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  • 17 Sep 2020 10:29 AM | Deleted user

    WASHINGTON, D.C. (September 15, 2020) – Six in 10 public transit systems will need to reduce service and furlough employees in the coming months without an additional $32 billion in emergency federal funding from Congress, according to new data released today by the American Public Transportation Association (APTA). In addition, nearly one-half of public transit industry businesses (47 percent) expect to lay off employees, and nearly one-third of transit industry businesses (31 percent) are concerned that they may go out of business if additional federal funding is not provided.

    APTA is urging Congressional leaders and the Administration to move swiftly and include at least $32 billion in emergency funding to keep systems running safely and to protect the jobs of more than 435,000 industry workers and several million private-sector jobs that support the industry every day.

     “Congress and the Administration are disregarding the essential lifeline that public transit plays in our communities. Our request for $32 billion is necessary to avoid catastrophic decisions that will only hurt our riders, our communities, and the nation” said APTA President and CEO Paul P. Skoutelas. “The industry continues to serve essential employees every day, but without additional emergency funding, many transit agencies will soon need to cut transit services and routes and furlough transit workers, leaving our communities without service and jobs when they need them most.”

    Read more here....

  • 4 Aug 2020 10:58 AM | Deleted user

    Washington, DC. - Representatives Jesús “Chuy” García (IL-04), Gwen Moore (WI-04), Jerrold Nadler (NY-10), and Mark Takano (CA-41) led 106 Members of Congress in urging Congressional leadership to support public transportation agencies, including their workers, in the next relief package addressing the COVID-19 public health emergency.

    “Transit agencies have kept our economy running through these most uncertain times. Without the daily sacrifice and bravery of the many frontline, essential workers operating our transit systems, many working class families would lack access to health care, jobs, and essential services. Now, transit agencies like CTA, Pace Bus, and Metra in Chicago need our support,” said Rep. García. “Congress must support the ongoing operation of transit systems and keep our economy moving. For communities of color and working class families, public transit is a literal lifeline. We cannot afford to exclude them from the next relief package."

    More information..

  • 4 Aug 2020 10:56 AM | Deleted user

    Any local public transportation coalition is eligible, provided it has the support of the local APTA member(s) and makes a pledge to become a member in good standing of the National Alliance of Public Transportation Advocates (NAPTA) before receiving a grant. Membership in NAPTA is free. For this grant program, a coalition is defined as a collection of groups and/or individuals joined together for the common purpose of promoting transit. An APTA public transit system member may apply for the funds on behalf of a coalition or a coalition may apply directly for the funds. Grant applications will be solicited until August 21, 2020.

    More here...

  • 3 Aug 2020 7:53 AM | Deleted user

    The Wisconsin Department of Transportation (WisDOT) is in the process of developing its new 30-year transportation plan, called Connect 2050 and is seeking input to help shape the future of transportation in the state.

    “Transportation impacts nearly every aspect of your life,” said WisDOT Secretary-designee Craig Thompson. “The time it takes you to travel to work, school or vacation, the cost of the products you buy, and your ability to get around without driving, all depend on a safe, effective transportation system. These factors affect your quality of life and we want you to be involved in planning Wisconsin’s transportation future.”

    Link

  • 24 Jul 2020 1:34 PM | Deleted user

    With cases of the coronavirus climbing in Wisconsin and the U.S., more than half of states have statewide mask mandates, including Illinois, Michigan and Minnesota — but not the Badger State.

    Even as more local governments enact their own mask ordinances, creating a patchwork of mask requirements across the state, Wisconsin Governor Tony Evers has not issued a statewide mandate. The first-term Democrat said earlier this month he was unlikely to enact such a mandate because the conservative-controlled Wisconsin Supreme Court struck down his “safer at home” order in May. That did not include a mask requirement, but the court said Evers overstepped his authority by requiring most non-essential businesses to close during the start of the outbreak.

    Some city and county governments are requiring masks in buildings and the UW System is requiring masks on campuses in the fall. 

    Here’s a breakdown of mask mandates in cities/counties near southeast Wisconsin

    Read more...


  • 17 Jul 2020 9:32 AM | Deleted user

    The Washburn County public health officer issued an advisory on Thursday, July 16, declaring people should wear masks inside buildings where people other than one's household are and in certain other conditions.

    “Due to continued community transmission of COVID-19 throughout our Region, the State, and across the Nation, the Health Department recognizes that prevention of COVID-19 in Washburn County is a shared responsibility between individuals, businesses, and community agents,” the department wrote in the advisory. “As such, Washburn County is now advising all residents wear face coverings when in public.”

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  • 8 Jun 2020 11:36 AM | Deleted user

    For traffic engineers, the pandemic afforded a way to study changes in traffic patterns that are typically hypothetical, allowing them to better understand traffic flows, pinpoint potential trouble spots and rethink the future.

    Chris Hubbuch

    The Wisconsin State Journal (TNS)

    Jun 8th, 2020

    Jun. 7--In late March, the state's response to the coronavirus pandemic slammed the brakes on economic and social activity, cutting vehicle traffic nearly in half overnight. 

    For traffic engineers it presented a "real-life experiment" -- a way to study changes in traffic patterns that are typically hypothetical, allowing them to better understand traffic flows, pinpoint potential trouble spots and rethink the future of urban transportation.

    "We need to learn from these tough situations and come out with a safer, more efficient, more sustainable and more resilient transportation system through better infrastructure design, system management and use of technology," said Yang Tao, traffic engineer for the city of Madison.

    Data collected by the Department of Transportation through a variety of sensors provided the lab with near real-time snapshots of the number and speed of vehicles traveling on Wisconsin's major highways.

