Alderman, State Allies Seek Federal Help to Kill the Streetcar

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Kruschke, on Oct. 16, said the city is committed to operating the system and believes the Act 12 provisions could be repealed if the composition of the Legislature changes.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.