by jboullion | Jan 25, 2010 | Uncategorized
From an article by Larry Sandler in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel:
Despite a setback in the county budget process, Milwaukee County officials still are planning for enhanced express bus service, also known as bus rapid transit.
County Executive Scott Walker’s administration is preparing to give the County Board options in March for a one-route or two-route bus rapid transit system, using $36.6 million in federal funding, said Brian Dranzik, administration director for the county Department of Transportation and Public Works.
That cash is the county’s portion of $91.5 million in long-idle federal transit aid, which Congress divided between the city’s planned streetcar line and the county bus system after local officials couldn’t agree on how to spend it. The money legally cannot be spent on the Milwaukee County Transit System’s operating expenses.
Walker has long advocated using the federal money for bus rapid transit, or BRT, which supporters tout as offering the advantages of light rail at a lower cost. BRT lines typically use modern, energy-efficient buses that resemble light rail vehicles, running in reserved lanes or separate roadways, with stoplights rigged to turn green when the vehicles approach.
The Milwaukee County version would run in regular traffic but with automatic green lights for buses. Like their counterparts elsewhere, local BRT stops would have electronic signs showing the wait for the next bus.
In the 2010 county budget, Walker proposed a BRT line from the County Grounds in Wauwatosa through downtown Milwaukee to the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. Supervisors sliced that plan out of the budget, saying they wanted more details.
Transit officials recently presented three options to the board’s Transportation, Public Works and Transit Committee. One option would have used all the federal money to buy new buses, without adding BRT service.
by jboullion | Jan 21, 2010 | Uncategorized
From a blog post on by Andrew Weiland in the BizTimes Milwaukee:
Some of southeastern Wisconsin’s key business leaders said today that the creation of a regional transit authority to upgrade Milwaukee County’s bus system and create a Kenosha-Racine-Milwaukee (KRM) commuter rail is essential for the economic vitality of the region.
Backed by some of area’s most prominent business executives, Gov. Jim Doyle announced today new legislation to create a Southeastern Regional Transit Authority (SERTA).
The plan includes a 0.5 percent sales tax increase in Milwaukee County to provide a dedicated funding source for the county’s financially troubled bus system.
Business leaders said mass transit is needed to help people get to work and is a key amenity to attracting talented workers to southeastern Wisconsin.
“This is not a want, this is an absolute need for the community,” said Tim Sullivan, president and chief executive officer of South Milwaukee-based Bucyrus International Inc. The announcement about the RTA legislation was held at the Bucyrus headquarters.
“It’s critical that this legislation pass during the spring 2010 session,” said Robert Mariano, chairman and CEO of Milwaukee-based Roundy’s Supermarkets Inc. “It is foolish to ignore, this is an economic development issue. Transit builds the economy.”
“For the vitality of southeastern Wisconsin, getting this bill through the legislature is critical,” said Scott VanderSanden, president of AT&T Wisconsin.
“We believe regional transit and the KRM is an important investment in the future of our region,” said J. Fisk Johnson, chairman and CEO of Racine-based S.C. Johnson & Son Inc. “More efficient and more affordable public transit can help make a city an even more attractive place for business and can help the vibrancy of a community. The lack of accessibility to Milwaukee and Chicago is a big reason it is more challenging to attract key people to our company.”
“It’s really frustrating to see the constant deterioration of public transit,” said Ed Zore, CEO of Milwaukee-based Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance Co. “It’s really important for business to have a good public transit system.”
About 700 of his company’s employees use public transit, Zore said.
by jboullion | Jan 20, 2010 | Uncategorized
An article from the Sheherd Express:
Over the next three months, the Wisconsin Legislature and governor will try to enact the Clean Energy Jobs Act aimed at creating new jobs and improving the air we breathe through a clean energy economic strategy. It is important for policy-makers to get multiple points of view on the table and all of the facts honestly presented to develop the optimal public policy for Wisconsin’s future. So it is unfortunate that the Wisconsin Policy Research Institute (WPRI), the child of the right-wing Bradley Foundation, put out a terribly flawed report two months ago—in fact, it was so bad that many thought it would be discarded immediately. Instead, this report, which, of course, came up with the results the business community desired, has been cited over and over by well-funded special interests that oppose clean energy technology.
