Alderman, State Allies Seek Federal Help to Kill the Streetcar
Ald. Spiker makes a federal case out of stopping The Hop.
The Milwaukee Bucks branded Fear the Deer streetcar. Photo by Jeramey Jannene.
“Throw us a lifeline,” Ald. Scott Spiker wrote Tuesday in a letter to Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy seeking help to shut down Milwaukee’s streetcar system.
Spiker wants the federal government to let the city shut down The Hop without having to repay a prorated portion of the federal grants that funded it. A Department of Public Works official recently estimated the city would need to repay $48 million immediately.
The alderman believes the system has no prospects for expansion, and the $4.2 million the city must spend to operate it in 2026 is a waste for a system that only serves “the unhoused and the well-heeled.”
If Duffy would let Milwaukee out of its repayment obligation, Spiker believes he could convince his colleagues to kill the system.
“That is $4.2 million that we cannot use next year to lower taxes and fees, keep our libraries open, repave our dilapidated local streets, or replace our aging vehicle fleet for the fire and police departments,” wrote Spiker.
“Mr. Secretary, we need your help. I ask the U.S. Department of Transportation to release the City of Milwaukee from the remainder of the grant obligations it incurred during the development of the Milwaukee streetcar. Moreover, I ask that the City be held harmless in future grant requests (e.g., for funding for streets) through the Federal Transit Administration.”
But the only council support Spiker has found so far comes from a former Milwaukee alderman.
Shortly after Spiker’s letter was released to the media, Rep. Bob Donovan (R – Greenfield), a streetcar opponent during his time on the Common Council, and Sen. Van Wanggaard (R-Racine) released their own letter supporting Spiker’s.
“If this is granted, the City of Milwaukee could once and for all end this public works ‘boondoggle’ that has plagued the city’s finances for years,” wrote the state legislators.
Mayor Cavalier Johnson supports finding a way to expand the system. But Act 12, the 2023 sales tax legislation he negotiated with the state, included prohibitions on using property tax revenue or many other funding sources to expand the system.
Public Works Commissioner Jerrel Kruschke, on Oct. 16, said the city is committed to operating the system and believes the Act 12 provisions could be repealed if the composition of the Legislature changes.
He also believes shutting the system down would cause more harm than simply needing to repay the balance. “If we decided to shut that down, we would basically eliminate ourselves from getting any FTA funding in the future. Period. It’s a black eye,” said Kruschke.
Citing the cancellation of a $30 million grant to rebuild 6th Street, the commissioner said he didn’t believe the federal government would forgive the repayment obligation. “Yes, they could claw it back, and I assume they would,” he said.
Several council members, led by Robert Bauman and Peter Burgelis, have publicly supported the system in response to Spiker’s push to defund it.
Ridership continues to rebound from pandemic lows. August and September recorded the system’s highest totals since 2020, according to automated passenger counters.
For more on Spiker’s push to defund the system, see our Oct. 18 coverage.
The Finance & Personnel Committee will consider budget amendments on Oct. 31.
The U.S. Department of Transportation did not respond to a request for comment on Spiker’s letter and request.
If you think stories like this are important, become a member of Urban Milwaukee and help support real, independent journalism. Plus you get some cool added benefits.
