MENOMONIE (WQOW) - After changing some routes, the Dunn County Public Bus Transit System is taking more people across town.

In fact, 2023 marked the highest amount of bus riders on Dunn County's public transit.

The county's transit manager Austin Witt said one of the reasons is because they added a stop to the UW-Stout bus route. It now runs from the college campus to the Walmart area in north Menomonie once an hour in the evening.

"We had 126,000 riders in 2023," Witt said. "Seeing that increase and having the best year ever was great to see."

The general community route also experienced a jump.

In the past, so few people rode that route that it was more efficient to provide the rides free, since it would cost more to count the fares than what the fares brought in.

The department shortened the community route to make it an hour, and they removed a few stops. This resulted in a large increase. Monday through Friday ridership went up 62% from 2022 to 2023, and Saturday ridership went up 81% in that time.

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A former mayor of New Orleans spent some time in another Mississippi River city on Wednesday, checking out the La Crosse mass transit system.

Mitch Landrieu, co-chair of President Joe Biden’s re-election campaign, was given a tour of MTU facilities on Isle La Plume — inspecting the electric busses, used by the city.

MTU director Adam Lorentz (left) speaks with Biden campaign official Mitch Landrieu (center) and La Crosse Mayor Mitch Reynolds inside a city bus on Isle La Plume (PHOTO: Brad Williams)

Landrieu, accompanied by Mayor Mitch Reynolds and others, said cities like La Crosse need funding help from Washington to afford a bus that can cost around $400,000.

“Most of the time, local transit authorities don’t have this kind of money on their own,” Landrieu told reporters at the MTU bus barn. “So it really requires the federal government” to step up with funding.

Landrieu came to La Crosse as part of a two-day Wisconsin tour promoting the Biden campaign. The president, himself, visited the MTU headquarters in June of 2021, highlighting infrastructure needs.

Landrieu said D.C. is investing heavily in local projects important to Americans.

“The infrastructure bill actually is the first time in 50 years that the federal government has taken a substantial amount of taxpayers’ dollars and put them back exactly where the taxpayer said they wanted them,” he said.

Landrieu added that the first electric buses being used in La Crosse are state of the art vehicles.

Reynolds said the bus system is important in giving city residents a way to “move about the community, so they can live their best life.”

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MADISON, Wis. -- The City of Madison is set to receive over $13 million from the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Federal Transit Administration through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, officials announced Thursday.

The funding is meant to support public transportation like buses, light rail and ferry systems and is part of a total $20.5 billion that will be sent to states and communities nationwide for Fiscal Year 2024.

"We’re making history’s biggest-ever federal investment in transit – trains, buses, ferries, and more – so people can reliably and affordably get to wherever they need to be," U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said. "This $20.5 billion investment in public transportation will support the daily lives of millions of Americans across the country."

Each community gets money based on formulas and apportionments set by Congress. The formulas factor in data points including population, population density and the revenue miles of a community's public transportation system.

Statewide, Wisconsin will receive $121,085,311 in formula funding. Madison will receive $13,128,446 while Milwaukee will get $34,506,685. Green Bay is in line for $3,610,808.

Full article here!

Milwaukee County residents are weighing in this month on plans for CONNECT 2, a new bus rapid transit line planned for 27th Street, and how it could affect their neighborhoods.

The Milwaukee County Transit System, or MCTS, plans to use CONNECT 2 to strengthen transit service on the heavily used PurpleLine route.

CONNECT 2 also aligns with Milwaukee County’s goal of achieving racial equity by attempting to improve transit access for communities of color along the corridor.

“Reliable and safe transit options are paramount in addressing the health disparities right here within our community,” Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley said at a news conference at the project’s Feb. 27 public information meeting.

The $148 million project is in the environmental review and design phase and will not be ready for riders until at least 2028.

MCTS has been gauging public interest in the faster CONNECT 2 bus route. It is taking feedback until the end of March.

Some community members and bus riders voiced their concerns at public information meetings for the project held in late February.

“It’s going to be pretty helpful for me because … sometimes I wouldn’t have to take more than one bus because it’s going to go all the way down to Bayshore and stuff,” said Quartaria Wilder, who lives near Walker’s Point and is a member of the MCTS Transit Teen Advisory Board.

