Uppity Wisconsin

A Response by Bill Sell

I appreciate that you have a difficult job in a day of when politics is sometimes hostile to practical, wise investment in our infrastructure. Many believe Transit is a luxury because, they say, “I have a car. I don’t need it.” And elected officials pander to that tune rather than educate the citizen.

Your MCTS Plan 2009, however, too, is lacking. If anything it is not bold enough. You are open to serious criticism while your opening position on Plan 2009 does not reach far enough. While I understand the need to accommodate many interests, ... more at  http://www.milwaukeerenaissance.com/BusesAreGreen/MCTSPlan2009

Word from Transit is their concern that the demise of Transit TV will leave Transit but 'no choice' except to find a substitute system.  As a bus rider, I have a better idea. 

Dear Drivers

One bus driver on Route 15 announces all the stops. It is a pleasure to hear his voice and it gives him a commanding presence that is reassuring about the service as a whole. Why we needed Transit TV was that Transit management gave up on its efforts to get drivers to announce bus stops.

They might have thought that TTV filled the bill, but it does not. It announced only major stops, skipping the dark corners one can barely discern from inside the bus.  Dark corners are the corners the rider needs to get right.

Drivers, please spare us another version of TTV and call the stops, all of them.

Your riders have gone to bat for you against the cuts, against the fare increases that would reduce your hours. We need you on this one. Shout the stops. We'll thank you.

I have been begging County Transit to abandon Transit TV for years. It is a noisy intrusion on a quiet ride. It offers scams to unwitting citizens. It was a blight on the Milwaukee scene - as if we were too cheap to provide our passengers with a quality ride - we had to infuse the bus with the worst of television and AM radio ("operators are standing by...").  It appears to have died at the hands of the Market. Thank heavens for the hand of the market. (never thought I could ever say those words.)

http://www.jsonline.com/blogs/news/39205597.html?c=y&commentSubmitted=y

No one at Transit wanted to step forward and say the truth: this noisy nuisance was deterring the efforts to get passengers who can choose to ride the bus.  Let peace reign. Death to scavengers is good. Mercy killing is not always wrong.

best

Bill Sell

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, June 8, 2008

Civic, business leaders disagree over proposed restaurant for Amtrak station

Installing a restaurant at Milwaukee's new Intermodal Station does not need an argument about donuts. It needs people. The solution to this small town brouhaha is waiting for a question a bus rider would ask.

The question is: Why does only one minor bus route (#57) stop in front of Milwaukee's major transportation terminal?

About 10 nearby County bus routes bypass the new Milwaukee Intermodal Station. Only one of those routes stops in front.

Slight deviations in some of the other 9 routes will make Intermodal Station a practical destination, supporting dense development in the immediate area, and making arrival in Milwaukee by train a pleasure.

Where there are people there is a restaurant market.