by jboullion | Aug 11, 2010 | Uncategorized
From an article by Jon Hilkevitch in the Chicago Tribune:
Reflecting the increasing strain of gridlocked traffic, a majority of Chicago-area residents think improving bus and train service is so important to the region that repairing and expanding expressways and toll roads should take a back seat, a Tribune/WGN poll shows.
Most suburbanites support investing more in mass transit than roads, sharing the long-held stance of a large majority of city residents, the poll found. Suburban residents also said they are driving less and taking more advantage of expanded suburban train and bus service in communities where the automobile has been king.
Drivers who said they would back spending more on mass transit cited the growing stress associated with congestion; high gasoline prices; and, to a lesser degree, the environmental and financial benefits of riding transit instead of inhaling belching emissions from cars.
Jim Ceithaml, a semiretired teacher from Elgin, said he has given up driving.
“I wish the mass-transit system were expanded a lot,” he said, particularly suburb-to-suburb service that has been promised for years. . . .
Fifty-two percent of suburbanites said they agree with investing more of limited government resources in public transit, versus 32 percent who chose improvements to highways and toll roads. In a 1999 Tribune poll, 34 percent of suburban residents said more money should be spent on mass transit than on roads.
by jboullion | May 21, 2010 | Uncategorized
From an article by Jake Miller in the Marshfield News-Herald:
Four dollars a gallon was enough inspiration for Steven Uthmeier to ditch the car.
Several years later, and in the midst of national Bike-to-Work week, the 56-year-old still bikes to work almost daily, huffing it into Marshfield on an old Schwinn that’s made for a commute, not for looks.
Uthmeier cruises in from Hewitt, making a round trip of about 11 miles each day to and from home and his desk at Ministry Saint Joseph’s Hospital.
Inhumane gasoline prices sparked his interest, but how Uthmeier feels after a ride has kept him going. He’s refreshed and refocused.
“After I got into it, I felt better,” Uthmeier said. “Then I was actually doing it for the exercise also, and I found on the way home after I finished a day of work it was very decompressing and relaxing.”
Biking to work is by no means the primary mode of transportation and it isn’t without inherent risks. There’s the off-chance you’ll be hit by a car, or you may get a flat at the most inopportune time.
Marshfield has continued to develop its network of bike trails, which for people like Uthmeier, has made the ride nearly as safe as it’s going to get. He’s only riding in traffic for about a mile before he reaches the path along Veterans Parkway.
“You do have cars going 45 (mph),” Uthmeier said, “but as soon as you get to the boulevard it’s just beautiful.”
He typically bikes to work from April to October, unless a heavy rain or snow storm hits.
by jboullion | Apr 28, 2010 | Uncategorized
From an editorial in The Journal Times (Racine):
Let us count the ways in which this Legislature has failed in its duty. We do not speak of any particular issue or any particular position which the Legislature took, because the truth is that it took few.
There were some good results from this session, such as the law which formalized a transportation authority to make progress on KRM commuter rail. But there is much that didn’t move — bills on regional transit, election reforms, and energy and jobs. We do not advocate for every clause of every one of those bills. We decry the lack of action. It is true that one function of a legislature is to let bad ideas expire quietly, but the overarching issues of transit and jobs and energy must not fail. They must be dealt with in some manner.
The Democratic leadership bears a large portion of the blame, for many major bills did not come to the floor until the closing days of the session, leaving members little time to digest, discuss and amend. But Republicans must also be held responsible for an amazing rigidity and intransigence that produced few constructive suggestions or compromises.
Mordecai Lee, a University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee political science professor, labeled the Legislature’s inaction an example of what is wrong with modern lawmaking. That presumes the goal is to make laws or decisions.
by jboullion | Apr 12, 2010 | Uncategorized
From an editorial in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel:
The Legislature should approve the legislation to set up interim regional transit authorities in seven southeastern Wisconsin counties.
Republican legislators who support business growth need to pay attention to what business leaders are saying about transit in southeastern Wisconsin. And Democratic legislators who support jobs for families in their districts need to pay attention to what union leaders and those families are saying about the issue.
On this issue, many business and union leaders are united in their support for a regional transit system that can link workers to jobs. And they’re hardly alone. Local officials who have publicly supported improved transit on these pages or elsewhere in recent months include Milwaukee Common Council President Willie L. Hines Jr., Milwaukee County Board Chairman Lee Holloway, Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett, Wauwatosa Ald. Dennis McBride and even County Executive Scott Walker (although he opposes an increase in the sales tax to fund transit).
Nurses have written about the public health aspects of a diverse transportation system that includes reliable transit. Supporters of the arts have argued that transit is important to a healthy arts community.
And this is the moment. A bill pending in the Legislature needs to be approved by the end of this legislative session later this month. Failure to do so would be a blow to business and jobs, commuters and families.
This should not be a partisan issue; although they may have different electoral bases, Republicans and Democrats are united in their voiced support for a strong economy, business expansion, job growth and the infrastructure needed to provide the right links.
by jboullion | Apr 7, 2010 | Uncategorized
From an article by Jason Stein in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel:
Madison – A sales tax of up to 0.5% could be levied in Milwaukee County to fund public transportation under a regional transit authority bill an Assembly committee endorsed Thursday.
By an 8-2 vote, the Assembly Transportation Committee supported the bill, which would allow creation of interim transit authorities in Milwaukee and other counties in southeastern Wisconsin that eventually could merge into the existing Southeastern Regional Transit Authority. But the measure still faces a steep climb to pass both chambers of the Legislature before lawmakers end their regular business on April 22.
Seven Democrats and one Republican on the committee approved a complex, 52-page amendment before recommending the bill. Assembly Speaker Mike Sheridan (D-Janesville) praised the bipartisan vote as a positive sign for the bill’s chances. The amended proposal would . . . allow local governments to create interim regional transit authorities in Milwaukee, Racine, Kenosha, Ozaukee, Walworth, Washington and Waukesha counties. Those authorities could raise money for their public bus systems, including the financially troubled Milwaukee County Transit System, through a sales tax or through membership fees charged to their local government members.
