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.

Due to logistic constraints we will not be having a May meeting.

Our next meeting will be June 2, 2018 at 10:00am.

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.

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.

Milwaukee is one step closer to having its first Bus Rapid Transit line after officials decided on the western half of the route.

Minor changes could still be made to the location of the routes and stops, but the western segment of the route is set for the most part. Originally there were three alternatives; the route could have traveled along Wisconsin Avenue, Bluemound Road or State Street. In the end, a route along Wisconsin Avenue/Hawley Road/Bluemound Road was chosen.

Next steps include deciding what shape the downtown segment of the route will take in downtown: whether the BRT line will run on Wisconsin Avenue, Wells Street or a mix of both.

The City of Milwaukee will have to foot the bill for moving utility lines along the initial route of the Milwaukee streetcar under a decision issued by Milwaukee County Circuit Court Judge William Sosnay last Thursday.

The decision was the result of a court case brought by the city to challenge a decision from the state Public Service Commission that placed the costs onto the city. The city disputed the ruling and wanted the courts to make the final decision.

The decision means that the City will have to pay between $10-25 million to move utility lines when building the streetcar. The project is expected to cost a total of $128.1 million.

What does this mean for the streetcar?

The city will continue building the downtown streetcar route; according to a spokesperson for the mayor the decision was expected and the project remains on time and on budget. What remains to be seen is whether the additional costs of relocating utilities will prevent the streetcar from being expanded into the neighborhoods. MTRU advocates for a streetcar along Martin Luther King Jr. Drive between downtown and Five Points (Atkinson/Keefe) to serve the King Drive shopping district; connect downtown bus riders with crosstown bus routes like the #21, #22 & #60 and relieve chronic overcrowding on the #19 bus route north of downtown.

Yesterday, members of the union that represents drivers for the transit system voted overwhelmingly against a contract proposal, with 93% voting against it and 92% voting to strike. Bus drivers have been working without a contract for three months.

Bus service will continue to operate Tuesday, but if an agreement is not reached bus service will stop at 3:00am Wednesday.

There is still a chance that a strike can be avoided. Union leaders and management will be meeting today to see if a compromise can be made. Hopefully an agreement can be reached and a strike will be avoided.

The key sticking points:

• A sudden increase in part-time drivers. Currently, there are no part-time drivers; under the contract the bus system could hire part-time drivers and up to 15% of bus drivers being part time. Such a high amount at once has the union concerned that the bus system wants to make most drivers part-time.
• Bathroom breaks. Bus drivers typically only get 4 minutes at the end of a route for a bathroom break and layovers are usually not in areas with restrooms nearby.
• Health insurance. Bus drivers will pay more for their health insurance coverage.
• Pensions. The union is concerned that hiring part-time drivers while cutting the contribution amount paid by bus drivers could undermine the pension fund.

MCTS management on the other hand, says that it is offering an 8% raise to bus drivers and that the number of part-time drivers is small compared to other systems.

We are hopeful that a last-minute agreement can be reached between labor and management, but bus riders should make backup plans now for if a strike does happen.

If an agreement is not reached Tuesday service will operate until the end of the schedule, but there will be no bus service systemwide beginning Wednesday.