Sam Kovnar, a MCTS bus rider who lives on the South Side and attended a public information meeting at Wilson Senior Center, 2601 W. Howard Ave., said he thought the plans looked good.

“I think there are a few places that look to me like compromises, but I can also see the reasons for not having things like a dedicated lane or certain features on the stops,” he said. 

However, David Ashley, who lives near 27th Street in Midtown, said he felt the plans did not keep enough stops in densely populated areas on the North Side and parts of the South Side.

“I understand cuts have to be made, but you don’t want to cut the most vulnerable people away from their source of public transportation, or transportation period,” he said.

How will it work?

CONNECT 2, also known as the Milwaukee North-South Transit Enhancement project, will follow an 18-mile route that’s similar to the PurpleLine but with fewer stops.

David Locher, manager of enhanced transit at MCTS, said CONNECT 2 will build off of results from CONNECT 1, the  bus rapid transit, or BRT line, that runs between downtown Milwaukee and Wauwatosa.

“We want to do the same things: achieve travel time savings and increase the frequency between buses, and ultimately, what we want to do with BRT is to make a more consistent and reliable service,” Locher said.

The project’s concept plan does not include in-depth designs yet, Locher said, and the designers will use public feedback as they move forward.

Addressing disparities and equity

Of 118,000 people living within a half-mile of the CONNECT 2 planned route, 73% are people of color, according to the project’s website.

Within this area, 21% of households do not have a car, 25% are in poverty and 15% of people have disabilities, all higher than the Milwaukee County averages, according to the American Community Survey data from 2014-2018 used in the project’s feasibility study.

If bus service along 27th Street and Layton Boulevard is more reliable and efficient, it will help residents access jobs, medical centers, schools and essential services, according to Robert Schneider, an urban planning professor at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.

How could it affect Milwaukee’s neighborhoods?

With proposed stops planned near vacant lots, Schneider sees potential for community reinvestment in neighborhoods along the CONNECT 2 route.

“Each of those things provide an opportunity for a new building to go in, or some kind of reinvestment that provides for new jobs, new potential services like health care, new shopping opportunities, and other investments that hadn’t been made in a lot of these neighborhoods for a long time,” he said.

Locher said that MCTS plans to continue the underlying PurpleLine service when CONNECT 2 is added, but will analyze if changes will need to be made to the service.

“Our commitment is to find ways to not leave anyone behind,” he said.

Ashley said he thinks the BRT line will be successful if PurpleLine service is maintained because it will meet everyone’s accessibility needs.

“If that’s the path they want to go with, let’s ride,” he said.

Full article here.

MADISON, Wis. — Madison’s city bus system will soon have another option for riders.

What You Need To Know

• The new rapid transit line is expected to be done by fall
• There will be 31 covered boarding stations on the line, with bike access and pedestrian crossings
• The line will also offer new buses that can hold more passengers and trigger green lights
• There will be dedicated bus lanes

A new rapid transit line is expected to be done by fall.

There will be 31 covered boarding stations along the line, with bike access and pedestrian crossings. The line will also offer new buses that can hold more passengers and trigger green lights to stay on schedule and reduce travel time. There will also be dedicated bus lanes.

“The overall strategy is to get people along the line faster, easier and more conveniently,” said Mike Cechvala, capital projects manager with Metro Transit.

Cechvala said it comes as more people are relying on the city bus system. Just this past fall, Metro Transit provided more than one million rides in a single month for the first time since the pandemic.

“It has since started escalating,” Cechvala said. “We’re now back up to basically where we were in ridership before COVID.”

Douglas Meier has been using city buses since starting as a student at the University of Wisconsin-Madison five years ago.

“It was just the most convenient option,” he said. “Parking is really, really expensive on campus, if not impossible, and it was just a really convenient way to get around.”

Meier said he welcomes the upgrades.

“I’m excited to have an actual platform to wait on when it gets rainy or snowy,” he said. “It’s kind of sucky to sit on the curb without any shelter.”

But he said he still wishes bus wait times were shorter. According to the city, buses on this new line will still operate every 15 minutes.

“I think it could be more frequent,” Meier said. “Every 15 minutes is great, but if you miss your bus, then you’re kind of stuck waiting around for a while.”

Cechvala said the city is always looking to make public transportation the best it can be.

