Regional way better on transit
The Business Journal of Milwaukee
Friday, July 4, 2008
You have to give business leaders and Milwaukee County Board members credit for at least trying to push through a possible funding solution for the Milwaukee area's ailing transit system...Instead, it would be better for business and community leaders to push forward a regional funding approach that would help rescue the bus system, along with implementing commuter rail.
Transportation system of last resort
Government bickering stalls bus system from going modern
by David Doege
The Business Journal of Milwaukee
Friday, July 4, 2008
The Milwaukee County Transit System is on the verge of carrying just one class of riders, according to Joel Rast. That class is people who don't have cars... Four years ago, he led a study that concluded budget cuts were turning the county's bus system into "the transportation of last resort." ...Regions with strong transit systems have strong economic development, Rast said. Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett agreed. "I think it is going to be increasingly important for us to have a functional and modern mass transit system," Barrett said. "But the bus system is in a death spiral as we speak,..." High fuel prices are adding to the bus system's woes. Anita Gulotta-Connelly, managing director of the Milwaukee County Transit System, said if fuel prices continue in the $4-per-gallon level she'll have to budget $7 million more in 2009 than this year. "The most important issue for us is finding a long-term funding source," Gulotta-Connelly said...
Mayo: New funding source critical to buses
The Business Journal of Milwaukee
Friday, July 4, 2008
After serving 12 years as a member of the Milwaukee County Transportation, Public Works and Transit Committee, with the past four years serving as the committee's vice chairman, Michael Mayo Sr., county supervisor for the seventh district, was appointed chairman in April. Since then, the problems of swelling bus fares and service cuts in Milwaukee County's transit system have persisted. Along with his six fellow committee members, Mayo is working toward reviving a bus system whose ridership plunged to a 33-year low last year, after a daunting 9 percent decrease from 2006 to 2007. Mayo recently chatted with Business Journal reporter Phillip Martinez about the county's transit system...
Milwaukee area must address its transit issues
by State Rep. Jon Richards
Friday, July 4, 2008
The Business Journal of Milwaukee
...Gas prices are not just a nuisance -- they are seriously eating into the budgets of most families....Just when more people are turning to mass transit, however, our region faces two challenges: maintain what we have and seize the opportunity to invest in our infrastructure.The respected Public Policy Forum, in a report issued last month, detailed the perilous condition of Milwaukee's bus system. If we do nothing, the county-run bus system could be forced to eliminate all night, weekend and suburban service. Given that we are the only major city in America that funds buses on the property tax, a logical step would be to take the funding off of our property tax bills and provide a more reliable funding stream...The Kenosha-Racine-Milwaukee (KRM) commuter train, which would run on existing tracks and provide greater links between Milwaukee and Chicago, is important to fund...We cannot count on gas prices going down again, or wait for some other form of relief. These are common-sense solutions that we must look at to help our city.
And the transit debate goes round and round …
Posted on June 26, 2008
By Steve Jagler
Steve Jagler, executive editor of Small Business Times
If you ever wondered why southeastern Wisconsin hasn't moved forward with development of a functional mass transit system, the answers were clearly apparent at the annual Community Development Summit held Wednesday at the Italian Community Center in Milwaukee. The summit, presented by the Urban Economic Development Association of Wisconsin, featured a panel discussion that included: Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett; philanthropist and business executive Michael Cudahy; Milwaukee County economic development director Bob Dennik; Mequon Mayor Christine Neurenberg; Racine County Executive William McReynolds; Waukesha Mayor Larry Nelson; state Rep. Jeff Stone (R-Greendale); state Sen. Lena Taylor (D-Milwaukee); and Waukesha County Executive Dan Vrakas....
Boost service, cut fares to save county transit system, consultant says
By LARRY SANDLER
June 17, 2008
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...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...Rubin also said the KRM would work better than any bus alternative because it would serve lakefront communities that are miles from I-94...
Stopping Milwaukee transit's death spiral
By JOHN GURDA
June 1 , 2008
If you want to catch the bus, you'd better hurry. A new study by the Public Policy Forum concludes that the Milwaukee County Transit System as we know it is in the fast lane to oblivion. In less than a decade, a system that used to win awards as the best in America has entered a downward spiral of rising fares and declining service...If the downward spiral is allowed to continue, it will become a death spiral...Blame it, if you'd like, on skyrocketing fuel and health insurance costs, both familiar culprits completely beyond the control of the system's managers. But the root cause of the current crisis is a lack of political will on the part of our elected officials. Milwaukee's county executive and County Board - the transit system's ultimate managers - have either failed to recognize the problem or refused to deal with it. In either case, their lack of leadership is striking...
No stone in county mass transit search will go unturned
By Williams McReynolds, Racine County Executive
Friday, May 23, 2008
Journal Times
There’s an old saying that nothing is constant except change. That’s as true about public transportation as about most other things. During the first half of the 20th Century, public transportation was heavily used all over the country, including here in Racine County... In the 1960’s, Wisconsin’s new interstate highways were more than adequate. Gasoline was under 30 cents a gallon (about $2.00 in today’s dollars). Baby boomers were just kids and Racine had plenty of good jobs for people who didn’t even finish high school. Now, Interstate 94 is clogged. Gas prices are soaring. Boomers are retiring into urban condos and good jobs and good workers are often found beyond city limits and county lines. Life as we knew it in the 1960’s is gone. We must again take a serious look at public transit...
Connecting the region
KRM could be an important business and economic development tool.
May 18, 2008
Journal Sentinel
Where do we go from here? How does southeastern Wisconsin get this railroad built?
