OZAUKEE COUNTY — It seems like, as one county Public Works Committee member said, the Ozaukee County Express Bus service may have nine lives.

The Ozaukee County Public Works Committee agreed last week to postpone a decision on the bus service for 90 days until its meeting in February to collect more data.

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.

When the committee voted to begin the process of terminating the bus service late last month, it was looking at plummeting ridership numbers.

But then the number of riders doubled in October from September; riders and some county supervisors say this could be because Washington County’s Commuter Express closed after Sept. 29.

Prior to seeing the data from October, Committee member Michelle Godden told the committee she believed the bus service was done. While she said the cost is still not at a sustainable rate, Godden supported waiting on a decision.

"I do think it would be premature to terminate today," she said.

According to the county’s data on transit ridership, 2023 monthly ridership numbers are roughly 85% lower than 2019.

When compared to last year, 2023 shows a continued decline in ridership each month at approximately 50% since June. In April and May, ridership was down by 31.8% and 40.2% respectively from 2022.

The data shows 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.

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

But in October, there were 833 riders, though in comparison it’s down by 20.1% from 2022 and down by 82.8% from 2019.

County officials believe the closure of the Highway C (Pioneer Road) Park & Ride has also affected ridership, but that is scheduled to reopen in December.

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 of this year was $87.64, according to ridership data. However, the net cost per ride went down to $50.86 in October.

The committee held a public hearing in August 2022 about the bus service and heard from under a dozen people and received multiple emails in support of continuing it.

Following that, the committee directed staff to work with the Milwaukee County Transit System to reduce the overall services and move forward with a request for proposals for the service beginning in 2023. GO Riteway was awarded the 2023 contract for Shared Ride Taxi and Express Bus, and has been operating the OCE with smaller vehicles, providing three morning and four afternoon runs.

After the committee’s decision last month, it held a public hearing last week Tuesday. Thirteen people spoke in favor of the bus service. Ozaukee County Highway Commissioner Jon Edgren added that the county also received over a dozen emails.

“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, adding that there are many riders who don’t have any other means of transportation to get to their jobs. “I just think that it would really be a travesty to take this service away from us.”

Many of the commenters that night said they’ve seen an increase in riders in October and suggested ideas for how to save money and advertise the bus service.

Commenters also claimed that sometimes the system GO Riteway uses to collect data on the number of riders doesn’t work when they get on the bus.

Dan Cramer, director of operations contracted services of GO Riteway was at the committee meeting last week following the public hearing and said they do have issues with their system “from time to time” but they are “checks and balances” to make sure they are getting accurate data.

He said the drivers of the buses have a note system where they can note the number of riders and any issues they had.

“They also bring it to me and on the back side we can adjust the numbers,” Cramer added.

Cramer also said they have a camera system on the buses that they can also look back on and check.

When Committee Chairman Marty Wolf asked how confident Cramer was in the data they received on the number of riders per month, Cramer said in the “97th percentile.”

Godden suggested that the drivers also have hand counters so that not only they can double check their numbers, but also show riders that they are trying to be accountable.

Cramer told Godden they could get those for drivers “tomorrow.”

“I think it’s time to stop the service whether it’s this month or next month or four months,” said Committee member Justin Strom.

Committee member Tom Grabow suggested giving the bus service 90 days. He also said they should try to reach out to college students to use the bus service.

In other business, the committee approved of an intergovernmental agreement with the village and town of Grafton regarding the design, construction, maintenance and repairs of improvements to the intersection of Port Washington Road (Highway W) and Falls Road.

The village of Grafton was interested in installing traffic signals and was asking the county to partner in cost-sharing for the project and for the county to take over ownership of the traffic signals upon completion, according to the agenda information. The committee agreed to contribute 20% to the costs of the project.

The committee also agreed to contract with Traffic Analysis & Design Inc. on a Wisconsin Department of Transportation Highway Safety Improvement Program application agreement for North Port Washington Road (Highway W) and Pioneer Road (Highway C).

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