Wausau Draft Transit Development Plan

Wausau, Wisconsin’s Metro Ride recently issued a draft Transit Development Plan regarding proposed improvements to their system. Some highlights include:

More areas need bus service, including areas not served presently because they are outside the city limits. These include Aspirus Health, which desires bus service for hospital employee and dialysis patient shift changes and to their clinic in Weston; Marshfield Clinic in Weston; various stores in Weston and Rib Mountain; senior housing and a new VA Clinic in Rothschild; and the West Wausau industrial park.

It should be noted that since the mall in downtown Wausau is gone, there is virtually no shopping, except for some expensive grocery stores, within the city limits. Target, Walmart, and Aldi are all beyond reach of Metro Ride at present. This has to be a hardship for people living there who can’t afford cars.

Improvements proposed include an app-based fare payment method, a weekly pass, possible extension of hours beyond the current 6:30 AM to 6:30 PM Monday to Friday, reinstitution of Saturday service (which they had decades ago), proposed new routes to Rib Mountain and the industrial park from the Crossroads County Market, a route to Schofield and Weston from the North Central Health Care facility, and a connector from Schofield to Rib Mountain via Rothschild.