Help envision the future of regional transit next week Thursday!
Date & Time: Thursday May 21, 2020 at 1:00pm
Link: www.zeidlergroup.org/transit
The Milwaukee Transit Riders Union and a coalition of transit and pedestrian organizers from across southeast Wisconsin invite you to participate in a Zeidler Group community listening circle. Throughout the Spring and Summer of 2020, we had planned on hosting a series of transit themed community conversations across southeast Wisconsin facilitated by the Zeidler Group. In response to COVID-19, we have moved this series online and invite you to take part via Zoom.
The community dialogue aims to bring together diverse stakeholders from across southeast Wisconsin. We will discuss the future of our transportation systems and build understanding of the unique pressures faced across the region. More than ever your experiences are vital to the development of a transportation system that is responsive to the needs of families, workers, and businesses in Southeast Wisconsin. This is the first community dialogue in an on-going effort to strengthen forms of community engagement that bring us closer to the realization of safer and more accessible transit in the Milwaukee region. Every person’s daily commute should be safe and convenient. Our shared experiences have the power to build a safer & healthier transit system and re-establish a sense of dignity towards one another in getting places.
Regardless of your preferred mode of transportation, your experiences can help move southeast Wisconsin forward. The dialogues are set up with the Zeidler Group’s listening circle model. All attendees will be briefed in a large virtual group and then broken off into smaller groups of 6-8 people. Each circle has its own facilitator from the Zeidler group leading the conversation. These small groups will be intentionally set-up to ensure the diversity of region and modality is represented in each conversation.
We hope you will join us. To register for this free event please visit, www.zeidlergroup.org/transit.
On The Move
MTRU Switches to online and phone-in meetings
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic and emergency orders issued by the State of Wisconsin and City of Milwaukee the Milwaukee Transit Riders Union will switch to virtual meetings until further notice.
We encourage everyone to stay safe and follow recommendations from public health agencies. For example:
- Stay home as much as possible.
- If you have to go outside wear a face mask over both your nose and mouth and keep 6 feet of distance between yourself and others.
Resources:
- Milwaukee County Transit System updates
- City of Milwaukee Health Department updates
- State of Wisconsin Department of Health Services updates
- U.S. Government updates on coronavirus.gov
STAY HOME SAVE LIVES MKE
Come to our September 2018 meeting
We would like to invite you to our first meeting for the fall season.
What:
Meeting for the Milwaukee Transit Riders Union. Members, transit advocates and the general public are all invited to attend.
When:
Saturday September 1, 2018 at 10:00am.
Where:
Milwaukee Environmental Consortium
1845 N. Farwell Av. Suite #100 (Farwell/Kane)
Milwaukee, WI 53202-1715
Bus routes: 30, 30X, GoldLine, GreenLine.
May Meeting Cancelled
Due to logistic constraints we will not be having a May meeting.
Our next meeting will be June 2, 2018 at 10:00am.
April 2018 Meeting canceled
The April 7, 2018 meeting has been canceled due to logistic problems.
Instead of the meeting we are encouraged to attend the Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) meeting on Monday April 9.
Milwaukee County Transit System invites you to a public meeting for the East-West Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) project and provide your input.
Milwaukee County Transit System invites you to an upcoming meeting to preview the proposed design plans for the East-West Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) project and provide your input.
Information will be available on:
- Recommended BRT lane configurations
- Proposed station locations and designs
- Traffic and parking considerations
- Safety considerations
- Project costs and schedule
MEETING LOCATION
Monday, April 9, 2018 4-6 p.m.
Mitchell Street Library, Community Room
906 W. Historic Mitchell Street
Milwaukee, WI 53204
Guests may park in surface lot to the north of the building and enter building on Mitchell Street.
The public is welcome to come anytime between 4 and 6 p.m. to review project displays, talk with project staff, and provide comments. A presentation will be given at 4:45 p.m.
REFRESHMENTS PROVIDED FOR ALL PARTICIPANTS!
Taking Transit?
View routes and schedules at RideMCTS.com, or call MCTS at 414-344-6711.
About
East-West BRT is Milwaukee County’s planned 9-mile, regional, modern transit service connecting major employment, education and recreation destinations through downtown Milwaukee, Milwaukee’s Near West Side, Marquette University, Wauwatosa and the Milwaukee Regional Medical Center.
ADA accommodations
ADA accommodation requests should be filed with the Milwaukee County Office for Persons with Disabilities, 278-3932 (voice) or 711 (TRS), upon receipt of this notice.
September meeting: September 9
This is a reminder that due to the Labor Day holiday we will be holding our September monthly meeting on the 2nd Saturday of the month. The September meeting will be held on Saturday September 9, 2017 at 10:00am.
Happy Labor Day and see you Saturday September 9.