“We hope that the people who are currently using the bus will have a better experience,” he said. “We also hope that new people will see this service and start to use it and see it as a good option for getting around town.”

Full article here.

MILWAUKEE — A Milwaukee County Transit System (MCTS) bus driver saved a child Feb. 24 on Capitol Drive. 

Keyon Finkley, a MCTS driver, was on his afternoon route when he saw a small child running into traffic on Capitol Drive. MCTS said Capitol Drive is Milwaukee's most dangerous road.

The child was wearing a pajama shirt and no other clothes. He was also barefoot.

Temperatures were in the 30s.

Finkley stopped the bus and ran toward the child. He brought the boy onto the bus, saving him from oncoming traffic.

Finkley called dispatch, who then got in contact with the Milwaukee Police Department (MPD).

Finkley and the child waited in the warmth of the bus for help to arrive. MPD officers arrived to pick up the child and bring him to safety. According to MCTS, MPD safely reunited the child with his family within an hour.

MCTS said in recent years it has been tracking how many lost and missing children its drivers have found. This is the 14th child a MCTS driver has found since MCTS has tracked that data. 

Find the full article here!

WAUSAU, Wis. (WAOW) -- Public transportation could soon see a makeover in Marathon County.

The county's Metropolitan Planning Commission announced the formation of a "transit planning work group" Tuesday, which is designed to bring leaders from the greater Wausau area and local transit officials together to discuss potential options for transit in the near future.

"What we're hoping to do is get everybody to talk about...opportunities for us to have cross-community transit services that would address the business, social, and other needs of our residents," said John Robinson, who currently serves as the chair of the Metropolitan Planning Commission.

The group will operate like a task force, consisting of people like new Metro Ride director Aaron Hursey, Wausau Chamber of Commerce president Dave Eckmann, and other officials from Wausau, Schofield, Rib Mountain, Rothschild, and Weston.

Public transportation in Wausau is run by Metro Ride, which only has stops within Wausau's city limits.

Some tell News 9 they would greatly appreciate expansion of services, especially to places outside Wausau.

"Like Weston, Rothschild, that kind of area, because then it can all be around and not just in one area," said Kaden Reynolds-Helvey of Wausau.

Others say it's important to help people get to and from work reliably, especially if their job is outside of Wausau or they live outside of Wausau.

"I need to go to work, I live too far from my work, and my dad can't drive me," said Randilynn Seidens of Wausau.

"Any opportunities we have to get to either get people to employable in areas that aren't being serviced by the buses or to get people who can't get to those businesses on their own, get them to shop and contribute to the economy, I think would be a wonderful thing," added Hector Delgado of Wausau.

The work group cannot make changes themselves, as they can only make recommendations to municipalities, but the scope of what they can come up with is broad.

"We want all the parties at the table to discuss what are realistic routes, what are realistic approaches, and that's what we're hopefully kicking off with this task force," Robinson said.

It does ultimately come down to what can get funded in what areas, but some say route expansion is necessary for the growth of the greater Wausau area.

"Any opportunities we have to get to either get people to employable in areas that aren't being serviced by the buses or to get people who can't get to those businesses on their own, get them to shop and contribute to the economy, I think would be a wonderful thing," Delgado said.

That group is welcoming feedback from the public and plans to start meeting in April and potentially dissolve within one year.

For more on their stated timeline, click here and scroll to page 14.

Full article here.

President Joe Biden was in Milwaukee Wednesday to announce new federal funding for transportation infrastructure, his latest visit to Wisconsin coming the day after he and former President Donald Trump officially secured the delegates needed for a rematch.

Biden announced Milwaukee will receive a $36 million grant for a street reconstruction project city officials say will improve safety.

President Biden spoke to around 100 people gathered at the Pieper – Hillside Boys and Girls Club of Milwaukee late Wednesday afternoon, which is located on 6th Street, the focus of the reconstruction project. He said the work will connect the city’s south side to the north side. 

“These are life changing improvements,” Biden said. “They’re also going to make it easy for historic Black communities in the north and Latino communities in the south to access jobs, school and entertainment opportunities in the city and central hub — from watching the Milwaukee Bucks play to attending the Milwaukee Area Technical College.” 

The Wisconsin trip was part of a series of campaign stops around the country where Biden is trying to bring a message to voters about his administration’s investment in infrastructure. The president has held events in Pennsylvania and Georgia over the last week, and will head to Michigan on Thursday.