More about the 2026 Milwaukee Budget
- What’s In the 44 Footnotes Added to Milwaukee’s Budget? - Jeramey Jannene - Nov 14th, 2025
- Common Council adopts amended 2026 City budget - Ald. Marina Dimitrijevic - Nov 7th, 2025
- Council Marks Up Mayor’s 2026 Budget, Adds Services, Pay Raises - Jeramey Jannene - Nov 7th, 2025
- Committee Amends 2026 City Budget, Prioritizes Neighborhood Investment Citywide - Ald. Marina Dimitrijevic - Nov 3rd, 2025
- City Hall: Council Spends More Than Nine Hours Debating Budget Amendments - Jeramey Jannene - Oct 31st, 2025
- New Tech Could End ‘Did They Plow My Street?’ Questions - Jeramey Jannene - Oct 30th, 2025
- Size of Raises in New Police Contract Revealed - Jeramey Jannene - Oct 30th, 2025
- Milwaukee Aims To Build ‘Missing Middle’ Housing in 2026 - Jeramey Jannene - Oct 29th, 2025
- Alderman, State Allies Seek Federal Help to Kill the Streetcar - Jeramey Jannene - Oct 28th, 2025
- Dimitrijevic’s Revised Budget Boosts Library Hours, Housing, City Wages - Jeramey Jannene - Oct 28th, 2025
Read more about 2026 Milwaukee Budget here
More about the Milwaukee Streetcar
For more project details, including the project timeline, financing, route and possible extensions, see our extensive past coverage.
- Alderman, State Allies Seek Federal Help to Kill the Streetcar - Jeramey Jannene - Oct 28th, 2025
- Streetcar Service Suspended Following Truck Crash - Jeramey Jannene - Oct 21st, 2025
- One Alderman’s Quest To Defund The Streetcar - Jeramey Jannene - Oct 18th, 2025
- Another Streetcar Collision - Jeramey Jannene - Jun 27th, 2025
- Streetcar Hit By Apparent Red Light Runner - Jeramey Jannene - Jun 16th, 2025
- Streetcar Will Run On Consolidated Route During Summerfest - Jeramey Jannene - Jun 11th, 2025
- City Hall: Milwaukee Must Replace Failing Streetcar Switches - Jeramey Jannene - Feb 24th, 2025
- Streetcar Confronts Limited Funding, Operations Challenges - Evan Casey - Jan 22nd, 2025
- Council Kills Streetcar’s ‘Festivals Line’ - Jeramey Jannene - Jul 31st, 2024
- Streetcar Will Use Festivals-Oriented Route Through Summer - Jeramey Jannene - Jul 9th, 2024
Read more about Milwaukee Streetcar here
Political Contributions Tracker
Displaying political contributions between people mentioned in this story. Learn more.
- February 20, 2016 - Cavalier Johnson received $250 from Robert Bauman
Transportation
-
Who Will Be Responsible When an Autonomous Vehicle Causes a Death?
![Autonomous Waymo Chrysler Pacifica Hybrid minivan undergoing testing in Los Altos, California. Photo by Dllu [CC BY-SA 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0)], from Wikimedia Commons.](https://urbanmilwaukee.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/1024px-Waymo_Chrysler_Pacifica_in_Los_Altos_2017-185x122.jpg)
Nov 1st, 2025 by Jeff Wood
-
Supervisors Use Parliamentary Moves To Save MCTS
Oct 31st, 2025 by Graham Kilmer
-
Reckless Drivers Would Get ‘Speed Limiter’ Devices Under New Proposal
Oct 29th, 2025 by Evan Casey
Sheesh…Spiker, “Crooked Bob D., whacko Waangard- what a trio! These dopes are doing everything possible to make living in MKE harder. Mass transit IS the future and we need to expand the HOP, not kill it.
with all its problems and limitations, i still love riding the hop. the potowanamie tribe supported it for years and did they ever ask to have it extended to the casino? i don’t think so, but don’t know. i think it should be extended and i think the common council could ask riders , like myself, to donate. or pay a dollar a ride. i would. given what is happening in washington, why do some council members think money would be spent dismantling the hop? common, let’s get creative here. remember we are still supporting the brewers. ask them.
Spiker would use any money saved to fund the establishment of a buggy whip factory.
Extend it to the ball park, too!!
Spiker is trying to boost his relevance and gain clout by exploiting wedge issues like The Hop. Mountains out of molehills.
I’ve said this before, but I think the HOP should be extended, but I would like to see it go down 6th St. to the Fiserv, MATC, the new Museum, Panther arena, and all the new venues opening up in or near the Deer District. This area is going to be very contested with new music venues, hotels, etc.
