Bus plan meets protests
$2 fare would be tops in big cities; group calls service cuts attack on poor
By LARRY SANDLER
lsandler@journalsentinel.comPosted: Aug. 5, 2007
Milwaukee County bus riders would pay the highest fares of any major U.S. transit system if the County Board approves a proposed 14% fare increase, figures show.
And if that fare increase is coupled with a proposed 13% service cut, riders would be paying more money for less service – a prospect that is drawing concerned passengers together in a new grass-roots movement to fight for the future of the bus system.
Among the nation’s 25 largest bus agencies, the Milwaukee County Transit System’s $1.75 basic cash fare is already higher than any other system that runs buses alone, according to figures from the American Public Transportation Association and individual transit systems. Only three big transit systems charge more, and all have rail networks that charge the same fares as their buses.
But if County Executive Scott Walker and supervisors raise the fare to $2, as transit managers recommend in their 2008 county budget request, the Milwaukee County bus fare would be tied for first place with bus and train fares in Chicago, New York and Philadelphia.
Of the seven biggest U.S. transit systems without light rail networks or heavy rail subway lines, the next highest fare after Milwaukee County’s is $1.50, for Chicago’s suburban Pace buses and Detroit’s city buses.
The transit system is seeking the fare increase and service cuts to meet Walker’s goal of holding the line on property taxes.
Unlike most of its counterparts across the nation, Milwaukee County’s bus system competes with other county agencies for property tax support.
Bus system spokeswoman Jacqueline Janz said the budget request demonstrates the need for a separate, dedicated source of funding for transit, something that elected officials have long debated but have yet to agree upon.
“Of course, proposing fare increases and route cuts is not what we want to do, but what we need to do in order to operate the system with the resources and funding available,” Janz said.
Public opposition
Higher fares and less service are not what the Milwaukee Transit Riders Union thinks the bus system needs. The 4-month-old group is rallying passengers against the proposals.
“We’re tired of the cuts in service, we’re tired of the cuts in funding, and we’re tired of the increases in fares,” riders union organizer Matt Nelson said. “The transit system is in a state of neglect and a state of deterioration.”
Nelson, the co-owner of Brewing Grounds for Change café, and Sam Jensen, a University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee freshman, helped found the riders union in April, in response to a dire prediction from the Southeastern Wisconsin Regional Planning Commission. The planners warned that the transit system could face a 35% service cut by 2010 without new state or local funding.
“The idea of another 35 percent cut in service was just too much to bear,” said Jensen, of Shorewood. “We view these cuts as a direct attack on the poor people (who are) trying to get to work.”
In addition to rejecting the requested fare increase and service cuts, the riders union wants the County Board to freeze fares, restore services cut since 1998 and add express routes, Jensen said.
The group agrees a dedicated funding source is needed but is concerned that the latest County Board plan wouldn’t produce enough money to prevent future bus cuts, because revenue from the proposed 1% sales tax would be split among transit, parks, public safety and property tax relief, Jensen said. Walker has vowed to veto the board resolution calling for a referendum on the plan.
More than 250 people have already joined the riders union, which meets at the café, 2008 N. Farwell Ave., Jensen said.
The group is trying to gather testimonials to show the impact of service cuts and fare increases on riders, he said.
A separate organization, Bay View Matters, is calling for transit riders to protest cuts proposed for routes serving the south side neighborhood. Supervisor Marina Dimitrijevic and group members wearing green plan to ride a Route 15 (Oakland Ave. to Kinnickinnic Ave.) bus in morning rush hour Monday.
Although the budget request calls for slicing Route 15 and eliminating Route 11 (Vliet St.), the transit system has proposed creating a new Route 11 that would include part of the old Route 11, and extending Route 55 (Layton Ave.) to replace the discontinued part of Route 15, Janz said. Creating the new Route 11 and extending three other routes also would replace some of the other routes and pieces of routes scheduled for elimination, she said.
Even with those changes, however, the budget request would still end regular Routes 28, 64 and 68, plus four Freeway Flyer routes, three school routes and an industrial park shuttle route, along with pieces of two other Flyer routes and at least eight regular routes.
The budget request also calls for raising the Freeway Flyer fare from $2.25 to $2.50.
Walker is reviewing the transit system request as he prepares to submit an overall budget to the board in September.
He has said he considers raising fares preferable to cutting routes.
Final budget action by the board is set for November.
link to article: http://www.jsonline.com/story/index.aspx?id=642593