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Please sign on to the statewide endorsement letter in support of giving communities the ability to create RTAs and invest in transit.

If your organization or business has signed on before, please do so again so that we can build a comprehenvie statewide list that will show the depth and breadth of the extremely broad and coordinated support for RTAs.

To sign on simply click here and send an email to Kerry, letting her know that you would like to be added to the endorsement letter. Any questions may also be directed to Kerry.

Please include this information in your email:

• The name of the organization, business, or union.
• Name, address, and phone and email contact information.

You will get a confirmation email. If you do not get a confirmation, please call 262-246-6151.

Click here to print endorsement letter.

Time is of the essence:

Your quick response is appreciated. A tentative plan is forming for a press conference announcing all the members of this coalition who have signed onto this letter.

This letter is very similar to previous endorsement requests, which should make it a simple process for most organizations and businesses to sign on.

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Letter of endorsement for giving communities
the ability to create Regional Transit Authorities

To the members of the Wisconsin Senate and Assembly:

Regional Transit Authorities (RTAs) will create jobs, spur development and economic growth, attract business and investors, and build our competitiveness in the global economy. 

The state needs to act now.  While other states across the country have implemented RTA’s to invest in transit, our transit systems continue to decline under antiquated funding structures, cutting off economic opportunities and exacerbating job loss. Wisconsin cannot afford to fall further behind as we work to rebuild our economy and grow new jobs.  Nor can we delay in taking action to reduce harmful air pollution and dependence on oil. 

Allowing communities to form self-supporting RTAs will:

Grow Wisconsin jobs.

• RTAs can spur development that creates family supporting jobs.

• RTAs create linkages that draw a talented workforce and build the regional economy, making our state more competitiveness in attracting businesses and jobs.
• RTAs support transit system expansion, stimulating both construction and manufacturing industries.
• RTAs link workers with employers by providing efficient, regional multi-modal systems.
• RTAs sustain transit operations that hire locally, keeping dollars working in our local economy and reducing dependence on oil.

Build stronger Wisconsin communities.

• RTAs are essential to successfully competing for federal infrastructure dollars.
• RTAs reduce the cost of living and increase household savings and spending power. Regular transit riders can realize thousands of dollars in savings in avoided costs of driving and parking a car, especially when gas prices rise.
• RTAs create access to jobs, medical services and social opportunities for those who cannot or choose not to drive, maximizing independence and allowing individuals to maintain productive lives.
• RTAs can generate government revenues by boosting property values, stimulating tourism, and getting people working.
• RTAs can ease costly and dangerous traffic congestion, insulate communities from fuel price shocks, and foster more efficient land development.
• RTAs can give our communities a competitive edge in attracting and retaining business and residents by organizing and modernizing our outdated, patchwork transportation systems.

Make Wisconsin healthier and cleaner.

• RTAs support transit choices that reduce air emissions, lowering health care costs for asthma and other diseases and keeping communities in compliance with air quality standards to avoid costly pollution sanctions on manufacturing sources.
• RTAs can reduce the demand for parking and other paved areas, whose runoff degrades water quality and triggers costly anti-pollution measures.
• RTAs can cut death and injury rates from transportation crashes, saving lives, reducing health care costs, and avoiding time lost from work.

We support the enabling of RTAs now in communities that want them, and urge the legislature to give Southeastern Wisconsin and other communities the choice to invest in transit with up to a 1/2% dedicated sales tax and a framework to coordinate transit region-wide. (with addional funding options in SE Wisconsin counties outside Milwaukee County)

Sincerely,