Trump is also on the campaign trail, but has yet to visit Wisconsin.

On Wednesday in Milwaukee, Biden announced $3.3 billion for 132 infrastructure projects across the nation aimed at reconnecting communities that were torn apart by past transportation projects.

Milwaukee’s 6th Street corridor is near Interstate 94/43. Construction for that project in the 1960s led to the demolition of roughly 17,000 homes and 1,000 businesses in the city, according to the White House. Biden said many other communities across the nation have been impacted by similar projects. 

“You’ve lived in and felt the decisions made decades ago. Today, today, we’re making decisions to transform your lives (for) decades to come, and we’re doing it all over America,” Biden said during his speech.

Milwaukee’s project will focus on a 2.6 mile stretch of the 6th Street corridor, from North Avenue to National Avenue. It’ll include work to widen sidewalks, install bike lanes and bus lanes, place new trees near the road and includes infrastructure work to prevent sewage from flowing into the Milwaukee River and Lake Michigan. Construction is set to start in 2027, according to the Milwaukee Department of Public Works. 

“Part of what stood out about this project was how many benefits we saw all at once through the transformation of this 2.6 mile stretch of 6th Street,” U.S. Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg said during a press call Tuesday.

It was Biden’s ninth trip to Wisconsin as president and second so far this year, another reminder of the key role the swing state will play in the election. The visit comes as the 2024 presidential election is shaping up to be a rematch of the 2020 election, when Biden beat Trump by less than a percentage point in Wisconsin. 

Other state, national projects also won awards

Many of the other national projects that received funding through the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Reconnecting Communities and Neighborhoods program are focused on  rebuilding communities, “including those that were divided by transportation infrastructure decades ago and have long been overlooked,” according to a statement from the White House. 

In addition to the grant the city received for work on 6th street, the Wisconsin Department of Transportation received $2 million to explore possible reconstruction efforts on West National Avenue in Milwaukee near Interstate 43/94. That study will “identify and evaluate alternatives to reconnect the neighborhoods and address safety and mobility concerns.”

The city of Madison received $1 million for planning and feasibility efforts for the Perry Street Overpass project. That project aims to reconnect Perry Street over the Beltline Highway, which was split during construction almost 70 years ago. 

In a statement, Wisconsin Department of Transportation Craig Thompson said the money will create a “tremendous opportunity” for the state. 

“Thanks to our federal partners, we have a tremendous opportunity to reconnect neighborhoods, create safer streets and improve pedestrian and bicyclist access in ways that meet the transportation needs these communities deserve,” Thompson said. 

Presidential race is heating up 

The visit comes as President Biden’s job approval rating is at 37 percent, close to the lowest level of his presidency, according to Reuters. In a recent Marquette University Law School Poll, Trump is leading Biden nationally among registered voters 51-49.

Biden’s visit drew criticism from the Republican National Committee, who called it part of his “Bankrupting America Tour.” 

“Joe Biden just proposed $7.3 trillion in wasteful spending and $4.9 trillion in tax hikes on the backs of Wisconsin families, so his attempt to save face for Bidenomics’ failures is laughable,” the statement said. “President Trump built a strong economy that delivered relief for families across the country, and he’ll do it again.”

Biden was in Superior earlier this year to promote the administration’s infrastructure investments. In August and December, he stopped in Milwaukee to promote the Inflation Reduction Act and efforts to support Black-owned businesses.

Last week, First Lady Jill Biden visited Waukesha to tout her husband’s position on reproductive rights. It was one of the first stops on her “Women for Biden-Harris” tour. Three days later, Vice President Kamala Harris was in Madison to announce an apprenticeship program for the federal workforce. 

Full article here.

Most school and transit buses on the nation's roadways these days are still powered by diesel engines but in Wisconsin and elsewhere, there is hope about the push to switch to electric fleets.

The city of Racine has made headlines in recent years for leveraging federal funds to add more electric buses operated by its transit agency. Through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, school systems such as the Palmyra-Eagle district have used federal grants to buy a handful of buses fitted with such technology.

Susan Mudd, senior policy advocate for the Environmental Law and Policy Center, a Midwest-based advocacy group, said it is encouraging to see the activity, knowing benefits will come with it.

