30 New MCTS Buses Included In 2024 Budget
But Milwaukee County still has fewer buses than it did pre-pandemic.
![A Milwaukee County Transit System (MCTS) bus from Gillig. Photo by Jeramey Jannene.](https://urbanmilwaukee.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/bus01-1024x768.jpg)
A Milwaukee County Transit System (MCTS) bus from Gillig. Photo by Jeramey Jannene.
The Milwaukee County Transit System (MCTS) is planning to have funding for 30 new buses in 2024.
The transit system has not been replacing buses as fast as it retired them in recent years. Since 2018, the fleet size has dropped from 400 to 321 at the start of 2023.
MCTS has had a structural deficit for years, as the cost to provide service outpaces the funding it receives. Since the COVID-19 pandemic, federal stimulus funding has papered over this structural funding imbalance. But bus purchases have taken a hit as a result.
The system has been using federal funds intended for one-time purchases, like bus replacements, to fund its operations. The federal government has not provided regular mass transit operating assistance since the 1990s, but the county has used capital funding as a workaround to plug federal funds into operating expenses.
Transit officials advocated for funding to replace at least 30 buses next year, and County Executive David Crowley included the request in the 2024 recommended budget. This would build on the 101 bus purchases budgeted for in the past three years.
In 2021, MCTS estimated that it would need to replace more than 200 buses by 2024. Donna Brown-Martin, director of Milwaukee County Department of Transportation, said in August that the transit system still needed to replace approximately 90 aging buses in the coming years. The average lifespan of a bus is approximately 12 years or 500,000 miles.
Part of the challenge for the transit system is that the county purchased a huge number of buses more than a decade ago using funding from a different federal stimulus bill, the 2009 American Relief and Recovery Act that was passed in the wake of the global financial crisis. And now that cohort of buses is reaching the end of its life.
Crowley’s budget includes approximately $21 million for 30 new buses. Only $4.1 million would be county funds, and the rest would be supplied through a federal grant.
In order to keep pace with its replacement schedule, the county will need to continue funding purchases of 25 to 30 buses annually, according to an analysis by the Wisconsin Policy Forum, a nonpartisan research organization.
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More about the 2024 Milwaukee County Budget
- MKE County: County Funds New Rhino Facility for Zoo - Graham Kilmer - Nov 17th, 2023
- Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley Approves 2024 Adopted Budget - County Executive David Crowley - Nov 15th, 2023
- MKE County: Citing Racial Bias, County Ends Birth Cost Recovery Program - Graham Kilmer - Nov 10th, 2023
- MKE County: Board Adopts 2024 Budget, Setting Up Battle With Crowley - Graham Kilmer - Nov 9th, 2023
- Milwaukee County Adopted 2024 Budget Discontinues Birth Cost Recovery for Fathers - County Executive David Crowley - Nov 9th, 2023
- Supervisor Burgelis Praises 2024 Budget’s Investments in Public Safety and Other Important Issues - Sup. Peter Burgelis - Nov 9th, 2023
- Board Welcomes a New Day, Adopts 2024 Budget - County Board Chairwoman Marcelia Nicholson - Nov 9th, 2023
- County Executive David Crowley’s Statement on 2024 Adopted Budget - County Executive David Crowley - Nov 9th, 2023
- Supervisor Taylor Applauds Support for “Birth to 3” Program in 2024 Budget - Sup. Sequanna Taylor - Nov 9th, 2023
- MKE County: Parks System Losing Trees Faster Than It Can Plant Them - Graham Kilmer - Nov 8th, 2023
Read more about 2024 Milwaukee County Budget here
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