieved that goal,” said Mayor Rhodes-Conway. “Madison is a rapidly growing city, and we have to embrace and guide that growth to preserve our high quality of life. We need to ensure Madison remains a place where everyone is welcome and is able to live, able to afford housing, able to get around our community, and able to access education.”

Mayor Rhodes-Conway thanked the Biden-Harris administration for providing a historic, once in a generation investment in Madison's transportation network.

“The City of Madison did our homework. We had our plans ready and we were able to seize the opportunity presented by the Biden-Harris infrastructure bill. When those funds became available, we were ready to go. And that doesn't happen every day. It took a lot of work by a lot of people, and we're not done yet. We are working on the North-South BRT Line and — fingers crossed — we will be able to get federal funding again.”

Wisconsin Lieutenant Governor Sarah Rodriguez said a strong public transportation system is one of our community’s most important assets.

“I want to extend my congratulations to the Mayor, the incredible teams at Metro Transit, the Wisconsin Department of Transportation, and the countless others who brought this incredible project to life,” said Lt. Gov. Rodriguez. “You all work tirelessly to advocate for the improvement of our transportation infrastructure, and this project shows how much of an impact that work has on the people who rely on this critical infrastructure every day.”  

Before the official ribbon-cutting, Federal Transportation Administration Deputy Administrator Veronica Vanterpool delivered closing remarks at the celebration.

“Bus rapid transit is the fastest growing mode of public transportation in this country. In the Federal Transit Administration's construction pipeline, we have about 66 projects that we're investing in all over the country with significant amounts of money. More than 60 percent of those projects are bus rapid transit projects,” said Deputy Administrator Vanterpool. “In the past 20 years, FTA has supported 75 BRT projects and over half of those were funded in the last five years. We're always looking for wonderful examples, such as you all have here in Madison, to spread and share around the country.”