Boost service, cut fares to save county transit system, consultant says

By LARRY SANDLER

Journal Sentinel

http://www.jsonline.com/story/index.aspx?id=762717

June 17, 2008

Town of Yorkville - Cutting fares and restoring slashed service could be key strategies for rescuing the financially troubled Milwaukee County Transit System, a nationally known transit consultant told the Southeastern Wisconsin Regional Transit Authority on Monday.

And in a turnabout from his usual positions, California-based consultant Thomas Rubin recommended serious study of a transit sales tax and of a Milwaukee-to-Kenosha commuter rail line, although he stopped short of endorsing either option.

Rubin is an unlikely figure in the regional transit debate — a prominent rail transit critic backed by two conservative think tanks, hired by pro-transit business leaders to help break a longstanding stalemate on transit funding.

Although Rubin is the former chief financial officer of the Southern California Rapid Transit District, he is best known for studies that oppose light rail and commuter trains and promote public buses in Los Angeles and elsewhere. His Milwaukee-area study is being coordinated through the Wisconsin Policy Research Institute and the Reason Foundation, a Libertarian-leaning organization based in California.

The regional economic development effort known as the Milwaukee 7 has paid $30,000 for the first phase of Rubin’s work and asked the RTA on Monday to pay $50,000 to complete the study, which would become part of a report the RTA is required to present to the Legislature this fall on how to govern and pay for public transit in Milwaukee, Racine and Kenosha counties. The RTA delayed action on that request until a June 23 telephone conference.

Conservative credentials

Business leaders think Rubin’s conservative credentials will give his findings more credibility with Wisconsin Republican lawmakers who must sign off on any transit funding deal, said Pete Beitzel, a vice president of the Metropolitan Milwaukee Association of Commerce. The MMAC, the M-7 and other business groups have voiced alarm about transit funding and have backed the KRM Commuter Link, a $200 million rail line that would connect Milwaukee to Racine, Kenosha and the southern suburbs.

Rubin agreed with reports from the Southeastern Wisconsin Regional Planning Commission and the Public Policy Forum that praised the Milwaukee County bus system’s cost-effective management, but that found major ridership losses resulted from fare increases and service cuts since 2000. He also agreed with those reports’ warnings of a 35% service cut by 2010 without new state or local funding — a cut that would wipe out all Freeway Flyers and most night, weekend and suburban service.

But Rubin said ridership could double in five years if county officials restore the service that has been cut and lower the fares. Phasing in that approach, with service restorations first and fare cuts later, would cater to “a huge unmet demand” for transit service that is growing as gas prices rise, he said.

Milwaukee County Executive Scott Walker has spoken favorably about lowering fares but proposed several fare increases and no fare cuts. That’s because restoring service and lowering fares would require additional revenue, and state and local officials have been deeply divided about new funding for buses.

A County Board committee called last week for an advisory referendum on a 0.5% sales tax that would replace property tax support for buses.

Rubin said transit sales taxes deserve the most serious study because they are most common nationwide.

But Walker has vowed to veto the referendum measure, like similar measures in the past, and he continues to push for options that don’t involve raising taxes.

Walker’s RTA representative, George Torres, voiced skepticism about paying for more of Rubin’s work, saying taxpayers’ money shouldn’t be used to duplicate previous findings. But other RTA members said Rubin could help them forge recommendations the Legislature would listen to.

Rubin also said the KRM would work better than any bus alternative because it would serve lakefront communities that are miles from I-94.