Facing a $421,00 shortage this year due to unexpectedly high fuel costs and bracing for a budget gap next year estimated at $1.4 million, Madison Metro Transit will consider fare hikes.
Madison Metro’s budget pressures do not come at a time when ridership is declining; rather, the city’s buses are the busiest they’ve been since 1986 but operate with frozen state aid and other government funding sources.
…(Metro manager Catherine) Debo said two main factors have contributed to stable or increasing ridership. The more recent cause, she said, is the contracts Metro has made with employers to issue employees unlimited ride cards. So far, Metro has contracts with the University of Wisconsin, St. Marys Hospital and University Hospital.