Milwaukee's oncoming transit nightmare

From the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel:

Walker wants bus fare boosted to $2

Regressive tax 101. Get it from those who have little to give, while degrading conditions and quality of service to the point that taking the bus is a choice of last resort.

Blogger Gretchen Schuldt has an excellent compilation of potential transit cuts as well as "transit users speak out" videos here.

Comments

[daver]

Every year that Walker has been in office there has either been an increase or a reduction of service.

[John Michlig]

His support is in the SUBURBS, where buses are irrelevant. We can thank right-wing talk radio for banging that selfish drum and keeping sensible transit solutions from coming to light.

[Josh Strupp]

Which sensible transit solutions do you speak of? Billion dollar light rail systems to the western and southern suburbs that no one will ride or hundred million dollar, fixed rail buses in downtown Milwaukee that no one will ride?

[John Michlig]

Yes, THOSE specific sensible transit solutions are the ones of which I speak.

[Josh Strupp]

Sounds like a good use of taxpayer dollars. Especially considering most Milwaukee area residents don't live and/or work downtown and have no use for either one of these methods of transit.

[John]

"Especially considering most Milwaukee area residents don't live and/or work downtown and have no use for either one of these methods of transit."

Chicken or egg? I never even CONSIDER the bus because it has poor service, crappy vehicle upkeep, spotty scheduling, etc. People who ride the bus do so because they NEED to.

People don't live, work or USE downtown to the extent that they should exactly because there is no sensible way to get there and back regularly.

The "pod" mentality you encourage is a great part of what is enforcing mediocrity here in the Milwaukee region. The writing is on the wall: VERY soon the entire country will have to re-evaluate - - QUICKLY - - the vehicle-centric policies that we so rigorously enforce here, and those regions that have not prepared will whither and die.

[Josh Strupp]

People don't live downtown to the extent that they should (according to some) because they prefer to send there kids to good schools, not spend $400,000 on a 2 bedroom condo and enjoy having a yard rather than crowding into a public park for outdoor activities. People don't work downtown to the extent that they should because of one main reason....cost.

[Greg Kowalski]

I don't know about the whole "people don't live/work downtown" thing.

Downtown Milwaukee has seen a huge boom in condo development. Developers can't seem to build enough of them!

I think suburbanites are beginning to realize what a great downtown area Milwaukee can become, and are contributing to it as such - bar-hopping, dining, going to plays, etc.

I think transit would encourage more growth and development in BOTH downtown and in the suburbs. Downtown would flourish due to more residents available to go down there, and the suburbs would grow because traveling to downtown could be done with more ease, and with more options.

Chicago's Metra line already does this, and they're still seeing more people using it by the year.

Remember - you can't win if you don't try.

[Josh Strupp]

I can get from Hwy100 & Drexel to downtown Milwaukee in 20 minutes. With traffic it takes 30 minutes. You can get from Oconomowoc to Milwaukee in 30 minutes....lets say 45 minutes to an hour with traffic. Big deal.

It takes me a hour to an hour and a half to get from Hwy 41 south of Waukegan to downtown Chicago. Then it costs 30 bucks to park. The Chiacgo metro area has 8 times more people than Milwaukee. Metra and the "L" are understandable. Not in Milwaukee.

"You can't win if you don't try?" Isn't that what they say at the casino before you lose all your money?

[Greg Kowalski]

Nice analogy with the casino, Josh! I never thought of that before I said that sentence.

I think we need to begin to grasp the understanding that Chicago and Milwaukee will be literally ONE metro area by 2020. So, Chicago's population will soon become Milwaukee's, when you think about it in those terms.

So yes, I can get to downtown Milwaukee from Hwy 100 & Drexel in 25 minutes. People from Evanston can also get to the Chicago Loop in 20 - but they still have a Metra stop.

Perhaps that's Milwaukee's issue - parking is simply too darn cheap downtown!

I think a transit network could be extremely beneficial to Milwaukee when you take Chicago's HUGE population just minutes south of us into consideration.

If transit options means more business in downtown Milwaukee, increased tourism for SE Wisconsin, and more growth and development in Milwaukee suburbs - then go for it.

What's the new phrase of mine...hmmmm...

The benefits outweigh the costs?