The light rail system that is in place in the Minn./St Paul area has been a gem to their communities and 100s of thousands of people use it every year. Contact Judy Robson and your other local reps. to get the light rail corridor between Harvard Ill./Janesville/Milton/Evansville/Madison in motion. We can't wait for the Feds to fund this for the possible 2016 Olympics in Chicago. We need it now!

Jakiao,
It was good to see you again. In California the transportation you described is indeed much more feasible. That is no reason Janesville should not try to do whatever they can to improve, though. It's more-so in the hands of the population of Janesville than the officials. If people carpooled more often, converted to hybrid vehicles such as the one you described, or were just more willing to make small sacrifices... a difference could definitely be felt.

howard.....I take our local buses almost daily. They are hybrids and have quite a high ridership. And it certainly costs me far less annually to live in the desert than in Janesville.

I support a regularly scheduled bus link between Janesville, Milton and Whitewater.

But there's no reason why a senior citizen in Rock County should go without needed transportation or depend on the goodwill of others when Rock County provides that service at nominal cost. Rock County Specialized Transit is available for persons over the age of 55, or disabled. If you're over 55, you dont have to be disabled.

http://www.co.rock.wi.us/Dept/Aging/Spec......

or call 608-757-5054.

bring back the people trains since gm's trains will be out of commission soon. We already have the tracks everywhere and we could have different stations all over town that are next to bus stops. trains are fun and i would take little kids on there because the seats would ACTUALLY HAVE SAFETY BELTS! unlike JTS.

I grew up in the Janesville area most of my extended family is still there. My family and I are now in Chicago. One thing I noticed with the transit system here is that they have looked at the needs. They did not just throw lines out here or there. I think if Janesville and some of the neighboring cities came together it would be beneficial to all. I was taking a bus for a short time between Beloit and Janesville. This was before gas was high. to those that talk about the timesaving trade off. I say bring an MP3 player, book, or decide to pick up a class and study. That is what I do on my two hour commute to and from work. That with gass would cost 100 bucks a week. With the bus system it costs me 20. Good Luck!!

I have driven on Milwaukee street a number of times this weekend. I have seen no one using the Bike Path crossing when I drove by. I did see a guy (adult) shoot across Milwaukee St. from Wuthering Hills between cars without stopping, or even slowing down, at the stop sign. If he had stopped and let two cars go by, he could have crossed safely with no cars coming from either direction. Maybe we need a tunnel there as well.

One addition to my post, when I do ride my bicycle, the drivers of autos and trucks are very rude to bicyclist. I have been yelled at, given the one finger salute, etc. I am a very good bicycle rider and usually cruise at 20 miles per hour. I have been told to get off of the road and get on the sidewalk and even had one driver pull over and yell at me. I have to follow the same rules of the road as the cars and anyone who passes a bicyclist must allow at least 3 feet between them and the bicycle. The citizens of Janesville better get used to seeing more scooters and mopeds, and bicyclist on the road as gas prices rise. I see myself as one who does follow the rules of the road and I do hug the curb as best I can. But remember, I do have the right to that lane of traffic the same as a car.

I am fortunate to live only 1.75 miles from my work and can ride my bicycle everyday or even walk. The bus does go right by my house, but it really is cheaper to drive my car that short distance. I do ride my bicycle daily as long as it does not rain. I have walked even in the winter time. Amazing what you see when you walk. I agree with Nina in that when I am in Chicago, I ride the Metra and D.C. has a wonderful metro system. Only way to go there. I always wonder about global warming. If it is true, why is it that we see most of the records for high temperatures way back in the 1930, 1940, and 1950 eras. And look at the record years of snow recently. Just makes me wonder....

For the longest time I've lived outside of Janesville in La Prairie, so public transit has been impossible for me. My solution was to ditch my gas-only SUV and switch to a hybrid SUV (I'm too tall for a tiny compact hybrid...). I feel good for driving it in town. Most of the time I'm buzzing around Janesville in electric-only mode using zero gas.
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When I was in high school and middle school, I took public transit to school every day. JTS to get to Marshall Middle School, and then a yellow school bus when I moved out into La Prairie. These days, I use my hybrid to get everywhere.
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I was in Los Angeles for the greater portion of early July, and their public transit is very, very green. Their buses run on electricity, taxi cabs are also all-electric (with electric charging stations all over the city). Would be amazing to see Janesville make a leap that brought us anywhere close to that. But as someone has already stated, it isn't cost-effective to do it here. Maybe if it were done in a co-op with other transit systems (oh, say, Madison and Milwaukee) ...

