Community Impact & Transit Performance

Metro Transit Service Background 

On June 11, 2023, Madison Metro Transit extended service to Sun Prairie as part of the Transit Network Redesign. This expansion of service to Sun Prairie was a strategic process driven by community input.

Planning Process

In October and November of 2021, city staff collected community response to gauge interest in local bus service and how this service would be utilized. Community input informed the decision to move forward with the process of expanding transit services from Madison into Sun Prairie.

In early 2022, Madison Metro Transit presented a potential route for local bus service to the Sun Prairie Transit Commission that would connect to Bus Rapid Transit Service at the Park-and-Ride facility off Reiner Road. The draft route was based off key factors such as proximity to major destinations and employers, areas of high population and employment density, high usage areas of the existing Shared-Ride Taxi, and travelling along streets most suitable for accommodating buses. City staff reviewed this route while compiling extensive community feedback through a community survey, focus groups, and stakeholder interviews throughout the spring and summer of 2022 to inform any necessary adjustments. The final route was presented to City Council and approved in the fall with plans to begin development of bus top infrastructure this year.

Service Utilization and Trends

Upon the introduction of transit service to any community, establishing ridership takes time. Typically, it takes an average of 2-3 years from implementation to establish a baseline level of ridership. It's crucial to consider that several factors influence service utilization and trends, including community awareness of the service, major business employment, traffic generators, infrastructure enhancements, and other elements. Additionally, Route A became Rapid Route A on September 22, 2024 and this substantial change in service adds to the timeframe for establishing baseline service utilization.

Charts of recent ridership numbers for Sun Prairie, WI Local Bus Routes S and W, Rapid Route A, and Paratransit are listed below. This data comes from Automatic Passenger Counters that are installed on every bus in the Metro Transit Fleet. Note, these numbers are unofficial as Metro works with FTA to get their APC devices certified. Additionally, a complete picture of ridership on Route A prior to October 2024 is not available. Prior to that time Metro Transit Buses had technological limitations that did not allow ridership on Route A to broken out to show only those passengers getting on or off the bus at Sun Prairie's Park and Ride.

A chart showing the passengers per revenue hour shows the number of passengers using each route per hour, during the times a bus is actively accepting passengers and collecting fares. Route A operates ~19 revenue hours per day 7-days a week, Route S operates ~15 revenue hours per day 7-days a week, and Route W operates ~14 revenue hours per day 5-days a week.

Between January and November 2025, ~102,490 bus passenger trips have taken place by bus in Sun Prairie. This puts Sun Prairie on track to count roughly 110,000 bus passenger trips in 2025. Route S and W experienced a 71% increase in total ridership between May-July 2024 and May-July 2025.

TotalMonthlyPassengers
AvgDailyPassengers
Passengersperrevenuehour
Paratransit_ADT

Overall Costs, Revenues, and Aid

The City of Sun Prairie has a multi-year contract with Madison Metro to provide 13,444 hours of bus service annually across Route A, S, and W and more than 20,000 miles of paratransit service a year. The State of Wisconsin’s Public Transit Assistance Program provides funding to cover the net operating deficit for public transit systems across Wisconsin and Local Operating Funds are used to cover the remaining net operating deficit. State funding varies year by year depending on the costs experienced by other public transit systems, the amount of federal funding available to communities in Wisconsin, and the amount of funding allocated in the State budgets for the program. Sun Prairie is not eligible for federal funding to operate bus service.

In 2024, the total operating cost for Bus Service was $1,939,297 and Paratransit Service was $220,000. Revenues included

  • $265,797 in farebox and advertising revenue and $55,719 in investment income from fund balances (15% of total costs; includes both bus and paratransit service)
  • $118,724 in a capital contribution credit for the City’s previous investment in Route A’s expansion to Sun Prairie (6% of total costs)
  • $1,258,385 in State Aid (58.3% of total costs; includes both bus and paratransit service)

The net operating cost for Bus and Paratransit service in Sun Prairie was $460,672 (21% of total costs).

In 2025, the total operating cost for Bus Service is contracted at $2,097,264 and Paratransit Service is contracted at $254,100. Estimated revenues include:

  • $301,272 in farebox and advertising revenue and estimated $34,000 in investment income from fund balances (14.3% of total costs; includes both bus and paratransit service)
  • $151,614 in a capital contribution credit for the City’s previous investment in Route A’s expansion to Sun Prairie (6.4% of total costs)
  • $1,314,555 in State aid (55.9% of total costs; includes both bus and paratransit service)

The net operating cost for Bus and Paratransit service in Sun Prairie is estimated at $549,923 (23.4% of total costs).