To follow up on this post last week, it’s no surprise that other towns along the proposed high speed rail line between Milwaukee and Madison would like to be the replacement stop for Oconomowoc. I predicted as much when writing about it last week. The whole article is here.

But this humdinger of a quote from the Hartland village president got my attention:

In Hartland, just a few miles from Neumann’s Nashotah home, Village President Dave Lamerand says, “I am not in favor of the high-speed rail to begin with. I don’t think they should be spending the money.”

But, Lamerand adds, “If they are going to build it, I would like Hartland to be considered for a station,” possibly on Capitol Drive, about half a mile from the intersection of state Highways 16 and 83 and within walking distance of downtown.

A rail station could help boost the village’s economy, raise its visibility and bring workers to Hartland factories, Lamerand said.

“We don’t see a lot of minuses,” Lamerand concluded.

See if you can follow the logic there… He’s not in favor of the high speed rail line, but if it’s going to be built, he’d like his town to be one of the stop because of the positive economic impact it would bring.

So what exactly doesn’t he “favor” about high speed rail? The boost to the local economy? That’s like saying I don’t favor paying for a car unless it helps me get to work and make a living.

At any rate, I’m glad to see Wauwatosa is making a play for a stop. It makes sense and if the local leaders can get over the fact that it might make the anti-rail crowd(who are apparently only anti-rail because of the economic benefits it would bring) angry, it would be a real boost to the city and it’s economy.

I can’t say I know the exact particulars of the decision as to why Milwaukee suburb Oconomowoc was removed as a potential stop on the high speed rail line being planned between Chicago->Milwaukee->Madison (and St. Paul in the future). What I do find interesting about the story though is that all the sudden a prominent Milwaukee suburb is upset about not having a stop in their town. It’s interesting because for as long as I’ve lived in Wisconsin, most of the suburbs have been very anti-rail and have done everything in their power to stop either light or heavy rail from moving forward in Southeastern Wisconsin.

I mean if it’s such a choo-choo train, boondoggle, ancient technology, “half fast”, waste of taxpayer money that no one will ever ride, which is the truth broadcast on a daily basis by at least the two largest radio stations in Wisconsin, why is Oconomowoc upset?

Could it be that once you get past the rhetoric of the responsibility free talk radio show hosts and anti-Milwaukee attitude a lot of the suburbs have, towns which are stops for rail see an economic benefit as a result? Again, if this is just a “boondoggle” that will waste money and no one will ride, why are these Oconomowoc officials so upset about being left behind?

Questions aside, a bit of advice for towns like Oconomowoc who do see the benefit of being one of the stops on the proposed high speed rail line: I get that you want the stop and don’t want to pay a nickle for it because that might signal to your conservative leaning constituency that you’re not following the Bible according to Skyes & Belling. However, if you really want to “get on board” with this project because you do see the benefits of it, you will probably need to spend a little political and hard capital to make it happen.

Otherwise suburbs like Wauwatosa, which see the benefit of having a stop in their town, will be more than happy to be of stops on the line for all the reasons that you don’t seem willing to recognize or talk about in public.

In a surprise to no one, ridership is down on the Milwaukee County Transit bus routes. As the Journal Sentinel reports it, ridership is down 9% this year and is at a 35-year low.

While the usual suburban suspects on right wing talk radio will no doubt giggle with glee over the numbers, the fact is that a strong mass transit system is critical to any metropolitan area just as it has been for the last 100 years.

So what makes Milwaukee unique in this area when other mass transit systems are seeing increased usage because of the recession? It’s simple, we’re cutting routes and raising fares. That’s a damaging combination to any service provider.

If you take an example outside of mass transit, the same would hold true. If Midwest Airlines were to cut the number of routes it offers and raised it’s fares by 50%, it would also see a decrease in ridership and go out of business.

Meanwhile, a year and a half since voters in Milwaukee County approved a sales tax for transit (along with parks and EMS services) we still have a bunch of politicians in Madison debating the same tired talking points they’ve been at for years. While mass transit doesn’t affect how they get to work or school, it sure does to hundreds of thousands of people here in Milwaukee.

Those in charge should get to work on addressing mass transit funding so the rest of Milwaukee can too.

More good news on the transit front; ridership on the Amtrak between Milwaukee and Chicago was up in December.

An Amtrak spokesman says more poeple are deciding to skip the crowded highways and take the train to Chicago. Ridership on the Hiawatha service from Milwaukee was up eight percent in December when compared to the year before.  – Pierce County Herald

Ironically, just this morning I heard yet another conservative talk show radio host make the tired blanket statement that commuter rail like the Kensha-Racine-Milwaukee (KRM) line is a waste because “NO ONE WILL RIDE IT@!@!#!“.

Apparently the people who are riding it – in steadily increasing numbers I might add – didn’t get the memo.