What to Know About Milwaukee's Proposed East-West Bus Rapid Transit Project

Edgar Mendez reports that Milwaukee County Transit System (MCTS) planners are seeking feedback from the public on the East-West Bus Rapid Transit project, a proposed nine-mile BRT route connecting Downtown Milwaukee to the Milwaukee Regional Medical Center with 75-person-capacity buses every 10 minutes.

Mendez focuses on the expected costs and outcomes of the project. The system is expected to operate at an annual cost of $3.7 million every year, with some funding made available by reducing duplicated service along Wisconsin Avenue. The development of the BRT route is expected to cost $42 million to $48 million, with 80 percent of funding coming from the Federal Transit Administration's Capital Investment Grant program.

The article cites an MCTS spokesperson to list the expected benefits of the project, including increased ridership, decreased driving, congestion relief, and incentives for economic development.

Planetizen checked-in with this project twice in 2016, finding little initial public resistance to the idea (compared to a failed light rail proposal for a similar route) after public outreach officially began for the panning process in March of that year.