Darling,
Stone help kill
county rescue transit plan.
Despite
County Board action, transit system cut again
Nov.
12 -- The
Milwaukee County Transit System will charge riders more
and offer fewer routes next year.
The
system's downward spiral continues despite County Board
votes during budget deeliberations last week to reverse
many of County Executive Scott Walker's proposed service
cuts.
The
Transit System next year will eliminate bus service on
Route 11(Vliet St.) from Water Street to 47th St.; Route
80 on the Locust / Hopkins branch; Route 31 east of 10th
St.; and Route 53 east of Kinnickinnic Ave., according
to county documents.
Bus
fares will increase from $1.75 tp $2, one of the highest
rates in the country.
Walker
had proposed deep cuts in the transit system, but the
board, assisted by increased state transit aid, was able
to save much of the service Walker wanted eliminated.
“Helping
County residents get to work, school, church, the doctor
and shopping should be one of our top priorities,”
said Board Chairman Lee Holloway, who sponsored an amendment
restoring service to eight of the route segments. “With
17 members of the County Board supporting my plan, we
have a veto-proof majority, guaranteeing that these route
segments will be restored.”
The route segment restorations include:
• Route 12 north of Florist Avenue, serving Supervisors
Toni Clark’s and Joe Rice’s districts;
• Route 23 north and west of 91st and Mill Road,
serving riders in Supervisors Rice’s and Roger Quindel’s
districts;
• Route 31, west of 76th Street in Supervisors Jim
“Luigi” Schmitt’s and Lynne DeBruin’s
districts;
• Route 67, south of Connell on 84th and 92nd Streets
in Supervisor John F. Weishan, Jr.’s, district;
• Routes 19/20 South of Layton in Supervisor Richard
D. Nyklewicz, Jr.’s, district;
• Routes 15 and 55 in Supervisor Patricia Jursik’s
district;
• Route 35 south of Howard Avenue in Supervisors
Dan Devine’s and Mark Borkowski’s districts;
• Route 27 to the Glendale Industrial Park in Supervisor
James G. White’s district;
• Route 80 south of Mitchell International Airport
in Supervisors Nyklewicz’s and Paul Cesarz’s
districts;
• Route 40 to the Ryan Road Park and Ride lot in
Supervisor Cesarz’s district;
• Route 49 to the Green Bay and Brown Deer Park
and Ride lots in Supervisor Rice’s district.
A
separate amendment, by Supervisor Marina Dimitrijevic,
rejected Walker's proposed fare increase for disabled
riders who use the County’s paratransit service.
“Transit
Plus riders do not have any alternatives. The county executive’s
proposal would have actually raised the round-trip fare
from $6.50 to $8,” Dimitrijevic said in a prepared
statement. “I’m pleased my colleagues voted
to avoid this drastic increase proposed by the county
executive. This is about promoting independence for those
in our community who need the help most. Once again, the
community spoke and the County Board is acting.”
Barrett
chief: state must do more for transit Alderman hints at amendment to free
$91 million in federal transit fuding
Oct.
15, 2007 -- Mayor Tom Barrett's top aide last
week called on the State Department of Transportation
to be "more active" in solving area transit
funding woes.
"There
is a state responsibility," Barrett chief-of-staff
Patrick Curely said.
"They
had no problem saying 'We can spend 20-some million dollars
on a cloverleaf on an off-ramp for Pabst Farms, but when
the discussion becomes 'how do we get workers out there,'
it's 'we hope the locals can decide,'" Curley told
the Common Council's Personnel and Finance Committee.
"The state's got to be much more active in that conversation."
"'Why
isn't multi-modal transportation a high priority for the
Wisconsin Department of Transportation?" he asked.
The state is planning to spend at least several hundreds
of millions of dollars on the North-South I-94 freeway
reconstruction and expansion project and perhaps additional
millions for the Kenosha-Racine-Milwaukee commuter rail
extension fairly close to the freeway project, Curley
said.
"At some point you have to step back and say, 'why
isn't this being coordinated?'" he said.
Ald. Mike D'Amato hinted there may be a budget amendment
coming that would allow the city, on its own, to meet
the 20% match requirement for $91 million in federal funding
that has been for years set aside for a local transit
capital project.
If
the council does provide $18 million match, D'Amato asked,
would the mayor's office be ready to lobby to allow only
the city to determine how and on what the federal money
is spent.
"We'd
also have to work with the governor," Curley replied.
"clearly, that's something we've thought of."
Ald.
Michael Muprhy said issues of housing, transit and water
are related to each other.
"(At)
Pabst Farms, a recent story in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
pointed out, there is no affordable housing," he
said. "They don't want affordable housing in their
community; they don't want mass transit going out to the
communty, but they do wnat the water to allow the further
expansion."
When
Barrett is negotiating with outlying counties, Murphy
said, "There has to be more than this simple 'we'll
give you the money for transporting the water so we can
have further sprawl and further development, but we don't
want your citizens living out here and we sure as heck
don't want them coming out here to travel on masst transit.'
"
"I
think it's just crazy," Murphy said. "I think
we need to be much more vocal on that."
Darling,
Stone help kill county transit rescue plan
June
4, 2007 - Two Republican Milwaukee County legislators
cast key votes last week to kill a proposed funding boost
that could have rescued the troubled Milwaukee County
Transit System.
State Sen. Lena Taylor's proposal would have added $11.8
million for transit funding, but it died on an 8-8 vote
by the Joint Finance Committee. State Rep. Jeff Stone
(R-Greendale) and State Sen. Alberta Darling (R-River
Hills) were among those voting against it.
Doyle
has proposed a $6 million, two-year transit aid increase
for the entire state.
Stone
said he opposed the proposal because it did not solve
everyone's transportation problems.
Taylor's
proposal "solves one problem really well, relatively
speaking," he said, adding: "I think that if
we get answers that work for everybody around the state
they're going to have a lot more chance for success."
Year
Share
of MCTS costs funded through state aid
1999
46.0
2000
45.7
2001
42.2
2002
42.2
2003
42.8
2004
40.9
2005
40.6
2006
40.7
Darling
did not speak on the proposal before she voted against
it.
Taylor
stressed the importance of transit, which she described
as "lifelines for our communites." Her proposal
would have boosted to 42% the share of MCTS costs funded
through the state.
If
the 2% transit funding increase proposed by Governor Doyle
is not increased, she said, MCTS service will have to
be cut 37%.
"It
means we would eliminate our (freeway) flyer routes that
are getting people to the jobs that are going to Waukesha
and other areas...I don't think we should say we're not
going to provide the mechanism to connect people with
jobs," she said. "The reality is, we need to
do something to save transit."
Listen to the Joint Finance Committee discussion on Taylor's
transit motion. (Works best with Internet Explorer.)
