[milwaukee-electric] Re: Electric railways, streetcars, interurbans, trams, light rail lines and trolley buses worldwide. City officials announce Downtown Milwaukee streetcar route.

[Y Marti]

The average UWM student that lives on the east side takes public  
transit unless they live in the on-campus dorms or very close by.  
Off-campus dorms offer their own shuttle but I see plenty of students  
that live on-campus take MCTS to get to ball games or downtown  
watering holes. Most evenings the #15 and #30 are packed with  
students. Times have changed where many students realize the economic  
benefits of car independence for getting around Milwaukee. You only  
have to look at the $3/gal price at the pump to see how this affects  
travel decisions.

Again, Milwaukee downtown has changed since the 70's and 80's. Things  
happen on every night of the week, summer and winter. Downtown  
residency is very dense and parking is at a premium. There are a large  
number of forward thinking elderly people living in downtown  
apartments and reaping the benefits of easy access to culture. A  
reliable downtown circular streetcar system for $1 a ride would be  
heavily used day and night. Many businesses would benefit which is why  
the idea is supported by all the downtown business associations.

The complaints about it hurting MCTS are silly and partisan. There is  
no MCTS line that offers this service without transfer. With MCTS  
threatening to abolish transfers with a new fare system, a huge  
customer base would be disenfranchised. I also doubt there will be a  
transfer system between lines. It's rare that transit lines with  
different owners have such a system. It would be even rarer if Walker  
would approve such an idea. But both systems can easily work  
separately without hurting either. I know a conservative 30-something  
that lives in the third ward and normally car commutes downtown who  
would take the streetcar to work but would be horrified at rubbing  
elbows with the "derelicts" on MCTS. That goes to show that the  
younger generation is willing to more readily adopt public transit.

Yance