MCTS keeps reporting on low usage but make no effort to promote or popularize the racks, even though they could help drive ridership. It wold have been smart to at least describe the racks in the publication, and better yet, indicate where bus routes intersect the Oak Leaf Trail system.

Clearly, Walker wants that program to fail, along with MCTS itself.

I’ve bike commuted in a lot of different cities, and I have to say that Milwaukee is a really nice place to ride to work. The traffic is relatively light and there are quite a few bike lanes, racks, etc. I think the main barrier to getting more people to ride to work here is not so much a lack of infrastructure but rather the perception that the weather here sucks too much for cycling (which it sometimes does).

I’m not sure how to address that, but year-round cycling here isn’t really all that bad, provided you have some half-way adequate clothing and you just get out there and see for yourself that’s it’s doable. It’s disconcerting to already see a dip in the number of cyclists on the road in early October when the weather is still really nice! Encouraging those who already bike to work in the nicer months to try cycling further into the winter months would result in more cyclists on the roads during winter, thereby creating a perception to those who don’t bike commute at all that Milwaukee is a groovy year-round bike commuting town. I guess Minneapolis has already done that.