MCTS Celebrates 50 Year Anniversary With New Buses

MCTS Gillig bus. Photo by taken March 19, 2025 by Graham Kilmer.

The Milwaukee County Transit System (MCTS) unveiled new bus wraps, and new buses, Wednesday to celebrate its 50th anniversary.

In 1975, Milwaukee County took over the struggling privately-owned transit system and created MCTS to run it. On July 1 of that year the first MCTS bus rolled into service.

Russell Schultz was there. He and a friend boarded MCTS bus number 1820 early that morning. In 1995, Schultz would toss aside a career as an insurance claims adjuster to become a bus operator for MCTS. He retired in 2018 after 23 years of service.

“Big change in career, but always enjoyed it,” he said. “This is my passion; this is my love.”

Schultz is a Milwaukee native, transit historian and a lifelong public transit enthusiast. He grew up riding the old streetcars and trackless trolleys. Later, as a bus operator, he enjoyed driving the long, north-south bus routes, which are three times as long as the east-west lines.

“[Public transit] is important for people that have no choice, and otherwise,” he said.

MCTS was created by the county 50 years ago, as a quasi-governmental private entity, controlled by the non-profit Milwaukee Transport Services, Inc. to take over the Milwaukee & Suburban Transport Company. In short, MCTS is a non-profit incorporated and controlled by the MTS board, which is in turn controlled by the county.

“During the past five decades, MCTS has literally been the lifeline for so many residents across Milwaukee County and all 19 municipalities,” County Executive David Crowley said. “It’s how many people get to work; it’s how many of our students get to school; it’s how many of our families reach their medical care.”

To celebrate the 50th anniversary, MCTS unveiled two of its newest Gillig clean-diesel buses. One wrapped in the new MCTS bus design, and the other wrapped to resemble the MCTS buses Schultz rode in 1975.

The transit system recently began taking delivery of 30 new Gillig buses ordered in 2024. The buses come with new features for passengers and operators. A security monitor gives riders a view of the entire bus from the front. Bus operators will have a streamlined cockpit with a digital dash.

“This is the future,” said Dwayne Reese, director of maintenance for MCTS.

The new bus wraps incorporate a blue and yellow color scheme and iconography that will be familiar to Milwaukee residents. The design is intended to conjure the wings of the Milwaukee Art Museum’s Calatrava addition, the curving arch of the Hoan bridge, the golden beer the city is famous for and the blue of Lake Michigan, said Julie Esch, MCTS interim Managing Director.

12►