Comment by buuyytp

Appleton has 75,000 people. I guess under some definitions that's a city.

I'd focus on the college corridor. (Airport, Fox River Mall), Appleton Transit Center, Downtown Appleton, Lawrence university, maybe a little east. Theres some decent anchors along that line, but it might make sense to deviate from college ave to hit them.

Because this is a small town, this route is small. Probably need only 4-5 buses in active revenue service to achieve those 15 minute time tables.

Then I'd probably prioritize an intersecting route from Richmond, Oneida, and Memorial.

Both would need light and right of way changes to prioritize bus traffic.

Route 15, which strongly parallels my suggested route, Carries 15% of the whole transit network's total load and is considered a high revenue route despite only hourly service. This route heavily serves workers and students.

The route was decreased in frequency not due to flagging demand, but because they could not sufficiently staff the route. Their general manager is quoted as saying, "we are having trouble finding enough drivers to drive the buses". They lost like a third of their drivers over the past five years.

If the route was staffed and had priority right of way, making it a key means to get across town, you'd definitely see riders come back.