Station Review #133: Oshkosh-Downtown Transit Center (Amtrak/Go Transit)


Downtown Transit Center is a station along Amtrak's I-41 Thruway bus line in the downtown of Oshkosh, Wisconsin. The station is also the main hub for Go Transit, the main transit system of Oshkosh, Wisconsin. This is a different Go Transit than the one of Toronto, Ontario.  

Very little about the history of this station is known, past that it was rebuilt in 1994, and that an office was built in 2018 or so. 


Services

Back of the transit center

There are many routes that go through here, these include:

Amtrak


Amtrak runs the I-41 Thruway bus, a bus that goes between Milwaukee and Green Bay via the Fox Cities ran by Lamers Connect and through-ticketed on Amtrak. Two trips a day are ran in a specially branded bus, while one other trip is in a Lamers Connect bus. That makes six trips per direction total. This bus connects to Amtrak at Milwaukee Intermodal and Milwaukee International Airport.

Coach USA/Van Galders


Though the Van Galders bus company, Coach USA runs a different bus along the I-41 corridor, though this bus seems to run one round trip a day from Green Bay to Madison instead. 

Go Transit


Go Transit, rebranded from the Oshkosh Transit System in 2012 or so, runs six bus routes from the Downtown Transit Center, all of which are loops. The system seems to work on an alternating half-hourly pulse, though every bus route runs hourly. The bus routes that use the transit center are: 

  • 1 - Bowen/Hazel: serves the neighborhoods north and east of the mouth of the Fox River like River East, Stevens Park, and Menominee. This route is Interlined with Route 4, which goes all the way north to Snell Road. 
  • 2 - Main/Jackson: serves neighborhoods along Main Street and Jackson Street, as well as areas west of these and north of Murdock Avenue. This route is interlined with route 8
  • 3 - New York/High: This route seems to link areas adjacent to downtown Oshkosh to its downtown, including the University of Wisconsin Oshkosh campus
  • 5 - Sawyer/Taft: This bus route mainly serves the Marina District and Sawyer Creek neighborhoods. It interlines with route 7, which serves areas along I-41
  • 6 - Witzel/9th: This serves much of the West End of Oshkosh, at least east of I-41. This route is interlined with Route 9, which serves the Westhaven and Oakwood neighborhoods on the West End. 
  • 8 - 20th/South Park: This route essentially does a loop around the South End of Oshkosh. It interlines with route 2. 
  • Go Connect - This is what replaced the former route 10 bus, and might be one of the worst forms of microtransit possible. If you call Oshkosh City Cab the day before riding, before 4:30 PM, you can schedule a cab to pick you up and take you either to Neenah Transit Center or Oshkosh Downtown Transit Center. The route 10 bus used to do this as a fixed route bus bit now does not. In my experience attempting to ride this, Oshkosh City Cab often will just ignore your request entirely and seems to only fulfill this service for one man, who was mentioned to be the only rider of the original route 10 bus in written documents about the service anyways. I met the guy, he's actually pretty nice. Either way, the service supposedly exists.
 

Tour

The entire transit center

There's really nothing special about this place whatsoever. It looks like it came out of the 1960s/1970s, and it most likely did. 

Benches inside of one of the waiting rooms

I-41 Thruway bus stop

Immediately behind this is the designated stop for Go Connect, which the sign for isn't shown here. 

Under the shelter between the waiting rooms

One of the waiting rooms

Said waiting room closer up

Outdated Go Transit system map

This map still has the 10 bus on it, which doesn't exist anymore. It was replaced in 2023 by Go Connect. 

Temporarily probably means forever here

The closed warming shelter

A map that isn't outdated

The other area between the waiting rooms

The offices

There are offices for Go Transit, but they're only open on Wednesdays between 8 am and 4:30 pm and closed for a lunch break between 12 and 1 pm. If one were to want to get things like an UMO card for example, they would have to go to the Oshkosh library, which in all fairness is pretty close by, but still an annoying walk. 

Bike racks

At least you can park your bike here. That makes everything wrong with this place better, right? ...Right? 

Points of Interest Near Oshkosh-Downtown Transit Center

Opera House Square

Downtown Transit Center is in the downtown of Oshkosh. Within the last few years, the downtown of Oshkosh has gone from almost completely dead to a vibrant place full of stores and places to see, things to do. Also the original site for the Backrooms is somewhere in Oshkosh. In terms of historical things to see, there's Lake Buttes de Morts, which can be accessed with Go Transit Routes 2 and 5. Lake Buttes de Morts is a different lake than Little Lake Buttes de Morts, which is near Neenah, and is instead named after the large amount of burial mounds nearby. 

Statistics


Name: Downtown Transit Center
Agency: Amtrak/Go Transit
Line(s): I-41 Thruway, 1, 2, 3, 5, 6, 8, Go Connect 
Locality: Downtown 
City/Township: Oshkosh
County: Winnebago
State: Wisconsin
Ridership: N/A

Amenity Checklist


Accessible: ✓
Bike racks: ✓
Bathrooms for employees: ✓
Bus Departure/Arrival Info (signs that update/screens): ×
Clean Station: ✓
Easy to get around: ✓
Existence is justifiable: ✓
Indoor Shelters: ✓
Maps: ✓
Multiple entrances/exits: ✓
Near places people are: ✓
Safe to use: ✓
Seating: ✓
Shelters: ✓
Station In Good Condition: ✓
Something related to fares: ×
Ticket Offices: ✓ (only open one day a week)
TOD: ✓
Updated Signage: ×

Final Verdict: 7.5/10

Station Directory


--------Milwaukee County--------
Milwaukee International Airport 
Milwaukee Intermodal
--------Fond Du Lac County--------
Fond Du Lac
--------Winnebago County--------
Oshkosh-Downtown Transit Center
University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh
--------Outagamie County--------
Appleton/Valley Transit Center
--------Brown County--------
Green Bay Transportation Center

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