"BAKE SALE" FOR MCTS (BECAUSE "RIDERS GET THE CRUMBS" )

A CALL FOR REGIONAL TRANSIT
DESPITE INTRANSIGENCE OF NEIGHBORING COMMUNITIES
(AND THE GOVERNOR)

Special to the Readers of Milwaukeeworld.com

By Michael Horne

And The Milwaukee World Hound Dog Team

A "Bake Sale" (the goods were free) was held at the intersection of N. Water St. and E. Wisconsin Ave. this morning, Friday, August 7th 2009 to "benefit" the Milwaukee County Transit System.
The rally was organized by WISPIRG, a public advocacy group that has a program called "Connecting Wisconsin," advocating "21st Century Transportation for Wisconsin." It was called to dramatize the plight of our dwindling public transit system where all we get are the crumbs.
Milwaukee County Supervisor Patricia Jursik was in attendance, wearing a "Bicycles on Buses" t-shirt.
She said the property tax cannot support transportation funding, and expressed her disappointment at Governor Jim Doyle's veto of a Regional Transportation Authority here. But her full wrath was directed at counties like Ozaukee which refuse to consider any transportation alternatives except for an absurd shared taxi service, despite having corridors of intense commercial / industrial development in places like N. Port Washington Road. (Or, in Ozaukee County-speak, "Highway W.")

According to 2000 U. S. Census Figures, 4,185 Milwaukee County residents commute to work in Ozaukee County in the City of Mequon, which encompasses the entire shared border of Milwaukee and Ozaukee Counties. Of those, 2,283 live in the City of Milwaukee, presumably near a bus line. Most jobs in Mequon, which is strictly zoned, are in two heavily developed commercial corridors -- N. Port Washington Road and N. Cedarburg Road. MCTS runs buses on each street -- but the lines end a mile or so south of the County Line.

This might have made sense when the objective was to keep black people from living in Mequon, but it really isn't fair now that the objective seems to keep black people from working in Mequon.

When I asked Mequon City Administrator Lee Szymborski why no bus runs on Port Road, where thousands of jobs exist at nursing homes, hospitals, schools, hotels, food places and countless other businesses, he gave me this stock reply:
"As to your questions about bus transit, those services, and route planning for such, are handled by MCTS and Ozaukee County Transit."
No siree! Mequon doesn't want to touch that one.
But when I asked the same question of Ozaukee County officials, they referred me to the City of Mequon.
When I asked MCTS, they said their jurisdiction does not extend to Ozaukee County.
And thus, the status quo remains.

Jursik said Doyle is to announce his proposal to create and fund regional transportation initiatives in the Milwaukee region shortly, and that she will be at the table when negotiations begin. Members of Amalgamated Transit Union Local 998 were at the event, and say they plan to remind the governor of their existence. They made an impromptu appearance at a press event the governor held in Milwaukee on August 4th, 2009. ... Also present at the event -- Cheri Briscoe of the Sierra Club who says she's working on a story on the topic for an upcoming issue of her group's magazine. Several television stations and WHAD-90.7 FM were also present. The goodies were donated by Wild Flour Bakery, easily accessible by transit at all its locations.
Supporters are asked to contact Rep. Gwen Moore at 1 414 297-1140 "to ask her to double funding for transit in the next federal transportation bill." You may also do so by linking here.