Among the many obvious errors made in the study, the report failed to factor in economic and related benefits that would result from the legislation. This includes reduced energy costs for businesses and individuals, avoiding the costs of building new power plants, fewer transmission lines, various health benefits resulting in less absenteeism from work and school, more certainty for businesses by avoiding the fluctuations in fossil fuel prices, and greater revenues for farmers resulting from the increased use of biofuels. We just hope that legislators are intellectually honest enough to see through such biased analysis.
by jboullion | Jan 20, 2010 | Uncategorized
From an article by Larry Sandler of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel:
South Milwaukee – Milwaukee County could create its own transit authority, funded by a sales tax of up to a half-cent, to take over the county’s cash-strapped bus system, under proposed legislation unveiled Tuesday.
The full 0.5% sales tax would bring in about $60 million a year, or roughly $20 million more than the Milwaukee County Transit System would need to end property tax support and meet its funding needs, bus system spokeswoman Jacqueline Janz said. The new transit authority would be required to use the additional money to restore bus routes cut since 2001, to increase service or to reduce fares.
Planners have warned the bus system would face a major service cut without new state or local funding to replace property taxes.
After months of behind-the-scenes negotiations, Gov. Jim Doyle announced the plan at a news conference at Bucyrus International corporate headquarters. He was backed by the chief executive officers of some of the region’s largest corporations, who said the southeastern Wisconsin economy depends on reliable transit that isn’t funded by property taxes.
The Milwaukee County authority would be one of several temporary local transit authorities that eventually could merge into the existing Southeastern Regional Transit Authority, which oversees the planned KRM Commuter Link rail line. Like Milwaukee County, other county or municipal governments that run bus systems could form temporary transit authorities in Kenosha, Racine, Ozaukee, Washington and Waukesha counties, which would sunset if not merged into the regional agency.
Outside Milwaukee County, the local transit authorities could be funded by local vehicle registration fees, hotel taxes or property taxes contributed by local governments, but they could not impose sales taxes without voter approval in a referendum.
From an article by Stephanie Jones in the Journal Times (Racine):
[Racine Mayor John] Dickert stood with the governor Tuesday in supporting new transit legislation.
“If we as elected officials are going to rebuild our cities, we must start with a solid foundation,” Dickert said. “That foundation can begin with a regional transit system.”
by jboullion | Jan 19, 2010 | Uncategorized
From an editorial in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel:
The Clean Energy Jobs Act will require trade-offs, but we’re confident that the cost of the measure will be far less than if we stand pat.
A bill just introduced in the state Legislature holds the promise of growing new technologies, new jobs and energy independence in Wisconsin. Its goals of reducing greenhouse gas emissions and increasing conservation efforts and renewable and alternative sources of energy are good public policy. They deserve widespread support in the Legislature and from citizens.
The bill comes with costs, and the Legislature should do what it can to mitigate those costs to businesses and families, especially the neediest. But doing nothing in the face of the climate change that science says is already taking place will be even more costly. And even if the worst projections of climate change don’t come to fruition, and even if the federal government doesn’t act on a bill of its own, it’s still important to reduce Wisconsin’s reliance on fossil fuels and increase our use of renewable energy. Public health and the environment demand no less.
Just as important in the wake of the Great Recession, the Clean Energy Jobs Act, based on the recommendations of the governor’s Global Warming Task Force, also brings opportunity. Gov. Jim Doyle asserts the bill will create more than 15,000 jobs. Maybe that’s an overestimation; maybe not. But it’s clear that jobs will be created and that the bill could put the state in position to take advantage of a new wave in the so-called green economy. Getting ahead of other states would benefit businesses as well as the families who need jobs.
The act provides a launching pad for a number of efforts that could move Wisconsin forward. It is not without flaws – and those flaws need to be addressed by legislators – but if done right, this bill deserves to be enacted this year.
A key element of the bill is a requirement that Wisconsin generate 25% of its power from renewable sources such as wind turbines, biomass plants and solar panels by 2025, up from 5% in 2008.
