More cuts for county transit - JSOnline

More cuts for county transit - JSOnline: "In the latest annual budget proposed by Milwaukee County Executive Scott Walker, bus fares aren't going up but service is again cut. And this is simply unacceptable.

I've ridden the bus in Milwaukee for almost 50 years. In that time, I've become an increasingly ardent advocate for the bus as an alternative to the automobile."

Disabled Veterans Ride Free on Green Bay Buses - WBAY-TV Green Bay-Fox Cities-Northeast Wisconsin News

Disabled Veterans Ride Free on Green Bay Buses - WBAY-TV Green Bay-Fox Cities-Northeast Wisconsin News: "Starting October 1st, disabled veterans can ride Green Bay buses for free.

Mayor Jim Schmitt announced the Green Bay Metro program. The transit commission approved it earlier this month."

fare-free would "create a tipping point toward more people using public transportation"

A way to realign these incentives and increase public transit use is to make all public transportation free to passengers, Erik Olin Wright, a professor of sociology at the University of Wisconsin at Madison, told Big Think. According to Wright, the benefits of free public transit are broader than are apparent with strict financial bookkeeping. The full value comes in a range of ancillary economic, health and ecological benefits, including:

"Reduced air pollution, including especially reduced greenhouse gases, which would help mitigate global warming."
"More efficient labor markets since it is easier for poor people to get to jobs. This is a benefit to employers for it makes it easier to hire people and it is a benefit to the people without cars who now find it easier to get jobs. But it is also a benefit to the society at large because it contributes to a long-term reduction in poverty."
"Health benefits: reduced asthma and other illnesses linked to automobile generated pollution."
"Less congestion on the highways for those who do need to drive."

big think