RACINE - To make her 3 p.m. medical appointment, Erica Golden had to hop on the bus at 2:10.

The trip from Michigan Boulevard to Wheaton Franciscan-All Saints hospital, 3801 Spring St., would've taken 10 minutes, tops, by car. Except that's not an option for her right now.

The Racine woman isn't alone, as a new report from the Southeastern Wisconsin Regional Planning Commission illustrates. One section of the report found that bus passengers spend at least twice as long getting between Racine hot spots as drivers do. That includes time spent switching buses.

SEWRPC, along with government leaders and social service agencies, formed a work group to identify ways to improve transit service throughout Racine County. The group went over the report last week, the latest step in forming a five-year transit plan.

Overall, the Belle Urban System was rated similarly to other transit systems in the state and U.S. Based on statistical models and transit Web sites, some routes practically matched the efficiency of cars. More often, though, public transit meant the leisurely route.

According to the report, someone boarding at the Olsen Industrial Park would face a 69-minute ride to the All Saints complex. That's nearly six times as long as the 12 minutes it typically takes to drive there.

The current "pulse" schedule emphasizes getting people to the transit center on time so they can switch buses with minimal wait. The downside, the report states, is that "can also result in circuitous trips into the center of the city and back."

Adding some express routes without the lengthy loops and transfers might attract a new crop of riders, said Curtis Garner, executive director of BUS management firm Professional Transit Management, who's participating in the work group. One possibility might be to use it to connect workers with businesses along 21st Street, he said.

"There really is an economic incentive to leave your car at home, but it really does have to be convenient," Garner said.

Another idea up for discussion is a sort of on-demand bus service. Called a "deviated fixed route," it could allow for roaming buses to pick up people at their homes on certain routes - especially in less-served suburban areas, Garner said. A similar service is being used in New Orleans to transport residents from Hurricane Katrina-damaged areas to busier transportation hubs.

Funding makes it difficult for communities to provide the level of service that would lure "choice" riders who have other transportation options, said Kenneth Yunker, executive director of SEWRPC. Officials acknowledge there's a limit to passengers' patience.

That's why they need to figure out how to serve a Caledonia stop on the proposed commuter rail extension better than the existing Amtrak station, Garner said. While drivers take anywhere from 8 to 18 minutes to get to the depot in Sturtevant from five other spots the commission studied, those are 40- to 64-minute treks by bus.

Spending an hour on public transit before even getting on the train is a bad way to recruit riders, Garner said. And it hasn't.

"You'll see a lot of cars parked down there at the station, but the buses drop off maybe two people a day," he said.

The next phase in the transit plan will focus on specific changes. The work group plans to hold public hearings and focus groups in the next few months before issuing its recommendations.