The Milwaukee County Transit System is reporting a budget deficit. Operating costs at MCTS are rising faster than the revenue available to cover them. Reducing service by 25% would keep the budget in balance through 2028, 2029, and 2030, a three-year horizon.
Therefore, the system’s leaders would like to have a transparent conversation with the public, stakeholders, and Board of Directors about what MCTS’ bus network could look like within a set budget. Through its MCTS Forward initiative, MCTS is asking the community to weigh in on two conceptual approaches to a potential 25% service reduction:
- Ridership Concept: Fewer routes with more frequent service.
- Coverage Concept: More geographic coverage with less frequent service.
Those concepts illustrate different trade-offs and are not final plans or proposals. Community feedback will help inform MCTS and the Milwaukee County Board of Supervisors as they determine future transit priorities.
Help redesign MCTS’s bus network by clicking the website below, where you can learn about the process, view the ridership and coverage concepts, and take the survey.