MCTS Will Redesign Bus Network
Facing continuing budget deficits, transit system plans another redesign of service network.
MCTS Administration building, 1942 N. 17th St. Photo taken July 18, 2025 by Graham Kilmer.
With budget cuts on the horizon, the Milwaukee County Transit System (MCTS) is planning to redesign the bus network.
MCTS recently began soliciting planning consultants to help the system redesign bus service over the next 12 to 18 months. The transit system expects to implement a new network design by mid- to late 2027.
“To help ensure long-term sustainability, MCTS is seeking a qualified partner to lead a comprehensive fixed-route bus network redesign study that will evaluate Milwaukee County’s current service and deliver a detailed, actionable report recommending changes,” a spokesperson for the MCTS said. “The study will help align transit service with available financial resources as MCTS addresses an ongoing budget deficit and prepares for 2027 and beyond. “
With the public procurement process ongoing, transit system officials declined to provide any further details on the planned redesign.
It will be the second major overhaul of the MCTS network in less than a decade. In 2021, the transit system implemented MCTS NEXT, which rebalanced system resources to favor high-frequency bus routes over geographic coverage. In 2025, MCTS rolled out a smaller planning project called MCTS NEXT 2.0, which used public feedback to guide the development of new routes and changes to the existing network.
The system has been cutting back on service since the rollout of MCTS NEXT five years ago. But after a surprising and major midyear budget deficit surfaced in June 2025, MCTS began cutting back bus frequency across dozens of routes — the very thing the new system was supposed to prioritize. Facing a $10.5 million midyear budget deficit, MCTS reduced frequency along 17 bus routes in October last year.
The surprise deficit caught elected officials and the Amalgamated Transit Union Local 998 (ATU 998) off guard. The union was in the middle of contract negotiations at the time. But the system has had a structural deficit for the past two decades, with growing operating costs outpacing public funding sources. Since 2020, MCTS filled the growing gap with federal stimulus funds released during the COVID-19 pandemic. Now, those funds are gone.
The transit system went into the annual budget process for 2026 attempting to close a $14 million budget deficit. The Milwaukee County Board voted to add funds to the transit budget and the system was able to avoid eliminating any routes. Instead, cuts are reducing service hours and bus frequency along 20 routes, and five routes were shortened.
In December, new MCTS President and CEO Steve Fuentes warned county supervisors that early projections for 2027 suggest MCTS will face a budget deficit between $18 million and $20 million.
Fuentes assumed leadership of the foundering transit system in August last year. The 2025 budget crisis turned into a government scandal when top transportation officials failed to warn the county Board of Supervisors the system was running a multimillion-dollar budget deficit, in violation of county ordinance governing financial reporting. Then interim MCTS President and CEO Julie Esch resigned, followed shortly after by Milwaukee County Department of Transportation (MCDOT) Director Donna Brown-Martin.
As Urban Milwaukee later reported, Esch and other top transportation officials planned to conceal the existence of a budget deficit until it grew too large and labor negotiations forced them to reveal it publicly.
Along with Fuentes, MCTS has a new deputy director, and Joe Lamers, who has led the county’s budget office since 2018, has taken over the helm at MCDOT. MCTS also has a new chief planner since the development of MCTS NEXT. Jesus Ochoa, an MCTS transit planner since 2017, was elevated to director of service development last year.
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At least the new CEO is not hiding the details from us like his predecessor, but uh, here comes the death spiral I guess.
How will the county achieve its Vision Zero goals if the public transit that supports it is both more expensive for riders AND has worse service? It will attract zero new riders and just encourage even more people to drive.
But MCTS loves us! On Valentine’s Day, the signage on all buses said, “We (emoji heart) You.” As a person dependent on MCTS who has never evaded a fare, even during some extremely lean times, this infuriated me. I shared my opinion with MCTS. A representative replied that MCTS loves and appreciates all its riders. Really? Is that why my thanks of paying fare every time I rode for the past 43 years is increased fares and decreased service? The only folks MCTS loves is the ever increasing amount of fare evaders, most of whom can afford to pay their fare but don’t because they know the lax policy of the entitled culture of MCTS management encourages fare evasion.
Unfortunately, the only way things will change is if the IMO lax, inept County Board and County Executive Crowley suddenly become dependent on MCTS, or miraculously realize that a dependable, good transit system is vital to maintain a thriving, growing community. From what I’ve seen, that is NOT about to happen anytime soon.
And again I ask, County Executive Crowley, what makes you think you are qualified and capable of running a state when you can’t get one agency (MCTS) under your control in shape and come up with a plan to reduce/eliminate fare evasion?
IMO, the ever increasing number of fare evaders on MCTS are a greater threat to our community than are the law abiding illegal entrants.
You can redesign the system and administer MCTS as efficiently as possible but that doesn’t mean anything if it is not properly funded! MCTS needs a dedicated source of funding desperately as it’s clearly not going to get that (at least consistently) from the state or federal governments. And fare evasion is a small portion of the current deficit. When transit systems are something that people rely upon instead of use as a last resort, fare evasion simply does not occur in the volume it does in Milwaukee. High ridership volume decreases anti-social behavior.
> And fare evasion is a small portion of the current deficit
Very true. I’m also not convinced the data we’re getting on fare evasion is accurate, though it certainly happens a lot. Official statements have sometimes been confusing, and reporters on the subject often don’t know how the bus works.
> When transit systems are something that people rely upon instead of use as a last resort, fare evasion simply does not occur in the volume it does in Milwaukee
A little skeptical of this. Hasn’t been my experience exactly, but my experience is limited.
zx89: I see the fare evasion increasing, even though there is now signage saying, “fare is required,” and a recording says, “please remember to pay your fare,” as we get on the bus. The entitled culture does not have to abide by the rules. Also, several neighbors have told me they seem to see more fare evaders, and a few operators have shared how disgusted they are with the current fare evasion policy, especially since they are seeing an increase in fare evasion.