MCTS: BYK-RAKS HERE BY JULY

Scorned by Walker
Promised for Spring
$650,000 Contract for Bicycle Racks is Let
for July Delivery

Special to the Readers of Milwaukeeworld.com

By Michael Horne

And The Milwaukee World Hound Dog Team

You can keep your bicycles chained to the nearest snowbank for now, since the bicycle racks on county buses expected this spring will not be installed until July, according to Jacquelyn Janz of the Milwaukee County Transit System [MCTS] in response to a Milwaukeeworld request.
A $650,000 contract has been let with Midwest Bus Corporation, Owosso, Michigan, for the manufacture and delivery of their patented "Byk-Rak" system to be installed on all 470 buses in the MCTS fleet, Janz said.
The racks were approved in November, 2008 by the county board, which authorized a $32,000 share of MCTS funding for the project. The measure was thrice vetoed by County Executive Scott Walker, and was initiated in 2006 as part of Bike to Work Week observations by the Bicycle Federation of Wisconsin, which is participating this weekend in the free Wheel and Sprocket Expo at State Fair Park, billed as the nation's largest bicycle-themed event.
A Thunderhead Alliance 2007 report on bicycle-transit interface in 45 cities [pdf] found only Milwaukee, New York, Amarillo and Omaha to have no bicycle racks on any buses.
In 2007, Milwaukee County Executive Scott Walker admitted bike racks would increase transit options,but refused to authorize county or private funding for them.
By November, 2008, with his veto overridden on a 16-3 vote, Walker flip-flopped, as usual, and called the racks "ridiculous" and said "the taxpayers are getting bilked."