Thursday, April 30, 2009

Free Rides in May on the Monona Express

Ride the Monona Express for free this May.

This winter, the Monona Transit Commission voted to offer free rides to downtown for all Monona commuters during the month of May, 2009. Historically, May is a slow month for the Express, with fewer riders. The committee decided to promote its quality service by offering free rides to all passengers in May. With a month of free rides, we are able to say "thank you" to current riders, while encouraging everyone to invite their neighbors and friends to join them for an hassle-free commute.

The Monona Express offers fast service to downtown Madison and the UW campus, from 6am until 8am weekday mornings (looping through Monona every thirty minutes), and from 3:30 until 5:30 pm weekday afternoons.

See website for schedule and further information, or call 222-3350.

Monona Express:

16 comments:

  1. Whatever happened to just giving people taxi rides? I also recall some discussion around Monona about purchasing bikes or was it a car?

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  2. "Whatever happened to just giving people taxi rides?"

    Uhh, taxi rides are way more expensive so it was never a serious proposal. Perhaps you are recalling some erroneous math by our local columnist.

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  3. I think that snotty remark refers to Chad's idea for Monona to have a Community Car (like they have in Madison,gasp,that evil place). Chad suggested that donations would pay for the car not the city.

    I think his Ivy League education way of thinking made his idea too complicated for some folks to understand.

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  4. I appreciate the free rides, but it would be more helpful if the Monona Express could extend its route to include the west side of campus (namely the UW Hospital/clinics area). Now, the route only goes to mid campus, necessitating a transfer to a City of Madison or campus bus.

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  5. Can the bus run during Badger games?

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  6. "I think that snotty remark refers to Chad's idea for Monona to have a Community Car (like they have in Madison,gasp,that evil place). "

    I do think Madison is a evil and snotty place. I do not want to be like Madison, you do? What do we need/want that Madison has? Better Mass Transist? sure
    Motion to support the Kyoto-proposal... HUH?
    Community Cars? HUH?
    Sidewalks? sure but let us be relasitc-, retrofitting the whole town just will not work. However, there is other ways-it is just seem like sidewalks is what got talked up the most.

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  7. What's with the Madison phobia? What is the point of discussing whether or not we want to be "like" Madison? Madison is fairly large city, and we are a rather small one. For that reason alone, we'll never be anything like Madison so why does this always come up? But what's wrong with looking at what other places, including Madison, are doing in order to get ideas about stuff we'd like to see in Monona? And since we are surrounded by the city of Madison, might it not be wise to wonder about things we could partner with them on - like mass transit or may be trash pickup? I see the proximity to Madison as postive thing for Monona, not a negative.

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  8. "Can the bus run during Badger games?"

    It could, but there are other available options that make it unlikely (a number of area bars and restaurants provide rides to the games).

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  9. "I see the proximity to Madison as postive thing for Monona, not a negative."

    So are you saying you like having easy access to jobs, 100's of restaurants, the UW, nightlife, Badger games, museums, and bookstores??? You Radical wannabe!

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  10. "I see the proximity to Madison as postive thing for Monona, not a negative."

    So are you saying you like having easy access to jobs, 100's of restaurants, the UW, nightlife, Badger games, museums, and bookstores??? You Radical wannabe!

    Counselor that was not the point-
    Of course that is one of the things that make Monona grand....but just because Madison is doing it does NOT mean we should DO it and just because I THINK that a COmmunity Car is a quack of an idea DOES NOT mean it is because madison has it.

    The pooint is there were NO donations and that left supporter looking in one direction.

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  11. "just because Madison is doing it does NOT mean we should DO it"

    Well, duh. I think we have common ground!

    However, the contrary argument IS often made: if Madison does it, then Monona should NOT do it.

    As far as the community car thingy, uhh, we were planning to use *your* car. Could you leave the keys in it? Thanks.

    ;->

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  12. Someone (with a negative attitude) has some misperceptions about Community Car. The Monona members of Community Car would probably be a good place to do a little research so that you don't spout off nonsense. "A quack of an idea?" Why? Because you might not want to use it, others shouldn't?

    If, for the time being, we have to accept the car-based transportation system we have in the U.S., what's wrong with sharing a car with a group? If you don't drive very much--and we all should work to not drive very much--why use up resources to build ten cars, when one would do?

    Also, many Community Car members use the service in lieu of having a second car.

    Someone in a comment a while back said (and I paraphrase) that the older generation moved to Monona because it was not Madison, but the younger generation is moving here because it is close to the Madison they like, but cannot afford. (Sorry, they said that better.) The younger generation wants what Madison has to offer and if Monona cannot be progressive (meaning making progress), we will eventually be "that community that had such potential but never capitalized it." (Oh, wait a minute--maybe we already are that community.)

    Monona's old-timers (whether aged or just with aged attitudes) are doing more harm to this community with their limited and negative thinking than anything else I can think of. Staying the same is a bad choice for our future.

    "Evil Madison?" Oh, please. Grow up.

    "Snotty Madison?" What's snottier than saying "Monona's so great, we aren't going to change a thing?"

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  13. "However, the contrary argument IS often made: if Madison does it, then Monona should NOT do it."

    I think the contrary accusation is often made and tends to be much ado about nothing.

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  14. As backwards as this might sound, I think you would have more success with a community car if it were a large SUV or Mini-van.

    There has been dozens of times I've driven 60 miles (15 miles there/back to pick up, and 15 miles there/back to return)to borrow a pickup from a friend, for a weekend project. Some stores rent trucks, but it is usually around $10-$20 an hour for what costs me $5-$10 in gas the friend route.

    I would be happy to pay a membership fee, and then a rental/usage fee for these times I need a bigger car. I think many people buy bigger cars/SUVs for the few times they need one and don't have a friend to count on.

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  15. My recollection is that Community Car has a larger vehicle (probably several) in their fleet.

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  16. Community Car's experience has shown that a mini-van is a requested and used vehicle. Surprisingly, the truck hasn't worked out as sucessfully. Perhaps the mini-van is just more versatile--able to haul stuff and people?

    And back to the Madison/Monona thing: Wouldn't it be nice if we had some nice restaurants, nightlife, a museum, and a bookstore right here in Monona?

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