Expansion of Public Transportation

The following is a proposal to expand public transportation in Milwaukee through transport options such as: light rail, commuter rail, and high speed rail

History

The city of Milwaukee was first incorporated in 1846. In 1860, the first streetcars were introduced on public roads by one of the city’s founders and early mayors, George Walker. These streetcars consisted of horse-drawn rail cars that ran on permanent tracks set at the same level as the street surface. From this came four major operating lines: the Cream City Railroad Company, the Milwaukee City Railroad Company, the Whitefish Bay Railway Company, and the West Side Railway Company. In 1890, all major street car operators were consolidated to form the Milwaukee Street Railway Company. After falling into bankruptcy, the company remerged in 1896 as The Milwaukee Electric Railway & Light Company. In 1926, the city commissioned for a study of Milwaukee area transit. This study, which concluded in 1928, recommended semi-rapid transit lines, rapid transit lines, streetcars and buses, automobile parking, and truck and rail freight routes. However, by 1960, the public service commission allowed the Milwaukee & Suburban Transport Company (successor to the Milwaukee Electric Railway & Light Company) to convert its streetcars and trackless trolleys into bus routes. The Rapid Transit and Speedrail company, which bought the west and southwestern interurban lines, had already gone bankrupt and all transportation provided on previous interurban routes were now provided by the Greyhound Corporation. In 1975, the Milwaukee & Suburban Transport company went bankrupt, and the exclusively driven bus service was acquired by the city of Milwaukee, not Milwaukee county. In 2011, $810 million dollars in federal funds were turned down for high speed rail, and a repeal of the Regional Transit Authority Act which allowed for Milwaukee and its peers to establish joint control for future transit efforts. Today, the Milwaukee County Transit System (MCTS) operates 415 buses on 59 unique routes and transports 150,000 people per weekday. Almost half of the system’s riders are people aged 18-44. 42% percent use the system for commuting to work or job searching, 11% for shopping, 12% to attend school, 15% for medical appointments and 6% for various other reasons. A new city owned streetcar opened in 2018, operating along a 2.1-mile route from the intermodal station to Burns Commons park. Buses and streetcars aren’t enough to fill our transportation needs, which is what this proposal is here to talk about.

This proposal calls for the establishment of:

• A starter light rail line from downtown Milwaukee to the Milwaukee County Zoo
• Expansion of the current Amtrak Hiawatha Service from Chicago to Milwaukee into a high speed rail service from Chicago – Milwaukee – Madison
• A commuter rail line from Milwaukee to Racine and Kenosha
• A Milwaukee County commuter rail system

The commuter rail line from Milwaukee, Racine, and Kenosha would utilize existing train depots from the former CN&W North Line such as the Milwaukee intermodal station, Cudahy depot, South Milwaukee passenger station, Racine Depot, and Kenosha Station. New stations would be constructed on the South side of Milwaukee, Oak Creek, Caledonia, and Somers. The service would not operate on tracks owned by the state, but rather tracks owned by Union Pacific and Canadian Pacific Railway lines. 14 weekday trains would operate in each direction at top speeds of 59 mph with an average speed of 38 mph. Trains would make connections with local transit systems such as MCTS, Belle Urban System, and Kenosha Area Transit, with special dedicated service to the airport from Cudahy/St. Francis, and the Downtown Business District from the intermodal station. Trains would also be scheduled to meet Metra trains at either Kenosha or Waukegan, with 6-minute timed transfers to trains. Average travel time between Kenosha and Milwaukee is expected to be 53 minutes.

Benefits:

• Faster travel time
• Higher reliability
• Reduced air pollution and energy consumption
• 900,000 jobs accessible within one mile of train stations
• Comfort and Convenience
• Economic growth

Cons:

• $207.5 million for capital costs
• $10.35 million in operating costs
• 15-17% farebox recovery

For the Milwaukee county commuter rail system, two existing stations will be used, the Milwaukee Intermodal station and Milwaukee Mitchell Airport station, while the others will be all new. These new stations include: North Avenue, Century City Miller Coors, Miller Park, Valley, Lakefront, Bayview, Oklahoma, H20, We Energies, Wauwatosa, Regional Medical, Elm Grove, Brookfield, West Allis, State Fair, New Berlin, Waukesha, Zoo, Mayfair, and North Tosa for a grand total of 23 stations. This commuter rail service would use 55 miles of existing trains and 7,000 units of multi-family residential and other real estates such as retail and offices.

Benefits: Unfortunately, there is no data researched on this as this specific proposal is a few months old, dating back to December of 2018, so I do not wish to assume benefits that this proposal may bring.

On the other side of things, the only con so far of this proposal is its price tag at $1.4 billion.

With the expansion of the Amtrak Hiawatha Service to Madison and conversion to high speed rail, People will be able to travel from Madison, Milwaukee, and Chicago, at faster times than driving and flying. The extension of the service will serve for future plans of extending the route all the way to Minneapolis/St. Paul. This service will also provide passenger connections between Milwaukee airport, Chicago, and long distance train service. All current stops will be kept with new stations in Madison, Brookfield, Oconomowoc, and Watertown. Current speeds of 79mph will be kept on the current Hiawatha Service route, while speeds of 110mph will be reached on the Milwaukee – Madison corridor.

Benefits

• Reliable, efficient, frequent and cost-effective rail service
• Unaffected by traffic congestion and weather
• Improves regional mobility
• Enhances intermobility
• Promotes economic development and livable communities

My purpose of this project is to advocate for public transportation and the expansion and creation of modes of transit such as light rail, high speed rail, and commuter rail. I want my specific audience to get that public transit is worth it and that the benefits of such transit outweigh the cost of it.

I will know when I’m “done” with this project when I feel like I have successfully advocated for the expansion of public transportation in Milwaukee.

I am building ethos for this project by using sources with various studies and credibility, such as the encyclopedia of Milwaukee.

Sources:

https://emke.uwm.edu/entry/mass-transit/

https://emke.uwm.edu/entry/the-milwaukee-electric-railway-and-light-company-tmerl/

http://maps.sewrpc.org/KRMonline/pdf/krm_nl-04.pdf

https://dailyreporter.com/files/2010/02/rail-grant.pdf

https://uwm.edu/urban-studies/wp-content/uploads/sites/231/2015/12/LightRailSubmission.pdf

https://dc.uwm.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1412&context=etd

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