Starting at 6 P.M. on St. Patrick’s Day everyone who rides MCTS rides for free. The annual free rides are again sponsored by MillerCoors, who has been sponsoring the event locally since 1994.

If you drink, please think and don’t drive.

Below is a message from Kerry Thomas of Transit Now, a leading champion of mass transit for the Milwaukee region. There is a rally on Saturday in West Allis for transit funding for MCTS. We’ll be there, and we hope to see you there. Milwaukee can’t afford to have MCTS in shambles. Milwaukee needs dedicated transit funding.

McDonalds is launching a program to give away 75,000 free transit rides and an equivalent number of Angus Third Pounders. The program will be run in Atlanta, Baltimore, Chicago, Dallas, Denver, and Washington D.C.

When the budget finally made it to his desk, Wisconsin Governor Jim Doyle used his extensive veto powers in a lot of ways. The most significant of which was arguably the line-item veto of the Milwaukee Transit Authority and the proposed 0.65% sales tax increase for Milwaukee County. Doyle did not veto SERTA, the authority which is to run the KRM commuter rail line, and the $18 rental car tax. This veto puts back on the drawing board Doyle’s proposal for a three-county sales tax to fund the KRM and bus service in Kenosha, Racine, and Milwaukee Counties, while at the same time not delaying the KRM development process.

See the premier broadcast of Gridlock: Public Transit in SE Wisconsin this Thursday July 2nd, at 6 PM on WMVS Milwaukee Public TV. Viewing party at Transfer Pizzeria & Cafe.

The Wisconsin state budget is now at a point where it will go to a conference committee after the Senate approved their version of the budget yesterday. The conference committee will reconcile the difference between the Assembly and Senate versions, and send the budget off to Governor Doyle. Doyle will then use his line-item veto power on certain language he doesn’t like, and Wisconsin have a budget.

After a recent weekend trip to take in three Milwaukee Brewers games in St. Louis versus the rival St. Louis Cardinals, I spent a significant time reflecting on the differences (and similarities) between the stadiums each team calls home. Miller Park is located 3.2 miles from Milwaukee City Hall, while Busch Stadium is located 1/5th (0.2) of a mile from the iconic Arch. Miller Park has the roof, Busch Stadium has the view. Busch Stadium has the proposed Ballpark Village, Miller Park has its own sales tax. Miller Park has gameday bus service, Busch Stadium is located on a light rail line. And least important for the sake of this analysis, they each have their namesake beer. With all of that considered, which stadium does more for the city?

The Milwaukee County pension troubles are a serious issue that affect everyone in the Milwaukee area. By eating a significant portion of the county’s budget every year in the form of increased pension payments, the pension scandal has forced cuts in county services and tax increases. Milwaukee County has taken Mercer to court over the highly-flawed pension system, and a decision in Milwaukee County’s favor could relieve a lot of stress at the county level.

MCTS, empowered by a veto override by the Milawukee County Board in November, has added (in reality restored) a bus route to their service offerings, offering service from the Downtown Transit Center through downtown and out to 60th Street via Vliet Avenue.

1. Jazz in the Park, it’s back June 4th and despite the drama, will be just like it has been in years past. River Rhythms starts across the river on June 10th, and Chill on the Hill kicks off June 2nd.