Transportation Day of Action: I-94 Expansion
The transportation budget has been one of the most contentious debates in this year’s state budget, and as you may have seen, the Joint Finance Committee is meeting again and has started to move this budget forward. They will be taking up transportation on next Tuesday, September 5.
That means today is our last chance to stop I-94 from being green-lit and another $1 billion of our transportation funding being spent on an unnecessary highway instead of our more important needs!
We are asking you to take action today, and our friends at the Sierra Club made it easy for you by putting together an action toolkit. All you have to do is click this link and participate in one or more possible actions in the toolkit!
Let’s demonstrate the importance of transit and our local roads rather than massive highway projects!
| Take Action |
Better Bus Service on the Way
Great news for Milwaukee bus riders: the Milwaukee County Transit System has announced a set of improvements to bus service set to take effect Sunday March 12, 2017.
Routes with service changes:
- 6 · New Berlin Industrial Park Express
- 27/PurpleLine · 27th Street
- 51 · Oklahoma Avenue
- 64 · South 60th Street
6 · New Berlin Industrial Park Express
What’s changing:
- Added trips between Brookfield Square and BuySeasons on weekdays.
The routes 6 and 61 were created as a result of a historic lawsuit filed by Milwaukee Innercity Congregations Allied for Hope (MICAH) and the Black Health Coalition of Wisconsin over the exclusion of transit in plans for the Zoo Interchange reconstruction project. The routes, known as JobLines, are designed to connect the central city with jobs in the suburbs.
Employers located along the route include FedEx, BuySeasons, Shoeneck Containers,
27/PurpleLine · 27th Street
What’s changing:
- The limited service segment on the 27 and PurpleLine between Hampton and Florist is a now full service part of both routes. Riders on 27th will now be able to reliably connect with the Glendale Industrial Park, Bayshore Town Center and Route 63 Silver Spring-Port Washington.
- The PurpleLine will be extended south to Northwestern Mutual in Franklin (27th/Drexel) Monday-Friday 7:00am-6:00pm. The PurpleLine will be extended south to 27th/Riverwood (near Rawson) at all other times.
- The Route 27 will continue to go to Walmart at 27th/Sycamore.
64 · South 60th Street
What’s changing:
- Later service 7 days a week. Route 64 currently ends service at 6:00pm; it will now run until approximately 11:00pm Monday through Saturday and until 10:00pm on Sundays/Holidays.
- Bus service 7 days a week on Hawley Road; the 64 currently only runs between Southridge and 60th/Greenfield on weekends and holidays.
51 · Oklahoma Avenue
What’s changing: The extension to Packard/Howard is being eliminated to fund the extension of the 27/PurpleLine. Route 51 will now end at Oklahoma/New York (Delaware). The extension was not widely known and not well ridden. The area is still accessible on a limited basis from Route 48 South Shore Flyer. More info here.
The Milwaukee County Transit System deserves praise for implementing a comprehensive set of service improvements while in a tough financial situation.
September 2016 Meeting POSTPONED
In order to prevent conflicts with the Labor Day holiday and weekend the September 2016 meeting of the Milwaukee Transit Riders Union has been postponed.
The meeting has been rescheduled for 1 week later, on Saturday September 10, 2016 at 10:00 AM.
The meeting location is unchanged.
Enjoy the weekend!
Significant downtown bus route changes coming
This fall, the Downtown Transit Center will close for demolition to make way for the Couture high-rise luxury apartment tower. The prime lakefront location at the southwest corner of the Lincoln Memorial/Michigan intersection is being sold to private developers for a bargain price of $500,000.
What does this all mean for bus riders? Several downtown bus routes are proposed to change.
Affected routes: 12, 31, 33, 42U, 44, 79, 90 & 137.
Under this plan, the popular Route 12 will no longer travel on Wisconsin east of 6th and the #31 will turn around at 10th/Wisconsin.
The Transportation, Public Works and Transit Committee of the Milwaukee County Board will be considering the plan at their July 13, 2016 meeting.
One of the goals of this rerouting plan is to move service off of Wisconsin Avenue and onto neighboring streets, according to a Milwaukee Business Journal interview with MCTS Spokesman Brendan Conway. Downtown businesses along Wisconsin Avenue have requested less bus service on the avenue, while businesses elsewhere have requested more service.
Over the years many routes have been moved out of the Downtown Transit Center; south side flyers were moved out of it during the Marquette Interchange project, the #23 was moved out of it in 2012 when the route was changed to run on National and the #14 was moved out of the center when it was changed to run north to Bayshore in 2014. Some routes serving the center have been eliminated altogether, such as the 47 (S. 27th St. Flyer), 39 (Timmerman Flyer) and 45 (Watertown Plank-Capitol Flyer). Today the Center is mostly empty and mostly serves as a layover and break area for drivers.