    While outside events -- such as a big public gathering or road construction -- do sometimes create major changes in traffic, those shifts are usually localized and very temporary, said Jon Riehl, a traffic engineer and researcher with UW-Madison's Traffic Operations and Safety (TOPS) Laboratory.

    The pandemic provided a long-term window to study a system-wide reduction and compare highway performance to computer models, Riehl said, "which ultimately leads to improvement in highway design and traffic engineering."

    On Madison's Beltline, for example, rush hour can often mean bumper-to-bumper traffic jams despite hundreds of millions of dollars worth of new lanes and engineering tricks such as metered ramps.

    "We're really at that tipping point where the Beltline is super congested," said TOPS lab director David Noyce. "There really is nothing that anyone has done across the country that could show a significant enough drop ... until we got into this."

    The data show Weekday traffic fell about 40% statewide, and weekend traffic volumes were down 60% during the week of March 25.

    Average speeds crept up, though Riehl said that was primarily a function of the elimination of rush-hour traffic.

    "In general people are just returning to the speeds they normally would (drive)," Riehl said. "It goes with what we'd expect in traffic engineering.

    At the same time as it slashed automobile traffic, the pandemic response led to a surge in bicycle and foot traffic on suddenly crowded paths and sidewalks, creating a chance for planners to try out new configurations.

    "Reduced traffic volumes present an opportunity for cities to reevaluate how they're using their public right of way," said Keven Luecke, a transportation planner with Toole Design group in Madison.

    Cities including Madison have repurposed parts of streets for bike and pedestrian traffic -- and even restaurant seating.

    In a trial run of a planned redesign, the city used barrels to block off a lane of Atwood Avenue for bikes, which bicycle and pedestrian coordinator Renee Callaway said would likely remain in place through the fall.

    "This is just a really great trial of that design," Callaway said. "This has been a need that's existed for a long time."

    Tao said one of the biggest lessons of the pandemic is that transportation systems should be designed with more than just one scenario in mind, a system that can easily shift to accommodate walking and biking, loading zones, outdoor seating or surges in traffic when other roads are closed by flooding, as they were in 2018.

    Decisions about how and where to build or expand roads are made decades in advance using models based on current trends and patterns.

    "It turns out it's incredibly difficult to predict the future," said James Longhurst, a transportation historian at UW-La Crosse. "The underlying economics can change, the cost of fuel can change, technology can change -- a pandemic. This is not in anyone's traffic forecast anywhere."

    Roads are designed to handle the traffic peaks that typically occur for just a couple of hours each day when everyone heads to work or back home.

    Spreading that traffic out -- for example, by staggering work shifts -- or thinning it by having people work from home or conducting meetings over the internet is cheaper than expanding roads.

    Businesses have traditionally resisted those types of changes, but the pandemic response showed it can be done.

    "That might be more of a possibility now than people thought of in the past," Longhurst said. "It's impossible -- until you have to do it."

    Encouraging these practices would reduce pressure on the transportation system and support the region's rapid growth "in a more sustainable and environmentally friendly way," Tao said.

    Longhurst notes that modes of transportation have come and gone throughout human history in response to all kinds of factors, most of which could not have been predicted.

    "Streets and transportation networks have always been shared between different users," he said. "The fact that we've gotten used to one mode ... doesn't mean that's going to be the future."

    While traffic levels were already creeping up in May when the state Supreme Court tossed out the Evers administration's "safer at home" order, it's not clear when -- or if -- it will return to pre-pandemic levels.

    There are questions about whether most people will be comfortable using mass transit, which could lead to more cars on the road. On the other hand, with large institutions like UW-Madison continuing to rely on remote instruction, Riehl thinks it may remain 5 to 10% below normal for the near future.

    "It's not going to return to normal unless we know this thing is gone," Riehl said.

    Luecke, whose firm specializes in multi-modal design, said lowering rush-hour volumes might mean roads don't need to be as wide -- or built with only one type of user in mind.

    "If those peaks aren't going to be quite as busy as they were in the past, that means we can use that space for better walking facilities, better biking facilities," he said. "We need to build our transportation systems ... in such a way that they can be flexibly reused."


    Read more...

  • 4 Jun 2020 6:36 PM | Deleted user

    MILWAUKEE — President Donald Trump on Thursday, May 28 tweeted that millions of dollars in funding is being committed to Milwaukee’s East-West Bus Rapid Transit project.

    The project received approval from the U.S. Department of Transportation in 2016. The project has since been in research phases.

    Officials in 2016 said the proposed nine-mile BRT route would provide an improved transit connection to major employment and activity centers through downtown Milwaukee, the Milwaukee Regional Medical Center, Milwaukee’s near west side, and Wauwatosa. With more frequent service and faster travel times, BRT will give riders more time to spend with their families, more time to study for a final exam, or simply more time to relax at home.

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  • 14 May 2020 8:44 AM | WIPTA Admin (Administrator)

    MADISON, Wis. — Metro Transit named Justin Stuehrenberg its new general manager Wednesday morning.

    According to a news release, Stuehrenberg recently served as Vice President of Planning and Capital Projects of the IndyGo system in Indianapolis.

    The release said he was responsible for implementation of that city’s Bus Rapid Transit program and oversaw the establishment of one of the largest electric bus fleets in the country.

    Read more...

  • 12 May 2020 12:22 PM | WIPTA Admin (Administrator)

    MADISON (WLUK) -- The 14-day trend of positive tests for coronavirus has reached the point where it meets the requirements to reopen Wisconsin.

    The state Department of Health Services has turned the light green on its "Badger Bounce Back" dashboard, meaning that there is a statistically significant downward trend of the percentage of positive tests over the past two weeks.

    Read More...



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