Transportation
Advocate for a New Bus Route: Reverse Bus 80
Bus 80 is packed, especially during the winter. The simple idea: Create a new route, it goes the opposite of Bus 80.
The creation of a new route that goes the opposite of bus 80 will have multiple immediate impacts on campus life. For starters, students will have more options getting from location to location. The current Bus 80 heavily disfavors Lakeshore Students, who are able to get to classes with ease but unable to get back to their dorms without going around half the route.
When winter hits, it gets even more difficult for students to find spots on a bus - especially for students with mobility-related disabilities. Ensuring that there is less congestion on Bus 80 will allow students an ease of mind trying to catch a bus to class when running behind.
Sustainable Transportation
It's great that Downtown Madison is a city where you don't have to use a car to get to your most frequent locations. Let's expand that and make it better.
I want to increase the number of electric buses used by the city. Ensuring that we have as little of a carbon imprint is important if we want to make sure we treat our planet with respect.
I want to further expand bike paths and lanes, and make them safer to use. Biking east on University Ave means you have a closed shoulder and feel safer, but when going the opposite way towards Lakeshore you're biking between a bus lane and a 3 car lane - that doesn't feel safe, especially for bikers who are new to larger urban areas. I want to expand the use of protected bike lanes on major roads and intersections. On top of this, I want to work with BCycle Madison to bring more electric bikes to the Lakeshore area.
Prioritizing Pedestrians
There have been too many incidents in the past few years where students are trying to get to class, only to find out that their normal route is cut off due to unexpected construction.
I want to make sure students are able to get around campus without compromising safety. This starts with whenever there is construction scheduled in or around campus, there is ample notice ahead of time. Signs should be placed and detours created before the construction begins to allow students the time to adjust their schedules as they go from class to class. When University Avenue was under construction last year, two lanes and sidewalks were closed off unexpectedly - I worked to ensure one of the closed lanes were converted to a partial pedestrian lane, and partial bike lane. We need to make sure that's the norm across campus.