The Milwaukee Connector Study group has put out a potential map for the proposed Milwaukee Connector system, and I have to say it looks promising:
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About Dan
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I live in the Washington Heights neighborhood of Milwaukee, WI with my wife Jen, our daughter Emerson, and sons Carter and Colton.I'm the President of The Park People of Milwaukee County, President-elect of the Washington Heights Neighborhood Association, an elected official of the Democratic Party of Wisconsin, a union leader, community organizer and transit advocate who is working to make Milwaukee great again. I've been writing this weblog for nearly ten years ... read more...
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Dan, I could be wrong on this but I think that map shows both Barrett’s proposal and Walker’s proposal.
And once again it ignores the needs of the far northwest.
I wonder what it would be like to live in a city that had public transportation? Looks like I’ll have to leave Milwaukee to find out.
@Arlen Generally when rolling out new and improved transit systems cities start with a smaller system and grow.
@Dave,
Usually, when you’re serious about improving an existing system, you start by improving the worst service in the system, because that’s where you get the most benefit for the least cost (the 80/20 rule, sometimes known as the Pareto Principle). It costs far less to to turn little to no service into average or a little below than it costs to improve average to good. Two extra lines running in the far north and west would make a far larger difference than two extra lines running on the lower east side, as even a casual glance at the transit schedules would reveal. There are two bus lines that run within a two mile radius of my house, neither one of them and east/west route. (Of the three people in my house, only one can ride the bus to work and get there in less than an hour, and even for her it’s touch and go, sometimes. The drive time for the other two of us is 15 minutes, or less depending on traffic. My daughter could do it in two bus routes, while for me it would take four different routes, and neither one of us travels more than 9 miles. Both of us could walk the distance in less time than the bus ride would take.)
As usual, Milwaukee will start by freezing out the underserved folks, and making sure those who already get service will get more.
Call it what it is– a “trickle-down transit” strategy: If we improve the service for those who already get service, then there will be more leftovers for the little people.
I’m sure you’ll get your bright shiny toys. Just while you’re riding them, think about all the people who paid for your mass transit upgrade while getting next to nothing from it. I’ll be the guy pumping more pollutants into the air, because it’s the only way I can get to work on time.