MCTS to Make Major Changes, Cuts in Bus Service

MCTS bus. Photo by Jeramey Jannene.

The Milwaukee County Transit System has announced a raft of new service changes coming this fall.

Along with the returning school year and the route tweaks for this, MCTS is also implementing a series of new routes and adjustments it has been planning all year, as well as a number of cuts to service hours in response to the 2025 operating budget deficit. On Aug. 24, 40 of the system’s 46 routes will have service hours or route altered.

MCTS implements service changes four times a year, coinciding with quarterly changes to the bus operators’ schedules. The system was building up to the fall change all year, preparing to roll out MOVE 2025, a budget-neutral overhaul based on extensive data and feedback collected directly from passengers and drivers.

In June, however, MCTS caught everyone by surprise, including the labor union representing its workers, when it announced a projected $10.9 million budget deficit for 2025. Top county policymakers had not been informed and learned of the deficit when they read it in the news. At the same time, MCTS announced plans to cut bus frequency in the fall along a number of high-frequency routes. The frequency cuts, which translate to fewer service hour on the road, fall across 17 routes.

It’s likely these cuts are just the beginning. Top transit and transportation officials have recently said the system is too big for the current budget, and that service cuts in 2026 are not off the table. Federal stimulus funding will run out before 2027, which is sooner than expected, revealing a structural budget gap as big as $17 million.

MOVE 2025

The MOVE 2025 changes will take effect at the end of the month.

Bus frequency will be increased along Route 57, 63 and the BlueLine. Four new routes are also being created: Route 59 (Drexel Avenue), Route 73 (Mill Road), Route 74 (S. 43rd Street – Miller Park Way), and Route 82 (S. 13th Street – S. Howell Avenue).

Route extensions and modifications will occur along 14 routes including the BlueLine, RedLine and PurpleLine. For more details visit the MOVE 2025 website.

Fall High-Frequency Service Reductions

The service cuts will fall across 17 routes. A number of them previously met the bare-minimum high-frequency standard of one bus every 15 minutes. After the cuts, none will be high-frequency bus routes any longer. In 2021, MCTS implemented a major overhaul of the system, rebalancing it in favor of high-frequency routes.

Along all of the routes listed below the time between buses will increase by five to 13 minutes. The frequency reductions generally fall between the hours of 6 a.m. and 6 p.m. Some routes have been spared frequency reductions during high traffic times in the morning between 6 a.m. and 9 a.m. or in the evening between 3 p.m. and 6 p.m.

For more information on the frequency reductions, MCTS has posted a detailed list of the cuts.

• Route 12
• Route 15
• Route 18 
• Route 19
• Route 21
• Route 22
• Route 24 
• Route 35
• Route 51 
• Route 57 
• Route 60 
• Route 66 
• Route 76 
• Route 80
• Route 92
• BlueLine: Riders North of W. Hampton Avenue will see a frequency increase. 
• RedLine

Back-to-School Service Changes

MCTS has reconfigured the bus routes serving UW-Milwaukee to create a centralized pickup and drop off area near the university campus.

Beginning at the end of the month, all routes with turnaround points on the campus will arrive and depart along E. Kenwood Boulevard between Maryland and Downer Avenue. The U-Buses, which provide service beteween park-and- ride lots and local universities, will arrive and depart from Downer Avenue between E. Hampshire St. and E. Kenwood Boulevard.

For more details on the changes to service near UW-Milwaukee, see details provided by MCTS.