Unanimous! Racine Common Council Endorses the RTA
Racine Common Council sent a resounding message to the legislature: the time for an RTA is now!
Transit NOW applauds the visionary leadership that Mayor Friedel and the entire Racine Common Council has shown in coming together to make this powerful statement for progress in Racine and Southeastern Wisconsin.
After being urged by citizens to advance a resolution in support of the SE Wisconsin Regional Transit Authority's recommendations, the Council members eloquently elaborated on their reason's why Racine and the region needs an RTA now.
Jobs and economic development were the central themes. Aldermen stated that Racine is an island due to the lack of transportation connections to its city, and is considerably challenged by it's physical isolation. Transit will play a central role in creating bridges to integrate Racine into the globally significant Chicago-Milwaukee economic corridor and leverage their location to create economic growth. With bus and rail expansion made possible by an RTA, Racine residents would have access to the hundreds of thousands of jobs that are now inaccessible to many, and Racine would become much better positioned to attract businesses, jobs, and residents to the area because of the improved connections to the region.
Alderman Wisneski emphatically stated that "Racine businesses that employ thousands of workers have said time and again, year after year, that they need better transit to be successful and to get more businesses to locate in Racine. They know their business. We need to listen to them. They are the bedrock of our economy."
Several alderpersons cited the groundswell of calls and emails that they received in support of the RTA and KRM Commuter Rail.