Gov. Jim Doyle and several prominent business and labor leaders from around the state announced their support for new transit authority legislation Tuesday.
The Regional Transit and Jobs Investment Act would create a funding source for improving Milwaukee’s bus system through a 0.5 percent increase in sales tax. It would also allow other local governments to choose to make their own mass transit improvements.
Sen. Lena Taylor, D-Milwaukee, co-sponsored the bill and has been working with Doyle and other legislators for several months to come up with a workable regional transit authority plan for Milwaukee, said Taylor spokesperson Eric Peterson.
Peterson said the legislation is an implementation of a referendum Milwaukee County passed in 2008 that called for improvements in their transit and park systems.
Patterson added the funds generated by the bill would improve transportation services and offer more routes, as well as shift the transit system from property taxes to sales tax.
Kerry Thomas, executive director of the Wisconsin organization Transit NOW, said the bus system in Milwaukee is in dire need of improvements.
The Milwaukee Transit system has had to cut routes and raise fares for several years, and if they do not get the proposed funding they stand to cut a third of their services, she said.
“There’s a real need to be competitive in the global economy as far as looking at what businesses and investors look for when they choose to invest,” Thomas said. “Having a good regional transit system integrated with buses and rail, that’s a common expectation.”
The success of the bill would also have implications for the Southeastern Regional Transit Authority. The governor and legislature established SERTA in July 2009, which oversees the development of the Kenosha-Racine-Milwaukee commuter rail line.
SERTA is currently working on their rail line proposal to the federal government, and an improvement in Milwaukee’s bus system will reflect favorably on their application, Peterson said.
“The KRM federal application to become a train line depends on the strength of the transit system,” Peterson said. “We have to get the Milwaukee bus system strengthened to get the commuter line.”
According to Peterson, Kenosha, Racine and Milwaukee are the three cities currently on the rail line because they have all committed to generating the revenue needed to implement the project. Other municipalities such as Ozaukee, Waukesha and Washington may elect to join in the future if they approve appropriate funding sources.
According to Thomas, Milwaukee, Racine and Kenosha are great locations to establish the commuter rail. Commuter stations like the KRM lead to economic development and draw people and businesses to the area, she added.
“Those lakeshore communities are not close to the freeway and it’s really hurting them. It’s isolated those communities from development,” Thomas said. “They need transportation capacity, and also the opportunity to bring people back and forth in the area.”
