Madison Metro’s proposed later weekend starts would save about $387,000; Fitchburg impact minimal, staff says

City staff summarized Metro Transit’s proposed schedule changes and the likely effect on Fitchburg riders at the Oct. 1 Transportation & Transit Commission meeting. Ross said Metro’s proposal would shift many runs to start at 5 a.m. on weekdays and 6 a.m. on weekends (versus roughly 45 minutes earlier today on some routes) and that the package would save about $387,000 systemwide, with most savings accruing to Madison.

"This will save $387,000 system wide," Ross said while walking commissioners through Fitchburg-specific tables derived from 2025 data. Ross presented per-run weekend averages for affected Fitchburg stops—examples included 0.5 riders (route d Saturdays), 0.6 (route g Sundays) and values under 1.0 for several runs—concluding the local impact would be very small. Commissioners raised questions about whether the change was a one-off budget response or a recurring adjustment and asked whether the analysis could isolate exact times of day when boardings occurred; Ross said the raw data include timestamped boardings so deeper time-of-day analysis is possible.

Commissioners emphasized sympathy for riders who rely on early weekend runs but noted the city does not set Metro’s budget: the changes appear to be Madison’s response to a budget gap. Members asked staff to monitor potential future cuts and to request more granular (time-of-day) evidence for any local advocacy to Metro.