Postponed Milwaukee BRT Project at Least a Decade Away

A postponed bus rapid transit (BRT) project in Milwaukee could be shelved for a decade or more, says the Milwaukee County Transit System.

“The north-south project would have been called the Connect 2 and intersected with Connect 1, the nine-mile BRT line running between downtown Milwaukee and the Milwaukee Regional Medical Center in Wauwatosa,” explains Graham Kilmer in Urban Milwaukee.

“A major factor driving the decision, according to MCTS, was new estimates that it would cost approximately $6 million annually to operate the second BRT line.” The system will shift funds that would have gone to the project to its operating budget instead, buying the system one more year before having to consider service cuts. According to Kilmer, “MCTS will need action at the state level to secure enough revenue to stabilize the system and pursue a project like the Connect 2 again.”