"The children or the riders on buses, including the drivers, will experience zero tailpipe emissions," Mudd pointed out. "Which they now do, because fumes, unfortunately, often get circulated into buses."

The new models also prevent harmful emissions from floating through neighborhoods, especially when buses are idled. Mudd noted it has a positive effect on human health, as well as mitigating climate change, with transportation making up nearly 30% of U.S. carbon emissions. But even with federal support, she acknowledged there are still upfront cost barriers in securing electric buses.

Mudd added implementing charging stations for larger electric bus fleets can be more intensive than infrastructure for passenger models.

"It definitely requires more equipment," Mudd said. "(It) may require transformer upgrades and that is more costly."

Organizations like hers are appealing to utilities to help make the infrastructure more accessible to schools and transit agencies. Once they get past the initial expenses, supporters said the efforts help schools and municipalities reduce their fuel costs.

In late 2022, Wisconsin received more than $25 million in federal support to replace 65 diesel school buses around the state with electric ones. Read the full article here.

OZAUKEE COUNTY — The Ozaukee County Public Works Committee on Thursday will discuss whether it will recommend terminating the Ozaukee County Express Service to the County Board.

The Ozaukee County Express provides county residents working in Milwaukee County a fixed-route service between Ozaukee County and downtown Milwaukee during peak commuter hours.

The committee did consider terminating the bus service last year, but in November it agreed to postpone a decision for 90 days until February to collect more data after a number of riders expressed their support for it.

"In talking with other riders, we really do feel that this is a very valuable service to all of us," said rider Jill Haupt of Grafton during a public hearing about the bus service in November. "I just think that it would really be a travesty to take this service away from us."

Ridership in October did double from September; riders and some county supervisors partially credited the closure of the Washington County’s Commuter Express after Sept. 29.

Ozaukee County Transit Superintendent Kara Ottum told the committee that there has been a downward trajectory in ridership prior to the COVID-19 pandemic.

According to the county’s data on transit ridership, 2023 monthly ridership numbers are roughly 85% lower than 2019. When compared to 2022, 2023 shows a continued decline in ridership each month at approximately 50% since June.

The data showed that there were 449 passengers on the OCE in September, which in comparison is down by 51.2% from 2022 and 89.2% from 2019.

There were 833 riders in October, though in comparison it's down by 20.1% from 2022 and down by 82.8% from 2019. The low number, according to county officials, could be attributed to the closure of the CTH C Park & Ride, which closed due to I-43 construction in April of 2023 and showed a reduction of ridership from March to April in 2023. The CTH C Park & Ride reopened in December.

Ridership decreased in November and December of 2023 to 730 and 713 riders, respectively. Ridership in November was down by 22.4% from November 2022 but ridership in December was up by 6.3% from December 2022.

The net cost per ride, which is the cost after fares, has also significantly increased over the years.

In 2010, the then net cost per ride was $8.04, while in September 2023 was $87.64, according to ridership data. However, the net cost per ride went down to $50.86 in October.

The net cost per ride increased in November and December to $55.93 and $56.13, respectively.

Ozaukee County has funding through COVID-19 relief funds to run the bus without the county levy through the end of 2024, according to the agenda information provided to the committee. Eliminating the bus service would provide more COVID relief funds to be used for the Shared Ride Taxi.

However, eliminating the OCE would trigger a higher hourly rate for the Shared Ride Taxi, which would cost approximately $120,000 more per year, but only about $40,000 of levy after grants and ridership fares. The additional levy wouldn’t be required until complete exhaustion of the COVID relief funds, which the county anticipates extending into 2025 with Shared Ride Taxi service only.

If OCE is eliminated, the following are other commuter options for Ozaukee County residents:

- Wisconsin RIDESHARE: Connects commuters with carpool or Bike Buddy. Most commuter bus users have access to a car. This program connects commuters to share the costs. This is the only alternative that provides service to downtown Milwaukee employment sites without a transfer.

- Shared Ride Taxi to Milwaukee County Transit Services: Ozaukee Shared Ride connects to the Milwaukee County Transit system at three locations along Brown Deer Road. Multiple transfers may be needed to get to downtown Milwaukee.

The Public Works Committee will meet at 8 a.m. Thursday in the meeting room inside the Ozaukee County Highway Department, 410 S. Spring St. in Port Washington.

Find the full article here.