Europe and China moving to free transit while Wisconsin just cuts

Wisconsinites fight for mass transit! | Fight Back!: "Madison, WI - Unions and community groups, including the Amalgamated Transit Union Local 998 (ATU), Disability Rights Wisconsin and Community Action Now (CAN) gathered inside the Capitol Building here, Jan. 23, for a press conference demanding a reversal of a 10% funding cut, increased funding for transit and the creation of a Regional Transit Authority with elected members. A Regional Transit Authority would allow for better localized coordination and organization of mass transit."

GOP is party of sprawl

Republican Road Rage:
As statistics in the accompanying graph by researcher Ruy Teixeira show, Romney won 68 percent of the vote in areas with just 10 people per square mile, about 57 percent of areas with 170 people per square mile and 51 percent of areas with 600 people per square mile. But he lost any districts with more than 800 people per square mile, with his percentage dropping to as low as 20 or even 15 percent in areas with 36,000 people per square mile.

Milwaukee does not need subways

Transportation planner realizes that subways are not necessary. And without realizing it, shows that commuter trains create hollow out cities by bringing people in to the city [for the day only].  

urbanismnews.com Forrest looked at transit systems in other cities – Chicago and Washington, D.C., for example – to create the Milwaukee system. “A lot of the train system funneled to the Downtown area,” he says. Bringing people into the central business district of a city can spur growth, he says, “especially if they have a viable transit option.” Although Forrest says the map isn’t 100 percent realistic, rapid transit bus and light rail could provide transit “very similar to this without the same capital investment.”

Cars are choking our cities. Subways are a way of mitigating this congestion and prolonging the life of autosprawl. We can make public transit fare-free and eliminate cars from the city. There will then be plenty of room for buses, streetcars, and light rail.

Cars just keep on killing - do we care?

Wisconsin ends 2012 with 601 traffic deaths, 6% more than 2011:
MADISON — Wisconsin ended 2012 with 601 traffic deaths, which was 36 more, or about 6%, than 2011 and two more than the previous five-year average, according to preliminary statistics from the Wisconsin Department of Transportation.