Scott Walker’s mismanagement of our transit system is starting to catch up to him and us. This morning, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported that ridership on the Milwaukee County Transit System was down 9%.
Two years ago, the Public Policy Forum had warned that an increase in fares and a decrease in service would cause such a fall in ridership due to making the bus more inaccessible and harder to afford. Walker willfully failed to heed this warning and now we all have to pay the consequences.
Adding insult to injury, Walker then tries to spin the blame away from him and his decision:
Milwaukee County Executive Scott Walker blamed the economy.
Pointing to high city unemployment, Walker said in a voice-mail message, “If people don’t have jobs . . . it makes it less likely that they’re going to be riding the bus to and from work. . . . We’ve maintained our routes, and our fares are compatible with other metro systems, and the bottom line is that you’ve got to get more people working.”
Um, would someone please remind Walker of the PPF study and point out that he has only worsened our economy by making sure that workers don’t get to their jobs and that consumers can’t get to the store.
Also remind him that he was the one that refused to budge an inch with MPS and lost a multimillion dollar contract and thousands of riders in one daft move.
To exemplify what a mess of things Walker has made, JSOnline is pointing now pointing out that Milwaukee’s drop in riders was twice the national average. Interestingly, the same article points that light rail systems, like the one that Mayor Barrett is promoting for the City of Milwaukee actually gained riders.
For further reading on Walker’s failure to both effectively manage MCTS and to own up to his shortcomings, we recommend reading these authors:
- Bill Christofferson: Who’s killing the Milwaukee County bus system? Not I, lied Scott Walker
- Dan Cody: The Predictable Outcome of Raising Fares and Cutting Services: Lower Ridership for Milwaukee County Transit
- Cory Liebmann: Walker Tries to Transfer Transit Blame
This also emphasizes why we need a dedicated funding source for the transit system, like we had called for a year and a half ago. This will allow Milwaukee County to restore many of the routes that Walker has slashed over the years as well as lower fares. This will undoubtedly help bring the ridership numbers back up. And as an additional bonus, it will lower our property taxes.
Speaking of the sales tax, there will be a rally early Thursday morning and becoming a bus ride out to Madison where they will be taking up the issue in the State Legislature.
Here are the details:
DETAILS ABOUT THE BUS AND THE PRESS CONFERENCE
The bus to the Assembly RTA Hearing in Madison will depart at:
* 7:30 AM from the ATU 998 Hall, 734 North 26th Street
* 8:30 AM from the Milwaukee Area Labor Council, 633 S. Hawley Rd. Milwaukee, WI 53214 (just south of I-94)
* The bus will go to the press conference at 3850 N 35th St, at the former Tower Automotive site, DPW Field Headquarters. The press conference starts at 9:00 AM. At 9:20 the press conference will end and the bus will depart for Madison!
* RSVP by Tuesday for the bus and/or the press conference at legislativedirector@atu998.org, or call 414-342-4300.