Milwaukee bus riders might want to doublecheck their schedules for this fall, as the Milwaukee County Transit System announced that it’s set to introduce service reductions in light of a department deficit.
The plan, which is set to be voted on by the County Board on June 26, targets service reductions on at least eight bus routes: 19, 20, 28, 51, 55, 58, PurpleLine, and RedLine.
On June 17, the agency said it expects to exceed its adopted 2025 budget if operations do not change. To date, the departmental deficit is an estimated $10.9 million due to its longstanding structural gap, running out of federal dollars, and lower passenger revenue, according to MCTS officials. Additional unexpected expenses include costs for unplanned overtime as well as parts and materials, and higher costs tied to its paratransit vendor, a spokesperson for the agency said.
Most recently, MCTS presented its MOVE2025 project, which incorporated county-wide ridership input for route expansions, frequency and reductions.
“Reducing the frequency of buses is the last thing we want to do but it will have the least impact on our riders,” MCTS Interim President and CEO Julie Esch said in a statement. “We provide 80,000 rides a day — that’s tens of thousands of Milwaukee County residents who depend on us to get to work, school, and medical care.”
“Our goal is to ensure that service cuts have minimal impacts on the businesses, organizations, and people who rely on this important service,” Esch said.
Milwaukee County Board supervisors, however, were surprised by the major deficit announced by the agency, with some feeling blindsided.
When transit officials spoke to the county’s finance committee on June 18, Supervisor Shawn Rolland said the budget gap was not acceptable.
“As a bus rider myself, I’m very disappointed to hear this and looking forward to ways that we can work together to help mitigate this disruption in a lot of people’s lives,” Rolland said. “A lot of people depend on the bus.”
Supervisor Justin Bielinski called the timing of the announcement “very suspect” as the agency is undergoing contract negotiations with unions.
“I’m not calling it criminal, but it feels criminal,” said Supervisor Steve Taylor, who was frustrated by the delay in notifying the board of the sudden jump in the transit system’s financial struggles.
“Shocked is an understatement … The fact that one day they all of a sudden realize they have a 10 million dollar issue is a real concern,” Taylor said in a text message to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
“This didn’t just happen overnight,” he added, noting that at the end of May, “everything was on target” transit and paratransit. Now, he anticipates additional route reductions on top of what was outlined by MCTS.
Two years ago, facing a fiscal cliff, MCTS predicted cuts to more than half of the county’s bus routes. In an effort to cut spending in recent years, the agency ultimately eliminated its CONNECT 2 bus-rapid transit, Freeway Flyers, school routes, and special event shuttles.
But despite ridership growth in 2024, service reductions are now set to start on Aug. 24, which will see a roughly 20,000-hour reduction in service levels. MCTS said the adjustments will affect certain weekday routes during midday hours, as well as routes on Saturdays.
MCTS provided additional information about the eight routes tapped for service reduction:
(This story was updated to add new information.)
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: MCTS faces a $10.9M budget deficit. It now looks to cut bus routes across Milwaukee County
Reporting by Vanessa Swales, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel / Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
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