On January 18, 2015 the Milwaukee County Transit System made changes to bus service on the east side. These changes will affect travel to and from Milwaukee Transit Riders Union meetings at the Milwaukee Environmental Consortium (MEC).

LIST OF NEARBY BUS ROUTES AND STOPS EFFECTIVE JANUARY 18, 2015:

DIRECTIONS

From the south

• Green Line will take you from Downtown, Walkers Point, Bay View, Tippecanoe and Mitchell International Airport

From the west

• Gold Line will take you from Downtown, Avenues West, West Side, Wauwatosa, Milwaukee County Grounds, Milwaukee County Zoo, Elm Grove, Brookfield and Brookfield Square. (Connects with Waukesha Metro Route 1 Waukesha-Brookfield).
• 30 Sherman-Wisconsin and 30X Sherman Express will take you from Downtown, Avenues West, Washington Park, Sherman Park and Berryland.
• 21 North Avenue* will take you from Riverwest, the Central City, Wauwatosa & Mayfair.

From the north

• Green Line will take you from the Upper East Side, UWM Campus, Shorewood, Whitefish Bay, Glendale and Bayshore Town Center.
• 30 Sherman-Wisconsin and 30X Sherman Express will take you from the Upper East Side and UWMCampus.
• 14 Humboldt-Forest Home* will take you from Riverwest, Shorewood, Whitefish Bay, Glendale and the Bayshore Town Center.

From the southwest

• 14 Humboldt-Forest Home* will take you from Downtown, Clarke Square, the Near South Side, the Southwest Side, Greenfield and Greendale.

FOR MORE INFORMATION ABOUT THE ROUTE CHANGES, VISIT THE OFFICIAL MILWAUKEE COUNTY TRANSIT SYSTEM WEBSITE AT WWW.RIDEMCTS.COM

* = Route does not go directly to MEC. (Within walking distance.)

Do you ride the Routes 10, 14 and 30? Change is in store for you beginning this weekend.

Route 10
MCTS will be replacing Route 10 with a new Gold Line Express. The Gold Line express will follow the current routing of the #10 west of downtown and follow the current routing of the #30 Downer north of Downtown.

The new route is supposed to make jobs in Waukesha more accessible to central city residents by speeding up travel times.

The current Route 10 service to Bayshore will be transferred to Route 14, which will be the 14 Humboldt-Forest Home.

Route 30
MCTS will be significantly changing the Route 30. From now on, there will be no branches on Route 30; all #30 buses on the west side will travel on Sherman to Florist and all #30 buses on the east side will travel on Maryland to Downer.

East Side
The bus service on Downer will be replaced by the Gold Line. Route 21 will also continue to travel on Downer on Weekdays between September and June.

West Side
The bus service on Keefe will be replaced by a new Route 61 Appleton-Keefe. More on that below.

Express
The 30X is back, after being eliminated about a decade ago, and it is better than ever. It will run seven days a week. To find out exactly when it will run, check out the #30 schedule.

Route 61
One of the most significant changes is that central city is now connected to Menomonee Falls and Germantown by a new bus route, the #61 Appleton-Keefe. The route is the latest new route from a settlement between WisDOT and MICAH & Black Health Coalition.

The new route will travel from 35th/Toronto (between Capitol and Hopkins) to the Germantown Walmart. An extension to the Germantown Industrial Park will operate to the park in the morning and from the park in the afternoon on weekdays, with one late-night round trip.

This is good news for unemployed central city residents in poverty and advocates for fairness throughout the Milwaukee area.

Yesterday the U.S. Supreme Court blocked the Voter ID law.

As of 10/8/14 you will not need to show an ID in order to vote in November.

• Government Accountability Board update

The ruling comes as a result of legal challenges to the law. The law is expected to make it harder for people to vote and decrease turnout. A study by the federal government found that Voter ID laws decrease minority turnout in elections.

Yesterday’s Supreme Court order is not a final decision on the law, but any other action on the voter ID law isn’t expected until after the November election.

Friday, the Voter ID law was reinstated by a federal court based on some small changes to how the state issues IDs. At this point, it is fairly certain that Voter ID will be in place for the elections on November 4.

What do you need to know in order to vote?

If you need an ID card, you can go to the DMV.

• Find your closest DMV location, service hours and the current wait time

At the DMV you will need to fill out two forms: one to request a free ID and one to start the verification process:

• ID Card Application
• Document Verification form

Bring what you can to prove your name and date of birth. The ACLU of Wisconsin is recommending bringing:

• Baptismal records
• Hospital birth records
• Delayed birth certificates
• Census records
• Early school records
• Family bible records
• Doctor’s record of post-natal care

You will also need to bring documents to prove your identity and your residency/current address. See the full list of things you need from the ACLU at

• http://aclu-wi.org/issue/information-voters-without-id-and-without-birth-certificates

PLEASE CONTACT THE ACLU OF WISCONSIN IF YOU HAVE ANY PROBLEMS GETTING AN ID.
CONTACT INFORMATION IS AVAILABLE AT THE LINK ABOVE.

