Bus ridership plunges

Cuts in service, higher fares driving decline, report says

By LARRY SANDLER
lsandler@journalsentinel.com

Posted: Feb. 29, 2008

Milwaukee County Transit System ridership plunged to a 33-year low in 2007 - at the same time public transit ridership nationwide was on track toward a 50-year high.

Reeling from repeated service cuts and fare increases, county buses carried 42.5 million passengers in 2007, down 9% from 46.6 million in 2006, the transit system reported. The 2007 ridership total was the lowest since the county took over the bus system in 1975, based on Southeastern Wisconsin Regional Planning Commission figures.

By contrast, rising gas prices and growing traffic congestion drove national transit ridership to a 49-year high of 10.1 billion in 2006, and ridership was up another 2% through the first nine months of 2007, according to the American Public Transportation Association. Final figures for last year won't be available until later in March, association spokeswoman Virginia Miller said.

The Milwaukee County ridership drop may have been the biggest decrease of any major U.S. bus system. Through the first three quarters of last year, only the Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority lost a larger percentage of its bus riders, the national association reported. But Cleveland buses rebounded to end the year with a 1% decline, spokesman Chad Self said.

Jake Wallace says he would like to ride Milwaukee County buses more often, but cutbacks have left him without service when he needs it.

Wallace, who lives in Bay View, used to ride one of the transit system's UBUS routes to the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, where he is a senior in accounting and international business. But many of his classes are at night, and the county ended evening UBUS service in 2006. Now he drives to the lakefront parking lots where the university operates shuttle bus service to campus.

"The cuts to the basic routes are just draconian," Wallace said. UWM students pay for bus passes through their student fees, he noted, but "we don't have access to the service any more. We've taken a huge hit."

Cuts in late-night service, mainly in 2004, also have prevented workers on late-night and early morning shifts from riding buses, said Richard Riley, president of the bus drivers' union, Amalgamated Transit Union Local 998.

Inconvenienced by cuts

Cindy Bielinski and Theresa Flynn say they're still riding the bus, but they have to walk a lot farther to do it.

Bielinski, who lives in the Menomonee Valley's Piggsville neighborhood, used to ride Route 13 (St. Paul Ave.-Michigan St.) to her job downtown. But since that route ended in 2004, she has had to walk 10 blocks uphill to reach a Route 35 (35th St.) bus stop. During one such walk last year, she slipped on the ice and broke a knee, which she blames on the route cut.

Flynn said she bought her Bay View home because it was on Route 53 (Lincoln Ave.). But that branch of the route was dropped at the end of last year. Now she walks one-third of a mile to catch the Route 51 (Oklahoma Ave.) bus. Between late buses and missed connections, she says, she's made it to work in West Allis on time only three times in the last three weeks.

"I'm sure ridership on MCTS has plummeted, because anyone with an option is going to drive or ride with other people," Flynn said.

In fact, service cuts and fare increases have been the major factors pushing down Milwaukee County bus ridership since 2000, the planning commission says in a draft report assessing the bus system's long-term needs.

From 2001 through 2007, county officials eliminated 17 bus routes; ended year-round downtown trolley service; reduced service on 16 other routes; and sliced late-night buses. Together, that cut total vehicle-miles of service by 15%. During the same time, the adult cash fare rose 30%, from $1.35 to $1.75, and the weekly pass price jumped 52%, from $10.50 to $16.

This year, the fare rose again, to $2, one of the highest in the nation, and service was reduced on four more routes.

"They're now cutting into the core ridership of the system," said Kenosha Transit Director Len Brandrup, a member of the Southeastern Wisconsin Regional Transit Authority. Milwaukee County officials "are starting to pare away at what was once a great system," said Brandrup, whose own transit system reported gains of 3% in bus ridership and 18% in streetcar ridership.

And more cuts could be ahead for Milwaukee County buses, the planning commission has warned. The study predicts service will be cut 35% by 2010 without new local or state funding.

Funding options

With Milwaukee County Executive Scott Walker steadfastly opposing any increase in property taxes, transit advocates have pushed for an earmarked revenue stream to take buses out of competition with other county agencies for property tax dollars. Walker says he supports that idea, but he is against new local sales taxes, the most common way of funding transit systems elsewhere in the nation.

Some legislators have advocated binding local referendums to decide on transit sales taxes. Nationwide, about 70% of ballot measures seeking new or increased funding for public transit have been approved in recent years, said Miller of the transportation association.

"People are willing to tax themselves to get better public transportation systems," Miller said.

But because state aid provides more transit funding than the Milwaukee County levy, Walker said the focus should be on earmarking more state dollars for transit.

Walker said the ridership drop also should add urgency to his push to use $91.5 million in long-idle federal aid for express buses. On that, he has clashed with Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett, who wants to use part of the money for downtown streetcars.

Anita Gulotta-Connelly, the transit system's managing director, agreed that fare increases contributed to ridership declines. Economic conditions and the spread of jobs and housing to suburbs were also factors, she said.

Transit officials are trying to attract and retain new riders with better trip-planning resources on the Internet and over the telephone, Gulotta-Connelly said.

In the long term, Gulotta-Connelly said, what the bus system really needs is funding to maintain stable fares and service levels.

"Our goal is to increase ridership, rather than decrease it," Gulotta-Connelly said. "We want to move in the other direction."

© 2006, Journal Sentinel Inc.