Phildelphia Transit Moving in the Right Direction, Wouldn’t it Be Nice If Milwaukee Did Too?
Imagine living in a place that realizes the benefits that mass transit provides to it’s community.
Instead of constant cuts in service and delaying new fleet purchases so your politicians can claim to “HOLD THE LINE!”, the number of routes were increased, service was improved and the transit fleet was upgraded.
Philadelphia is doing just that.
More frequent buses. Late-night trains. Better weekend service.
After decades of cuts, SEPTA will announce today a $10 million project aimed at easing overcrowding and improving daily service. The first of the 65 upgrades will begin Aug. 25, and all of the changes are to be made by Nov. 3.
With commuters reacting to higher gasoline prices and switching from cars to public transit, SEPTA’s ridership has increased by about 6 percent, or 38,000 trips a day, from a year ago. Rail ridership is up 12 percent, to its highest point in 25 years, and many rush-hour trains are packed with standing passengers.
Milwaukee County Politics, Transit | Dan Cody | 
August 14, 2008 7:54 am
I live in the Washington Heights neighborhood of Milwaukee, WI with my wife Jen, our daughter Emerson, and son Carter.
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By Dave Reid, August 14, 2008 @ 1:36 pm
Nope I don’t believe it… That can’t possibly be happening. jk The worst part about Walker’s actions regarding transit is he has spent down all the capital funds to pay for operating costs that he has now set the system up for totally failure.
By c, August 14, 2008 @ 2:51 pm
thought you might get a kick out of this (from here: http://tcsidewalks.blogspot.com/2008/08/met-council-are-bunch-of-bums.html ) it seems pretty applicable to milwaukee:
The cost is not as much as some would think. Cutting fares for Metro Transit from the current $1.50 to $2.75 down to a flat 25-cent fare for buses and LRT would obviously reduce fare-box revenue. But the public already pays well over three-fourths of the cost of the transit system, so lower fares take away only a small portion of the revenue. In fact, with the jump in ridership, the public cost of each individual ride would drop significantly. (A bus or rail car costs virtually the same amount to operate whether it has 15 or 50 passengers.)
Alternatives to this proposal are not cheap. The Met Council’s proposed fare increase is projected to bring in about $7 million more per year. Even so, it projects a revenue shortage of $30 to $40 million per year by 2011. On top of that, the cost of expanding roads and highways to handle the growing congestion has a price tag in the billions, not the millions that transit improvements and fare cuts would require. Also, this cost analysis excludes the environmental costs of driving more cars and building more roads. The 25-cent-fare proposal would ultimately save taxpayers money.
There are other benefits of the 25-cent fare. It would provide much-needed savings for low-income people struggling with high food and energy costs. The enhanced service to handle the surge in passengers would make it easier for seniors and others who rely on transit to get to their doctor, the store, their church or wherever they need to go.