”With our university and our progressive tradition, Dane County has always looked to the future. We need a progressive regional transportation system to help ensure a vibrant future for our county.“ John Robison, Chair of the DMI Transportation & Parking Committee

On June 15, 2007, in a letter to Madison Mayor Dave Cieslewicz, Dane County Executive Kathleen Falk, Madison Common Council President Mike Verveer, and Dane County Board Chair Scott McDonnell the DMI Board of Directors expressed strong support for the Transport 2020 application to the Federal New Starts program. This application is for federal funding for planning the proposed first phase of a mass transit system: a commuter rail line from Middleton to Sun Prairie through downtown Madison.
From the letter: “At DMI, we believe that commuter rail services, such as those described in the New Starts application, are essential to support the future growth of the Madison metropolitan area, and to encourage Dane County residents to work in downtown Madison, to live in downtown Madison, and to visit downtown Madison. We also believe that the time is right to move ahead with the New Starts application in 2007.”
The DMI board of directors also asserted the position of transportation as a regional issue requiring a regional solution including all appropriate components both local and county-wide. This position requires swift action to create RTA-Enabling legislation. From the letter: “The next step toward that goal is to form a Regional Transit Authority that would include the County, the City of Madison, UW Madison, and other surrounding municipalities. We also understand that there is a window of opportunity to seek state enabling legislation for that purpose in the current state budget cycle, but that window is closing fast.”

This support is based on a resolution passed by the DMI Board of Directors in February expressing the DMI position on a Regional Transit System with the following statements:

• DMI supports the creation of an integrated regional transit system. The system would be developed through a coordinated planning process and would comprehensively address the transit needs of Dane County.
• DMI supports the creation of a Regional Transit Authority (RTA) to provide a dedicated regional funding source to support the regional transit system. We recognize that the creation of the RTA would require enabling legislation from the State of Wisconsin.
• DMI supports the efforts of Transport 2020 towards establishing a regional transportation system and supports seeking federal "New Starts" funding for the system.