Funding For Same-Day Paratransit Running Out

Same-Day Transit Plus van. Photo courtesy MCTS.

An on-demand car service for persons with disabilities might disappear, once again, before the year is up.

The Same Day TransitPlus Pilot, as it is called, provides rides similar to a taxi or ride share service. The county’s legally required paratransit program, called TransitPlus, provides rides that must be scheduled at least a day in advance.

The on-demand service is supposed to fill a gap in transportation needs, providing last minute rides for health emergencies or work. The Milwaukee County Transit System (MCTS) used to contract with a taxi service to provide same-day paratransit rides. It was shut down in 2023 to keep MCTS in compliance with Federal Transit Administration regulations requiring, among other things, wheelchair accessible vehicles.

In 2024, MCTS received approximately $1.4 million to create create a pilot program to bring back the same day service. The transit system contracted with Via, a a New York-based transportation company, to provide it. It costs MCTS approximately $98.7 an hour to provide the service. Riders pay a $10 fare and the difference is covered by the funding allocation.

MCTS has enough funding to get through at least the end of August, Fran Musci, Transit Plus director told county supervisors earlier this month. But the funding will certainly be used up before the end of the year. In light of the transit system’s growing financial challenges, MCTS is not planning to request funding for the program in its 2026 budget.

“We are focused on providing our core paratransit service,” Musci said. “If the board wishes to continue this program, we would ask that you identify and allocate additional funds moving forward.”

In June, MCTS announced a $10.9 million operating budget deficit for 2025. The system is cutting service hours in the fall and has not ruled out cutting service in 2026. The system has a longstanding structural deficit. It has covered the deficit up since 2020 using federal stimulus funds released during the COVID-19 pandemic. In 2027, when that funding is gone, the system will face a budget deficit of approximately $17 million, according to spending projections by the Office of the Comptroller.

The same day program is discretionary for the transit system. It is not legally required to provide it, unlike TransitPlus.

The program launched in 2024, and got off to slow start. Initially, rides were limited to work and medical necessities that could not be scheduled the day before. But when ridership failed to take off under these parameters, MCTS expanded the allowable rides to any important trip that could not be scheduled the day prior. Since then there has been exponential growth in ridership, which is making the service less efficient as riders are waiting longer for the same-day rides.

MCTS could add more service hours, but that would quickly spend down the remaining funds, Musci said. It is also considering reducing service hours on weekends, when ridership is lowest. Another way to save money would be moving to an independent contractor based service, similar to the way Uber and Lyft contract with drivers who are not technically their employees. Currently, the drivers are employees of Via.

Sup. Justin Bielinski told Musci he would never vote for a service like this using independent contractors when she told the board about this option. The issue will be brought to the Paratransit Task Force, which was created to work on the same-day program.

The former taxi service disappeared in 2023. It took the task force and MCTS nearly a year to work out and launch a replacement. Now, nearly a year into service, it’s likely to disappear.

Former Milwaukee County Department of Transportation Director Donna Brown-Martin warned supervisors in 2023 that they were legislating the creation of a program without a long-term, sustainable funding source.

Supervisors will likely struggle to find funding to extend the program, which Musci said could cost between $1.6 and $1.9 million next year. The county is facing a $46.7 million projected budget deficit in 2026. To close the gap, County Executive David Crowley told department heads to find ways to reduce their budgets by 10% ahead of the budget process.