Skip to main content
City of Madison
  • Accounts
    • All Accounts
    • My Account
    • ePayments
    • Water Customer Care
    • Employment
    • Licenses & Permits
  • Services
  • Jobs
  • Agencies
    • All Agencies
    • Assessor's Office
    • Attorney's Office
    • Building Inspection
    • Civil Rights
    • Clerk's Office
    • Common Council
    • Community Development
    • Development Services Center
    • Economic Development
    • Employee Assistance Program
    • Engineering
    • Finance
    • Fire
    • Fleet Service
    • Golf
    • Goodman Pool
    • Housing Authority
    • Human Resources
    • Information Technology
    • Madison City Channel
    • Madison Public Library
    • Madison Senior Center
    • Mayor's Office
    • Metro Transit
    • Monona Terrace
    • Municipal Court
    • Office of Business Resources
    • Office of Real Estate Services
    • Olbrich Botanical Gardens
    • Parking Utility
    • Parks
    • Planning
    • Planning, Community & Economic Development
    • Police
    • Public Health Madison & Dane County
    • Public Works
    • Streets & Recycling
    • Traffic Engineering
    • Transportation
    • Treasurer's Office
    • Warner Park Community Recreation Center
    • Water Utility
  • Data
  • Contact
    • Mayor
    • City Council
    • City Staff & Agencies
  • Scheduled Maintenance posted Friday, Apr. 16, 2021 – 8:00 am This website is undergoing scheduled maintenance on Sunday, April 18, 6:00 am – 6:00 pm. You may experience intermittent outages during this time.
Madison Metro Transit Logo

Madison Metro Transit

City of Madison
Metro Transit
  • Home
  • Routes & Schedules
  • Stops
  • Fares
  • How to Ride
  • Paratransit
  • Contact
City of Madison
  • Español
  1. City of Madison
  2. Metro Transit
  3. Routes & Schedules
  4. Bus Rapid Transit (BRT)

Bus Rapid Transit (BRT)

graphic of 2 buses at a bus rapid transit system

East-West BRT Project

The City of Madison is working to implement a Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) system as part of an effort to improve its existing transit system and reduce travel times across the region.

The Madison East-West BRT Project Development process is now underway to develop the detailed design of an initial corridor that will operate east/west through Madison's downtown and the University of Wisconsin campus areas.

  • What is BRT? 
  • Why does Madison need BRT?
  • Frequently Asked Questions

Want to Get Involved?

Community engagement is an important part of the planning and process and there will be multiple opportunities for community members to engage through public meetings, focus groups, and other events.  For the foreseeable future, all community engagement events will be virtual. 

View recordings of past meetings and see estimated future engagement opportunities.

Community Engagement Meetings


East-West BRT Project Overview

BRT mapView Larger Map
 

graphic showing projected BRT funding

The City of Madison Common Council approved a revised Locally Preferred Alternative (LPA) on January 5, 2021. 

The revised LPA will run along East Washington Ave., around the Capitol, through the University of Wisconsin-Madison (UW-Madison) campus, continuing west on University Ave. and Mineral Point Rd., to the West Towne Mall.

This alignment is approximately 15 miles in length and will connect key activity centers such as Madison College, Downtown Madison, the UW-Madison campus, the Capitol and government buildings, and major employers located throughout the corridor, including CUNA Mutual, University Research Park and several shopping centers.

The LPA includes 27 station locations and the 60-foot buses will run in a combination of dedicated lanes and mixed traffic with priority at traffic signals and stations.

In August 2020, the City of Madison’s proposed East-West Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) System was accepted into the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) Small Starts Program.

The Small Starts Program is a competitive grant program supporting rail and other fixed guideway transit systems, including BRT. Acceptance into the program authorizes the city to proceed into Project Development, the more detailed planning process required for the implementation of the East-West BRT system.

The goal of the Madison East-West BRT Project Development process is to develop the detailed design and engineering for routes, stations, and operations.  It will also analyze a few remaining route alternatives including center running on East Washington Avenue and Mineral Point Road, as well as refine the station locations.

Construction is expected to begin in 2023 with a targeted start date of Fall 2024.

Complete Project Timeline


Get Involved!

For new meeting updates and the latest information on the Madison East-West BRT Project Development Project.

  • Sign up for email and text alerts
  • Email: BRT@cityofmadison.com
  • Follow on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram

East/West BRT Project

  • BRT Station Design Competition
  • Community Engagement
  • Frequently Asked Questions
  • Project Documents
  • Transit Network Redesign
    • Project Materials
    • Bus Rapid Transit
    • Events & Participation
    • Frequently Asked Questions

Subscribe to Bus Rapid Transit Project Updates

By participating on this list the Wisconsin Public Records Laws may subject your email address to disclosure to third parties. By selecting "Yes" you are requesting that we treat your email address that you have provided to this list as confidential and you are also stating that you would not participate in this service if the City is obligated to release your email address to such third party requesters.

MetroForward logo

Bus Rapid Transit is part of MetroForward, Mayor Satya Rhodes-Conway's plan to make a major investment in transit to speed up workforce transportation, reduce congestion, and build the transportation backbone of a vibrant regional economy.

Madison Metro Transit Logo
Metro Transit
Justin Stuehrenberg, General Manager

Customer Service

  • Monday – Friday: 6:15 am – 6:00 pm
  • Weekend & Holiday: 8:00 am – 4:30 pm
  • (608) 266-4466
  • WI Relay Service
  • mymetrobus@cityofmadison.com
  • Fill Out a Feedback Form

Rider Information

  • Rider Tools & Apps
  • Routes & Schedules
  • Accessible Services
  • Bike Racks
  • Lost & Found
  • Service Detours
  • Travel in Monona
 

Business Resources

  • Advertising
  • Disadvantaged Business Program
  • Doing Business with Metro
  • App Developers

About Metro Transit

  • Annual Reports
  • Metro Jobs
  • ADA Comments & Complaints
  • Civil Rights & Title VI
  • Oversight Committees
City of Madison, Wisconsin logo, copyright City of Madison

Our Madison – Inclusive, Innovative, & Thriving

Copyright © 1995 - 2021 City of Madison, WI
  • Contact Webmaster
  • Accessibility
  • Web Policies
2019 Winner of the Digital Cities Survey by the Center for Digital Government