Two much anticipated routes to suburban job centers will start next week. The routes were created out of the settlement from the lawsuit brought against WisDOT by MICAH and BHCW.

Route 6 goes to Mayfair, Brookfield Square, the New Berlin Industrial Park, FedEx and BuySeasons from the Rufus King and Midtown areas.

Route 279 goes out to Menomonee Falls from Central City, Midtown and the Northwest Side.

Take one of these routes during the next week and discover the new employment and shopping opportunities.

• 6 New Berlin Industrial Park Express
• 279 Menomonee Falls Industrial Park Express

Milwaukee Inner-city Congregations Allied for Hope (MICAH) and the Black Health Coalition of Wisconsin (BHCW) will be sponsoring an event tomorrow to showcase two new routes that will be added to the system starting August 24 as a result of the historic Zoo Interchange lawsuit. Be one of the first to see these routes as special buses take you down them for the very first time. Let’s pack the bus tomorrow.

Friday August 15, 2014
Arrive at 10:00am / Buses leave at 11:00am
MICAH Parking Lot
1927 N. 4th St. (one block west of Rt. 19 on King Dr at Brown)

• Flyer

Milwaukee Inner-city Congregations Allied for Hope (MICAH) and the Black Health Coalition of Wisconsin (BHCW) will be sponsoring another event Monday to connect community residents with employers located on the new routes. Employers confirmed for the event include: FedEx, BuySeasons, Herzing University, RJ Shinner, Wacker-Neuson Corporation and more.

Tuesday August 19, 2014
2:00pm – 5:00pm
BHCW
3020 W. Vliet St. (Rt. 33)

• Flyer

Next Wednesday the Milwaukee County Board’s Transit Committee will be considering a proposal to extend Route 55 Layton Avenue.

Route 55 currently runs between Warnimont Park (Lake Drive) to Southridge (76th St). If extended, Route 55 will run west to the Hales Corners Park & Ride Lot near 108th/Layton and connect with Routes 28, 43 and 44U while still serving Southridge. MAP

In addition to these new connections, Route 55 would also serve a 32-block section of Layton Avenue that currently has no bus service but is home to several businesses, a Social Security Administration office and Layton Terrace.

This could be a significant development for transit riders on the southwest side and fill a large gap in the Milwaukee County Transit System’s service area. There is currently no east-west connection on Routes 28 and 44U south of Oklahoma Avenue.

If the proposed route extension is passed, it could be implemented for the Summer 2014 pick (schedule Effective Date June 8, 2014).

The county board transit committee can be encouraged to pass this route expansion by contacting them at http://county.milwaukee.gov/TPWT/ContactTPWT.htm.

The Milwaukee County Board’s Administrative Determination Review Committee stopped the deal struck with MV Transportation to manage the Milwaukee County Transit System.

In it’s decision the commitee determined that the process was so flawed that no contract award could be made.

Bus riders may have dodged a bullet, as it turns out that MV Transportation is putting itself up for sale.

The U.S. Attorney is reviewing the removal of the Southridge bus stop for possible violations of the Americans with Disabilities Act.

Southridge ordered the transit system to change the stop to the new location effective November 1, 2013, claiming that they were looking out for bus riders’ safety. However there are several problems with their story:

• Southridge management first moved the stop away from the mall entrance near Sears in 2012. Since the temporary Southridge bus stop they came up with was so unsafe, why not simply move the stop back to its former location near the Sears entrance?
• Removing the stop from the main mall entirely and forcing bus riders to cross a parking lot  seems to be substantially less safe.

This illustration shows how moving the bus stop has made bus riders substantially less safe. (Click to enlarge)

As bad as this is for all bus riders, it is even worse for persons with disabilities. When this change was announced by Southridge, we were concerned that this would be a problem for persons with disabilities and that is exactly how this has turned out.

We are happy that this is being pursued and will continue to keep you informed of any updates.

It will be getting cold tomorrow, with wind chills getting as low as -50° F. The National Weather Service has issued a Wind Chill Warning for the Milwaukee area. It will be so cold that MPS has announced that there will be no school on Monday and maybe Tuesday. The City and the County have announced that most services will be shut down.

The Milwaukee County Transit System has announced that buses will be running on Monday, except for school routes like RR1–RR3 (Reagan), RS1–RS4 (Riverside), #50, #85, #87, #88 & #89.

Remember that buses might break down in the cold, so be prepared to wait. Postponing trips until it warms up works too.

If you have to go out, MCTS has some safety tips for you.

Stay warm!