by jboullion | May 9, 2011 | Uncategorized
From an editorial in The Journal Times, Racine:
In a lamentable vote last week, state Rep. Robin Vos, R-Rochester, led the state’s Joint Finance Committee to vote 12-4 along party lines to do away with recently authorized regional transit authorities in southeastern Wisconsin and four other areas of the state.
It is a boneheaded and short-sighted maneuver that could well ring the death knell for commuter rail linking Kenosha, Racine, Milwaukee and Chicago.
Unlike the high-speed rail proposed for Milwaukee to Madison by former Democratic Gov. James Doyle, KRM would connect a corridor of highly populated areas in the southeastern corner of the state. It would give businesses access to willing workers through the region, provide those workers with the means to get to jobs, give residents a car-free alternative to taking in the sights, recreational and entertainment offerings of Chicago and Milwaukee — and it would lessen the reliance on the Interstate highway system.
It was perhaps prophetic that the Vos-led vote last week came as gasoline pump prices roared well past $4 per gallon.
For good measure, the Joint Finance Committee also threw state funding for bike and pedestrian paths under the bus as well, eliminating $5 million in spending over the next two years.
Vos said the transit authorities were unpopular, unelected “abomominations” as he guided the vote for disbandonment.
Unlike during the Gov. Tommy Thompson era, in recent years Republicans have taken a Goldilocks and the Three Bears approach toward mass transit, complaining that plans — whatever plans — were too hot, too cold, too this, too that. The unelected “abomination” criticism from Vos that transit authorities would spend tax money, even though their boards were not elected, feeds into the recent rise in anti-taxing frenzy — including an advisory referendum in Racine County on “new taxes” for transit or rail that was defeated by a large margin.
In fact, Gov. Scott Walker’s proposed budget would have preserved transit authorities, but required a binding referendum before an authority could levy a tax.
That’s a more reasoned approach . . .
by jboullion | May 5, 2011 | Uncategorized
From an article by Pamela Powers in the Eau Claire Leader-Telegram:
MENOMONIE – UW-Stout student Max Broton-Anderson takes the Dunn County Express bus nearly every day from Red Cedar Hall to his classes on the lower part of the college campus.
“It’s fast,” said the 19-year-old sophomore majoring in engineering technology. “You don’t freeze. You don’t get wet. You don’t get hot. If they’re going to run it, we might as well use it.”
In January the Dunn County Express began offering a continuous bus circuit around campus and the surrounding area for off-campus students. The busing program is offered by Dunn County Transit, which operates buses in Menomonie and the county.
So far the route has been a big success. Broton-Anderson is among 16,404 riders who have ridden the university bus route since it began. The route averages between 1,500 and 1,800 riders per week.
“The bus is really being used,” Dunn County Transit manager Kent Conklin said. “Students are getting on 50 at a time. We didn’t know what to expect. It’s been a tremendous success.”
Because of the number of riders the transit bought two used 45-passenger, 40-foot buses, the first large transit buses to be operated in the city in 40 years, Conklin said.
by jboullion | Apr 29, 2011 | Uncategorized
From a commentary on BizTimes.com by Tom Rave, Executive director, The Gateway To Milwaukee:
Dear Wisconsin Joint Finance Committee Members:
An aerotropolis is a newer urban development that typically attracts industries that are located around the airport and along transportation corridors, such as:
Time-sensitive manufacturing, e-commerce fulfillment, telecommunications and logistics.
Hotels, retail outlets, entertainment complexes and exhibition centers.
Offices for business people who travel frequently: by air or engage in global commerce.
An aerotropolis provides efficient accessibilities for people, and has an integrated infrastructure plan.
In Milwaukee’s case, an aerotropolis will prov1ide an efficient multimodal- air, boats, trains and motor vehicles – transportation hub centered around General Mitchell International Airport and The Port of Milwaukee that will efficiently serve southeastern Wisconsin plus extended territories in northern Illinois, central and eastern Wisconsin.
Earlier this week, a number of people involved with Milwaukee Gateway Aerotropolis Corporation, which is led by The Gateway To Milwaukee, attended the Airport Cities World Conference in Memphis, Tenn. Over 630 people from 40 countries across six continents attended this conference. It was easy to see that this is all about economic competition among metropolises and ultimately about having good jobs for an area to be economically successful.