In two words: leadership and collaboration. Despite the failure of the Legislature...to approve a funding source for a commuter rail line linking Kenosha, Racine and Milwaukee to each other and to commuter rail in Illinois, most supporters of the KRM project remain optimistic.They say that support from Gov. Jim Doyle and a growing consensus in the business community that KRM could be an important economic development tool gives them reason to believe that KRM will become a reality, and that KRM legislation could be included in the next state budget.
"I'm encouraged by the momentum that was created," said Karl Ostby, chairman of the Southeastern Wisconsin Regional Transit Authority. "We came close this year. I think the governor is a lot more on board, and I think we'll be able to get something in his budget this fall. I also think there is more of a consensus in the region." The RTA, charged with looking at all transit issues in southeastern Wisconsin, is working on a report on a dedicated source of funding for regional transit. "The hurdle is funding the right funding source," ...
Commuter rail link a tool for development
Stronger links within the region and to Chicago would boost economic development and are the best argument for building the line.
May 18, 2008
Journal Sentinel
The reason to build a commuter rail line linking Kenosha, Racine and Milwaukee to each other and to commuter rail in northern Illinois is simple: It will help move people to jobs.
It will help a young couple that moves to the Racine area, where the wife has just landed a job but the husband works in Milwaukee. One can take the car to work, the other, the train.
It will help an unemployed young man or woman in Milwaukee without a car by widening the area in which he or she can work... It will help the young professional in northern Illinois who can take the train to a new job in Kenosha or Milwaukee.
The problem so far in helping those workers has been funding. A local sales tax is probably the best way to fund a regional transit system, but state and local leaders need to settle on one funding source and make sure that's included in the next state budget. There is no doubt that KRM has potential. According to figures put together by the Southeastern Wisconsin Regional Planning Commission, in 2000, there were 913,000 jobs within a one-mile radius of the stations along the proposed KRM commuter rail line corridor and the existing commuter rail in Chicago and northeastern Illinois...
Road building and transit need reliable funding to serve region
By Pat Goss, executive director of the Wisconsin Transportation Builders Association
May 18, 2008
Journal Sentinel
Bipartisan support for transportation in the Assembly and Senate was one of the few areas of consensus in the recently completed session of the state Legislature...For the past century, Wisconsin has relied heavily on the fuel tax for the state revenues that support all transportation modes. This is quickly becoming a dinosaur as motorists react to the spike in fuel prices by purchasing more-efficient or alternatively fueled vehicles...Many states that compete against Wisconsin for jobs are finding ways to supplement lagging fuel tax revenues so they can continue investing in transportation. In addition, local governments in southeastern Wisconsin must come to an agreement on a funding source for transit that does not rely so much on property taxes. The Southeastern Wisconsin Regional Planning Commission projects a 35% reduction in Milwaukee County transit service and 20%-25% service reductions for other systems over the next five years under the current funding system. We need to be moving in the opposite direction if the region is to connect workers with jobs in the future. This may not be popular, but nearly every other metropolitan area that competes with Milwaukee has viable, dependable transit service because it has a dedicated local funding source (usually a local sales tax)...
County needs to take action now on mass transit crisis
May 06, 2008
Small Business Times
By Lee Holloway, chairman of the Milwaukee County Board of Supervisor
This week's report from the Public Policy Forum confirms what I and other Milwaukee County Board members have known for some time: route cutbacks and fare increases are causing major damage to mass transit in Milwaukee County. I am glad that Public Policy Forum president Rob Henken is leading a team of professionals in providing detailed and thorough reports on issues of importance to the community, continuing the exemplary work he performed as research director for the Milwaukee County Board of Supervisors. Preserving an extensive mass transit system is one of my top priorities as chairman of the board. Transit is not just a human services issue. It is also a main ingredient in building our economic infrastructure. Because of limited federal and state support for mass transit, I am going to arrange to meet with key members of the business community to assist the county in developing progressive ways to overcome these funding challenges. There is no question that we must alter the path our transit system is on. Using property tax dollars to fund the local portion of mass transit funding is archaic. The time for change is now. All options are on the table as we consider ways to modernize transit funding and improve the service provided to people from all walks of life.
Time for balanced transit
by Tom Barrett, Mayor of Milwaukee
March 9, 2008
Journal Sentinel
One of the most powerful economic development tools a community can use to create new opportunities is a modern, balanced and integrated transportation system that unites the region and connects workers to jobs...If we fail to modernize transit in Milwaukee and throughout southeastern Wisconsin, our region will miss critical economic development opportunities and fall further behind other parts of the country...The issue is too important to wait any longer. Now is the time to bring balance to our region's transportation strategy.
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Transit at the precipice: Sales tax is the lifeline
Public transit helped Milwaukee grow and go. But unless the county raises the sales tax, its once-proud transit system will continue to sputter and decline.
March 9, 2008
Journal Sentinel
...Public transportation in Milwaukee County is now at a precipice because lack of public funding has taken a terrible toll on a system that only a few years ago regularly won national awards for performance, service and high ridership...Supervisor James White, chairman of the board's Transportation Committee, told us last week he's so concerned that he's going to push for the rest of the board to "skip the referendum" and simply vote to ask the Legislature for authority to increase the county's sales tax a quarter or half of a cent for transit. White's idea will save valuable time. And as White correctly points out, doing so will give supervisors a chance to show the kind of bold leadership the public expects. White offers another good idea: Whatever money the sales tax produces for transit should be taken off the property tax levy to give property owners relief... While state aid covers about 40% of the operating costs for the transit system, the county continues to rely on its property tax to pay the 14% local share, one of the few transit systems in the country that does. Nationally, the most common way to finance transit is through local or regional sales taxes, which makes sense. Since local residents aren't the only ones who use transit, the sales tax more fairly spreads out the cost...
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