Perhaps Bob Donovan should mind his own business about this since he decided to abandon Milwaukee after he got his rear end kicked in the mayor’s election, and almost didn’t get elected in his own republican district for all manner of reasons.
Maybe this knucklehead should go visit Salt Lake City and see what a network of streetcar/public transportation, in the 21st century, looks like. How it is used. It is handy, helps traffic, really helps parking. Or, he could just hang out with visionaries like Donovan and Waangard.
So when are Spiker and Bauman ever gonna be voted out?
What a buncha crooks
Perhaps we should add a big beautiful ballroom to the Tippecanoe Library while we’re at it.
Great job by Spiker, Baumann and Wangaard to appeal to the Feds and to be relieved of the federal payout penalty should they shut the Hop down.
Just because it works for one city doesn’t mean it can work for another city, it’s not always apples to apples.
With the exception of the 3rd Ward, the Hop doesn’t really go to any high trafficked areas, whose fault is that? I live on the east side, almost daily I walk a 5 mile route that takes me thru the downtown, if you think that downtown Milwaukee is some sort of bustling urban area like Manhattan or even Michigan Ave like Chicago, you are delusional, are there people downtown, yes, but you all need to remove that image in your head that there are downtowners clamoring for transportation.
This disaster is all on Mayor Tom Barrett, there was never a referendum(vote) on the Hop, Milwaukee never got to vote yes or no on the. Barrett acted like a king.
There’s a $4,000,000(that’s million) taxpayer dollar gap to keep this empty car Hop running with no plan to charge a fare to ride it.
With regards to the new White House ballroom, taxpayer dollars are not being used.
milwaukee never got to vote on that damn stadium which we keep supporting. milwaukee never bustled. or bustles
There aren’t referendums on every city project. Approximately 1500 peopler ride the HOP daily! I have ridden it too many times to count. Public transport diminishes reliance on cars, produces less pollution, less congestion, etc etc. How much money does the city spend on unsightly parking facilities, street construction and maintenance, traffic control, accidents and reckless drivers etc etc. The cost of the HOP is minuscule in comparison!
The disaster that the Hop is keeps getting better, Mayor Johnson has put into his budget another and NEW(just what the city needs) city position.
The position is a 6 figure PR(public relations) job that will put a positive spin on this Hop mess. Which asks the question, if the Hop is so great why does MKE, need a PR representative.
Regarding maintenance, how often have the switches broken, (and at $100,000 a pop to replace), regarding accident at least 3 accidents have taken place, and with one of those accidents, no injuries were reported because the Hop was empty!
There’s no plan/mechanism in place to charge for ridership.
If you love riding the Hop, how much would you pay to ride it from Ogden and Prospect to the MKE Public Market? $1, $2, $5?
1500 riders a day and the Hop runs about 17 hours a day that’s less than 90 riders an hour! How is that sustainable, and make that make sense.
Admit all you lefty’s, if Trump were to support the Hop, you would want it shut down. 😝!
Lefties! Dude, the accidents that you referred to was because irresponsible drivers ran red lights and stop signs crashing into it. You don’t think accidents occur on a daily basis with cars.?Pedestrians being hit cars hitting one another, their accidents, all the time, light poles being demolished as well as other infrastructure. Every time someone drives on a road or street it isn’t free. Pavement is incredibly expensive. It has to be shoveled in the winter and constantly maintained. Those are expensive costs . I can show you times where the interstate is practically devoid of cars at certain times of the day. Does that mean we should take them down because they’re not being utilized 100% 24 hours a day?
Every time you buy a gallon of gas, you’re paying significant taxes (state and federal),to maintain streets and highways that you don’t even drive on. Public translation is no different.
Most of us pay taxes for schools that many of us if not most of us don’t even send children to anymore. Should we cut that too? We don’t because we know that i an educated public benefits, societyin general. An efficient system of public transportation benefits society in general. It’s called living in a society. Get it “righty?”
first, if trump ever heard of the hop, ;he’d think it was a giant bunny on the street.
