County Supervisors Blindsided by MCTS Cuts
Supervisors balk at lack of financial transparency from county transit system.

MCTS Bus. Photo by Jeramey Jannene.
Milwaukee County Supervisors were upset Wednesday morning that they had to learn about MCTS service cuts and a budget deficit from news coverage.
The Milwaukee County Transit System (MCTS) announced Tuesday that it faced a $10.9 million projected budget deficit by the end of 2025, as Urban Milwaukee reported. To close the deficit, the system plans to reduce bus frequency by 20,000 hours. That includes frequency reductions along 10 unidentified high-frequency routes. The system plans to target these frequency reductions to low-ridership hours, according to an MCTS spokesperson.
The first word of the deficit came in a press release issued a day before the board’s Committee on Finance meeting. MCTS, which has a budget of $151.6 million in 2025, had not even reported the deficit to the Office of the Comptroller for its monthly report on the county’s financial standing. MCTS will not have a detailed report and breakdown of expenses until the board’s July meeting cycle, said Milwaukee County Department of Transportation (MCDOT) Director Donna Brown-Martin. Interim Managing Director Julie Esch was not present at the committee meeting Wednesday.
During the board’s Committee on Finance meeting Wednesday, Brown-Martin told supervisors the budget deficit is being driven by the increasing cost of commodities and parts, rising overtime among mechanics and higher costs driven by its paratransit contractor TransDev.
“It’s not acceptable to get a $10.9 million deficit told to us without more context and more time,” said Sup. Shawn Rolland.
Rolland noted that the county has an ordinance requiring departments to report any operating budget deficit exceeding $100,000.
“And now to hear that we’re at $10.9 [million] is a miss, a pretty big miss,” Rolland said. “So my hope is that this will be a one-time thing, and that we will get a robust report on this in July.”
Sup. Justin Bielinski said he thought it was “suspect” that the deficit was announced while MCTS is in the middle of contract negotiations with the Amalgamated Transit Union Local 998 (ATU). Supervisors were also forced to learn that former managing director Denise Wandke had left the company from news reports, Bielinski said.
“This does seem to be a pattern with [MCTS],” he said.
Sup. Juan Miguel Martinez joined his colleagues wondering what the actual details of the cuts and the deficit are, saying bus operators and the public are “terrified” and don’t know how or where the cuts will fall.
Sup. Steve Taylor questioned how MCTS managed not to find a $10 million projected budget deficit until just the past few weeks, especially when it is being driven by three different issues.
“I don’t think you found them all out the same time,” he said.
Commodity prices are driving up the cost of automotive parts, Brown-Martin said. In response to questions she told the committee that tariffs enacted by the new administration of President Donald Trump are, in part, affecting prices. Parts are ordered as they are needed, and prices have been steadily rising.
“It’s changing at a rapid, fluid pace, and that’s not something that we have any control over,” she said.
The cost of mechanic overtime is an ongoing issue and a factor affected by collective bargaining, Brown-Martin said. As to why overtime is rising more than expected, Brown-Martin said, “I can’t give you the answer that you’re looking for specifically, because I don’t have the details myself.”
As director of MCDOT, Brown-Martin chairs the board of Milwaukee Transport Services, Inc., a quasi-governmental instrumentality set up to run the transit system.
The third problem driving the deficit is the performance of TransDev, the private company MCTS contracts with to provide paratransit, a public transit service for persons with disabilities.
“Our costs continue to increase steadily because they’re they’re not meeting our performance standards in terms of getting people picked up and delivered on time,” Brown-Martin said.
In 2023, TransDev bought the company MCTS had awarded a single-source contract to. When the firm took over service in late 2023, service deteriorated, with missed pickups and riders left stranded across the county. And TransDev’s performance has continued to be an issue, since then.
“We are addressing that through our attorneys to make sure that we’re taking control and making sure that these things are addressed,” Brown-Martin said.
Brown-Martin told supervisors that ridership is not an issue affecting the projected deficit. This seemed to contradict the statement released by MCTS just the day prior, which said, “lower passenger revenue” was driving the deficit.
A spokesperson for MCTS clarified that ridership continues to increase, but passenger revenue is declining “in part due to non-paying riders.” And said that while it’s not among the top three issues Brown-Martin listed for the board, it remains a factor.
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I think MCTS needs to go out and find a sophisticated and experienced transit professional to lead the organization and build a qualified executive team. Otherwise this will keep happening. Seemingly, transit not only lacks vision, they also lack the expertise to competently manage the organization.
If they are saving $10.9 million by cutting 20,000 hours of service, that implies that each hour of service costs $545. That seems very high. Am I missing something??
Due to health issues, I am limited to MCTS, unless I want to deplete all disposable income on UBER and taxis. In my opinion, when MCTS acquired a new management firm, things started going downhill fast. Experienced operators retired sooner than planned because they were unhappy with the new management team. The Connect 1 also did not help. Several folks objected to it in whole, or part, but it became obvious from attending meetings it was going to happen the way MCTS wanted it to proceed. Few, if any, objections, were taken seriously by MCTS management.. I no longer defend MCTS. However, I am grateful it is still available, even though it is becoming more difficult to take it on a timely basis. And it is so upsetting to see several folks get on without paying and the operators not calling security to get them thrown off the bus. Why are some folks entitled to a free ride and others aren’t? It’s issues like this and the MCTS management’s lack of response that leads me to believe MCTS management brought these problems on themselves.
Oh how I wish we would have a regional transit authority to begin with linking Milwaukee, Waukesha, and Ozaukee counties. My concern is that MCTS must provide predictable and reliable services to those who do not and cannot use their own vehicles– students attending 9th grade and above including colleges & universities, older adults and disabled adults, and visitors.
I wonder how things would change if we didn’t have to pay for those yellow school buses for older students, and allowed them access to MCTS.
Unsupported/unprepared drivers, inconsistent / infrequent service. To get most places in the county by bus, a transfer is required. Good luck with that. MCTS is a reactive and overly bureaucratic organization. The politics are more important than outcomes. They need to be held accountable. Its not just about money. Throwing more money at mcts will not improve service outcomes.
Agree with Oak Creek Steve.
Why why don’t the County Superisors check in more often with MCTS in a conversational way? Waiting for financial reports should be the LAST measure of how they’re doing. For the Supervisors to say they felt blind sided is ridiculous. There needs to be ongoing sharing of status between MCTS and the Superisors.
I’ve also seen people not pay for bus rides. I assume bus drivers have good hearts for the weary souls who ask for this grace.
SiddyMonty: From what I’ve seen, it’s not those in need who ask for a free ride. Rather, it’s young thugs who expect a free ride. Operators are probably afraid they’ll be assaulted if they don’t let them on. Although, there are a few elderly folks who appear to be in need.
Something definitely has to be done to improve MCTS management.
Trans-Dev was bad from the start. RFPs should be limited to in state vendors.
Big Red81… Transit should write better contracts.