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MILWAUKEE — The lack of access to suburban jobs for urban workers has taken a toll on the Milwaukee area. Many employers have trouble filling open positions, and at the same time many Milwaukee residents feel little hope in finding work. For reasons ranging from economic development to social justice, community leaders across the political landscape are asking the same important question: what can we do to help workers get to jobs located just a few miles outside of the city?

Both workers and employers in need solutions in metro Milwaukee and the Milwaukee Transit Riders Union will host a community forum on making regional transit viable in metro Milwaukee. The event titled Uniting Metro-Milwaukee: Jobs and Justice will take place at 5:00pm on Thursday June 5, 2014 at the Hillside Terrace Resource Center, 1452 N. 7th St. Panelists including community leaders, researchers and transportation planners will have a solution oriented discussion about the opportunities for regional transit in Metro-Milwaukee. Attendees will have the opportunity to provide video recorded testimony about the effects of a lack of regional transit in their daily lives.

The event will take place
Thursday June 5, 2014 at 5:00pm
Hillside Terrace Resource Center
1452 N. 7th St. (7th/Cherry)
Milwaukee, WI 53205

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• 022614_ReviewCommitteeDecision

MILWAUKEE, WI — The Milwaukee Transit Riders Union applauds the Administrative Determination Review Committee of the Milwaukee County Board for dismissing the proposal to turn the management of the Milwaukee County Transit System over to MV Transportation.

“MV Transportation has a questionable track record managing transit systems far smaller than the Milwaukee County Transit System.” said organizer Nick DeMarsh “There is no reason to believe that MV would have been up to the task of running a system as large as MCTS. It is far more likely that service quality and reliability would have suffered. We need only look at MV’s mismanagement in Fairfield, CA where MV was cited 295 times in 2010 alone for poor performance.”

While we agree that MCTS needs to improve, the obvious first step would be establishing dedicated funding to solve the long-term funding problems that have forced MCTS to cut approximately one-third of bus service since 2000, making over 40,000 jobs inaccessible to transit dependent Milwaukee County residents.

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MILWAUKEE, WI — With this year’s record cold temperatures, transit riders have been forced to brave the cold while waiting for the bus. In Milwaukee, where transit service has decreased by one third since 2000, riders have found themselves waiting significantly longer than they did years ago.

While Milwaukee’s service has dwindled significantly, other cities manage to continue to provide robust service for riders. The Minneapolis Metro Transit System provided nearly twice as much service as MCTS in 2012. Nick DeMarsh, an organizer with the Milwaukee Transit Riders Union explains, “While this difference in service levels is an embarrassment for our community and is a drag on our economy, most importantly it has a significant impact on the day to day lives of transit riders.”

Transit advocates in Milwaukee are concerned about the health of riders in this brutal cold. Kieth Crum, fellow transit organizer says “With numerous wind-chill advisories and warnings this winter, State and County leadership can no longer ignore the suffering of transit riders.” To address this issue he explains, “We would like to see funding for more frequent trips, more bus shelters and heated shelters at key locations in addition to other possible improvements.”

While there’s a lot of talk about who will run the system, the key is really whether or not the community is willing to stand up and fund the system. The Texas based MV Transportation Inc., has submitted a low ball proposal to manage MCTS, which has raised a lot of questions about how they could afford to operate with their proposed budget. County Executive Abele has recently suggested that MV may have to cut drivers’ pay in order to save costs. This will likely affect bus reliability and safety of riders, as seen in Fairfield, CA where MV was cited 295 times for poor performance. DeMarsh concludes “There’s no gimmick to fixing our system, it’s a matter of whether or not State and County leaders care about riders.”

Transit advocates will reach out to riders Wednesday February 19th from 8:30am – 10:00am along West Wisconsin Avenue to hear testimonies of how long wait times have affected riders this winter.

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