@PVS you bet I’m conservative.
That I referred to readers of this publication as Lefty’s kind of triggered you.
You failed to address my logical points about the Hop and I’m not going to repeat them.
My rule #1 for comments sections: Do not feed the trolls.
Good!
Jsalmon1159, all you have to do is look at cities that have established effective public transportation in the last 30 years to understand the value of the HOP. The problem with the HOP is recalcitrant Republicans who have spent too much time in the pockets of Big Oil; and lack any vision. The HOP proposal included at least three additional routes; north route that would include the Fiserv and continuing north to Capital Dr; south from downtown connecting Bayview, Cudahy, and St. Francis with the airport; and east from the current route connecting the Couture, Lakefront to UWM. Hop was part of comprehensive public transit in Southeastern Wisconsin. This comprehensive plan included RBT routes 1) west to the Froedtert/Children’s Medical Complex, and 2) 2 routes along 27th and 35th streets. The vision was a Southeastern Wisconsin transit consortium. Republicans like Donovan, who has no imagination, made sure the state and now the federal government, do not support further expansion. What we are stuck with is a transit system that only serves the poor and even that is inadequate.
Look at cities who have invested in comprehensive public transit system, like The Twin Cities. Their plan included an initial 5-year goal to generate $17 million development along the first 2 routes. They exceeded that goal after 3 years. Residents are opting to take public transit instead of driving and parking their cars. TC public transit is tremendously successful. The Twin Cities were able to build a comprehensive transit system because the state government recognized the potential ROI. It helps that the one of the first 2 routes connected downtown St. Paul, the state capital, UofM campus to downtown Minneapolis.
Milwaukee also drew significant development to downtown Milwaukee along the Hop route. It’s the development along transit routes. That is the real value of light rail, RBT and future components. Wisconsin Republicans are the barrier. They claimed that there isn’t enough interest/ridership to justify any investment including a high-speed route connecting the seat of state government with its largest city. For all their talk of running the state like a corporation, they have no understand of ROI. A comprehensive transit system generates revenues for the state. Investing in comprehensive mass transit system generates a better return on investment than cutting taxes for the wealthy. Any businessperson will tell you increasing revenue is far more effective in the long than cutting expenses. However, an organization must have a vision and a strategic plan. Wisconsin Republicans lack any strategic vision. They don’t understand what amenities corporations look for when choosing expansion sites. It’s not “low taxes;” they want amenities employees look for when deciding where to live. Those amenities include, an educated workforce, active arts, entertainment, sports opportunities. affordable housing, good schools, access to quality healthcare AND comprehensive public transportation.
Wisconsin cannot attract corporate investment, leaving the state easy pickings for states like Minnesota, Illinois, and Michigan.
As for your attitude, using personal attacks, such as calling others “Lefties” distracts from any reasoned arguments you may present. Respect is critical for civil dialog. Your lack of respect for others discredits your argument.
@mk I stand by my assertion that the Hop needs to shut down and I’m not the only one. I will not re-hash prior comments.
With regards to the term Lefty’s and how it seems to bother you.
Are you aware that there are those who comment on these pages that refer Trump as Frump?
There’s a guy who refers to Trump as the NIWNS(Name I Will Not Say), or some sort of nonsense.
I think there’s another one who calls Republicans MAGAT’s and Refrumplicans or some crazy phrase.
So, to tell me that I need to show respect,(and clearly they don’t respect Trump), or else my comments are discredited is you not looking at those who are aligned with your views.
Most everyone who has an opinion here is a lefty.
You can call me a Righty or MAGA, I don’t care
there is not much to respect about trump. it amazes me that you can still support him after all the disrespectful things he has done and said about americans, our allies and who he considers his enemies.. lefty or what ever you want to call me, you can yet i still respect our constitution, the rule of law and democracy. i don’t think you can say that about your president.