We subsidize Public Transportation. It could not survive without it. If thier is an increase in use its because of Gas prices. The argument for manmade Global Warming seems to be flawed. We can responsibly drill our oil. Reduce prices and give people the freedom to drive or not drive.

How Walkable is Your Neighborhood?

With all the attention on hybrid cars, cycling and public transportation these days, it's easy
to ignore the most obvious transportation option:

Walking.

It's highly fuel efficient, (just add cookies) and is accessible to most everyone.

Now there's a website called, "walkscore" that will calculate a 0-100 score of how
walkable your United States neighborhood is

I used to ride the bus to work all the time. Now I babysit alot and it is hard to take the kids (babies) on the bus. Some days I have 2 under the age of 3 years old. Hard to take them and the stroller etc on the bus.

NVgrf- I recall you driving a Jeep to school instead of taking mass transit.
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Which reminds me of Al Gore riding to his "all renewable energy in 10 years" speech the other day in a Yukon.

NVgrf- Come now. You have lived in this city long enough to know that mass transit is not practical to most who live here. The vote total has nothing to do with a belief or disbelief in global warming. What are you doing to stop this global warming? Living in a desert just is not natural. Living in a desert has to consume more fossil fuels than I do where water is abundant.

I too am guilty of just using my car rather than a bus. I have tried the bus a couple of times - once to get to work and once to get to Milton Ave...it took soooo much longer with the waiting and changing buses than it took to get there in my car...sometimes the time factor is just too precious for me. Someone stated that Janesville is just very convenient to get around in a car and I agree. When Chicago I truly love the El Train and in DC I love the metro!

hannah: riding a bike is not a possibility for me. But I do appreciate the info.

I'd take the bus if it went where I needed to go. Not saying it doesn't go anywhere... it just doesn't go where *I* need to be.The buses don't come near to where I work and they don't run on the 3rd shift like I do. If the JTS ran 24 hours and ran a route where I worked... I'd be all over that.

I'm not suprised. Were in car central here. It is not easy to get around southern WI without some kind of vehicle. So what we end up paying for now is years of short-sightedness with poor urban planning and a general disregard for transportation that isn't car based. Have you tried to cross Milton Ave on foot before? Talk about running the gauntlet...

The high percentages of those who do not use our mass transit system in Janesville are a reflection of the way our city is set up not our lack of concern for the environment. To Janesville credit many retailers and services are of close proximity to our homes on all sides of the city. There are very few places in town that aren’t close to retail, grocery, or a medical clinic. The mass transit comes into play more for those who need to travel outside of town. I personally don’t think additional mass transit is currently needed in Janesville unless we’re going to be building the busses or trains in town.

We probably should cut back but honestly, the economy hasn't hurt us too much. We continue to have good work & are working hard earning it. I work at home so I don't even drive except for a few errands during the week, which is nice.

When you throw carpooling into the mix... I carpool with one of my friends every week. Where I live, the buses are really only active on weekends though... so I never ride the bus.

I would use mass transit all the time. But I live 15 miles outside of Janesville. Plus the US is so far behind in mass transit compared to Canada!

I live in the country about 2 miles from the nearest bus stop. I would love to be able to take the bus places, but it is not a option.

Mass public transit outside of large urban areas is not cost effective to the municipality.
If a private business ran this type of system in smaller communities it would fail.
Man made global warming is a hoax, is a figment of Al Gores mind and soon people will see it as it really is. A money pit for more goverment intervention.

Thats almost discusting, 80% of this city doesnt even use public transportation. Not to sound like a tree huger or a want to be green trender but we really should look into some greener solutions for our busses. It irkes me so to see, and hear, them running around town often with two or three people on them, if anyone at all! Its a waste in so many different ways...

One service that I have used a few times is MERCY IN MOTION for transportation to and from Mercy Hospital. This is an excellent service and I highly recommend it as a alternative to driving and parking. It does not save much fuel though, as most times I rode in a large van as the only passenger. They do have a few smaller sedans though.

City of Champions....City of Parks....Never City of Green! Most of these folks probably also believe that global warming is a hoax.