Virtually every presentation of aerotropolis efforts around the world and in the U.S. included the important necessity of having a mass transit system to efficiently move people for a variety of reasons and especially for work. Without such a system, an aerotropolis would be much less effective and more challenged to attract businesses to locate there. It is the way people will live in the future as urban areas continue to grow.
by jboullion | Mar 7, 2011 | Uncategorized
From an editorial in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel:
Even if you never use a bus and would never think of getting on a commuter train, the current bleak prospects for mass transit systems in Wisconsin should matter to you.
Transit moves people to jobs, it eases congestion on city streets and freeways and it gives people another transportation option. That’s important, especially now as drivers are faced with rising gasoline prices and roadwork that is shutting down lanes on freeways and major highways.
The Legislature and Gov. Scott Walker need to rethink their approach to transit and make sure that Wisconsin’s systems remain healthy, especially for those who need it for work, school and shopping. Businesses such as Bucyrus International and Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance Co. rely on transit. New businesses and young professionals look to modern transit as the sign of a healthy and vibrant community.
What’s in the works moves Wisconsin in the opposite direction and could damage transit systems across the state beyond repair.
Consider:
• Walker’s budget would slice transit aids in the first year of the biennium and provide no alternative dedicated local funding source to help meet already financially troubled systems.
• The budget shifts transit aids from the segregated and protected transportation fund to the general fund, where transit systems would have to compete with myriad services for scarce dollars. Walker argues that the gasoline tax that largely supplies the transportation fund is a user fee paid for by drivers and should be used only on those roads that drivers use.
But mass transit helps ease pressure on those roads and gives drivers other choices, as Steve Hiniker of 1000 Friends of Wisconsin, points out. Buses are a vital form of transportation.
• Because Walker’s budget-repair bill would eliminate most collective bargaining with public employees, federal aid, which is dependent on workers being able to bargain, would be jeopardized for mid-size transit systems such as Appleton’s.
• A separate bill in the Legislature would kill regional transit authorities that were created in recent years to help regions strengthen and support local transit systems. Rep. Robin Vos (R-Rochester), a co-sponsor of the bill, told us the RTAs were put together badly and he’d like to repeal them and start over with an honest policy debate. We’d prefer leaving them in place and making adjustments where needed so that regions can start now to build what they need.
• Walker’s budget bill freezes local tax levy increases, meaning that even if a community wanted to spend more on transit, it couldn’t.
by jboullion | Aug 26, 2010 | Uncategorized
From an article by Larry Sandler in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel:
Congresswoman tried but failed to block funds until transit system was secure
A proposed Milwaukee-to-Kenosha commuter train line has a new nemesis: U.S. Rep. Gwen Moore.
Moore, a Milwaukee Democrat, recently unsuccessfully sought to freeze federal action on the KRM Commuter Link, a $283.5 million rail line that would connect downtown Milwaukee to Kenosha, Racine and the southern suburbs with 15 round trips daily.
Like Milwaukee County Board Chairman Lee Holloway, Moore says she’s not opposed to commuter rail but believes funding for Milwaukee County’s embattled bus system must come first.
“A new commuter line between Kenosha, Racine and Milwaukee will undoubtedly offer new benefits to our communities,” Moore said in a written statement. “But I think it’s important for (the Milwaukee County Transit System) to have a dedicated source of a funding because any new expenditures could come at the cost of current bus service. That’s unacceptable.”
Moore’s action adds yet another layer of political complications for the KRM. The rail plan has drawn broad support from business, labor and community groups, but it has split transit advocates and is opposed by fiscal conservatives who don’t want any new taxes. KRM foes have pushed anti-tax referendums onto the Nov. 2 ballot in Racine County and several Kenosha County communities.
Beset by rising costs, falling ridership and state and federal aid cuts, the Milwaukee County Transit System is facing a $10 million shortfall next year. County Executive Scott Walker has said he won’t eliminate any bus routes, but he has not said whether he would seek fare increases or service cuts. Supervisors want a local sales tax to replace property tax support for the bus system, an idea that voters backed in a 2008 advisory referendum but that Walker opposes.
Transit supporters had hoped for a package deal that would have empowered a regional transit authority to fund both the KRM and the bus systems in Milwaukee, Racine and Kenosha counties. But when the Legislature voted instead for a compromise that would have set up a separate Milwaukee County transit authority with sales tax power, Gov. Jim Doyle vetoed it, leaving the new Southeastern Regional Transit Authority in control of only the KRM.
Federal Transit Administration officials have indicated they could approve preliminary engineering for the rail line but would not authorize funding for construction until the bus system is stabilized financially. Planners are counting on federal money to cover two-thirds of KRM construction costs, with one-sixth from the state and the rest from an $18-a-car rental car tax.
