Ald. Bob Bauman says mayor’s sales pitch lacks vision.
Ald. Bob Bauman says mayor’s sales pitch lacks vision. Back to the full article.
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What benefit will the streetcar have over existing bus routes? Is this not just a redundancy?
I’m not so sure improved messaging will help. The cackling classes get their information from talk radio, and they do a pretty good job of misinformtion, partial informatin and spin. Just like the high speed rail debate”who needs a train from Milwaukee to Madison?” Well, that would be true if it was just a train from Milwaukee to Madison, rather than one leg that is part of a larger network. For the most part, people are either for it or against it.
@Shaia. The streetcar is moden, quiet, smooth and overall a much better mode of transit. Fixed route transit has been shown to generate economic development along the corridor. Busses have the opposite impact. This is due to he fact that more people are willing to use light rail than busses and the fixed route is seen as a commitment to the city by the private sector. Furthermore, visitors and tourists will utilize the streetcar while avoiding the bus. Ths is important because Milwaukee County is the visitor and tourism leader in the state.
Where are the MPS Teachers as well as the Black and Hispanic Communities screaming at the top of their lungs about Mayor Barrett spending over $300 M-I-L-L-I-O-N on a STREET TROLLEY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
$300 M-I-L-L-I-O-N could build out an extremely high-speed WIFI system in both the North and South Sides AND put a laptop in every residents hands for free! Imagine what THAT would do to the educational prospects of those communities!
$300 M-I-L-L-I-O-N would completely clear the Tower Automotive Complex site for redevelopment AND install the infrastructure for future development and JOBS on the Northside!!
$300 M-I-L-L-I-O-N would build 4 Tech-Schools in the Inner-city to train 16+yos for family-supporting jobs THAT CAN’T BE FILLED NOW BY WORKERS TODAY!!!!!!!!!!!!
Where is Gwen Moore, Mandela Barnes, LaTonya Johnson, Leon Young, JoCasta Zamarripa and Lena Taylor and all their Milwaukee democrat colleagues screaming at the top of their lungs shutting this down?!?!?
Where are the trade unions and teacher unions protesting in City Hall over this?!?!?!
#MandelaBarnes #RepGwenMoore #WiscJobsNow #repjocasta #SenTaylor #WIunion #wiright #wipolitics #MKEPolitics #TrolleyFolly #SykesCharlie #naacpmke
@Scott I’m confused as to where you are getting this $300 million figure? I’m pretty sure the city can not use TIF funds to buy laptops, and the last public wifi attempt failed (though I suppose TIF funds could be used for an idea like this). I’m pretty sure new schools would be created by MPS not the City of Milwaukee (not the same thing). And the city is currently spending millions to redevelop the Tower site (now referred to as Century City). And yes the city is planning to build new transit.
Gee Scott but I couldn’t help but think that Gwen Moore, Mandela Barnes, LaTonya Johnson, Leon Young, JoCasta Zamarripa and Lena Taylor all have something in common. And it’s not that none of them live in Tosa or Waukesha.
The reason they want a streetcar is that hip white people are much more comfortable getting on something like a train than they are a bus. Busses just aren’t that cool and oftentimes the people riding them aren’t hip white people.
Ultimately, the question is who really uses this thing? The real problem with the streetcar is that it’s incredibly easy to navigate downtown Milwaukee by car. For the streetcar to be successful you need people that are using mass transit to get downtown and that’s not happening all that much.
Is the real issue that the major funding for a proposed street car only comes with a rail style street car?
The drawings clearly show that the proposed rail style trolley system will be electric – fed from above. Milwaukee _had_ trackless electric trollies as late as the late 1960s-early 70s (I remember watching the sparks fly from the floating masts on a rare holiday Route 31 bus rides.)
If Milwaukee took the step to electrify it’s entire fleet with that kind of system — that in itself would itself be a newsworthy project and a major infrastructure project without the hassle of rail construction. Adding a trackless “Loop” around the city linking existing routes with transfer stops would be another helpful step.
Shaia’s question is absolutely valid. The streetcar will be run by the City over streets that are some of the most productive routes in the County’s bus system. I have not seen any attempts to explain just how or why the County would decide to terminate their bus routes at the streetcar line (and lose all the fares). I also have not seen any discussion of how the city-run streetcar will result in a lower percent of MCTS’ costs being covered by state operating subsidies. This project will truly suffer from the lack of a regional transit authority to make the strategic decisions about routes, fare transfers, and reducing redundancies.
I really like the idea of an “express” route to the airport & Miller Park areas – use those old rail right-o-ways for something!
The Greenline takes far too long to go from Mitchell Intl to downtown. I can imagine how many travelers would gladly take a rapid alternative to the bus (and the car, naysayers).
Express stops at the Potowatomi Hotel and Harley Davidson Museum on an extension to the ballpark would be useful for tourists.
Although the initial route does seem confusing (viewable at http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?t=502392&page=762 most of the way down the page), I agree that the Mayor should emphasize that this is merely a starter line and the extensions are what people should be excited about.