I Like That Poor People Don't Have Cars

Which separates me from Milwaukee County Executive Scott Walker. Because his plan for public transportation is to have poor people buy cars. He wants to grow the economy enough so the 75% of bus riders who have no alternative transportation won’t need the bus system, and then we won’t have to worry about it anymore.

Or.

We could grow the economy just enough so poor people can afford bus fares. A report (PDF) from Milwaukee’s Public Policy Forum shows that the Milwaukee County Transit System ranks among the highest in its dependence on fares to cover operations. And the only increase in ridership from 2000 to 2007 occurred during a year when fares weren’t increased.

And I suppose we should grow the economy enough so that poor people can afford comfortable walking shoes, because Milwaukee lost more riders than any other peer city at the same time it was a leader in reduction of routes and service hours.

So those are some alternatives to shutting the public transit system down entirely.

Another idea would be to not eliminate public transportation, but increase its use. And not just by poor people. New transit options and new services can attract new riders with jobs, money, and cars.

For instance, MCTS is currently incapable of using magnetic fare cards because the fare boxes on its buses were purchased in the mid 1980’s, possibly before magnets. To give you an idea, this MCTS ad is newer than its fare boxes:

So MCTS’s scarce funding could be spent on new fare boxes instead of Pat Sajak trivia videos, which have not attracted me to ride the bus because Pat Sajak is surprisingly conservative.

Fascist Mayor Tom Barrett has an even better idea for increasing transit ridership. Last week he introduced an updated plan for a modern streetcar system that would connect downtown to the east side. With dedicated lanes and technology that gives the streetcars priority at traffic lights, they could achieve timeliness and dependability that MCTS buses can’t. The streetcars would run on electricity which can (theoretically) be a clean and sustainable source of energy. And there is enough federal funding waiting around to significantly reduce the city’s cost of implementing the system.

Since 1991, Milwaukee has had $91.5 million in unused federal support for mass transit. With city and county government unable to agree on how to spend the funds for the past seventeen years, Wisconsin’s congressional delegation finally included in an omnibus spending bill last March the requirement that the funds be split between a streetcar system and bus rapid transit. To qualify for the $54 million apportioned for streetcars, the city must cover 15% of the construction costs.

Multiple streetcar routes are being considered, with each including a connection to Milwaukee’s newly renovated intermodal station on St. Paul Avenue and running as far north as Brady Street. The permanent streetcar route would encourage development along its path and its connection to the intermodal station would make commuting via a future KRM line more practical.

The streetcar system would be considered a starter system that could be expanded to adjacent neighborhoods. As Barrett said, "Once you have something in the ground, the debate will change from 'This is the end of Western civilization as we know it' to 'How do we get this line extended to Miller Park.’”

One problem though, is that with all of the potential for economic development, poor people will soon be able to afford cars.