Minnesota needs many more billions for #autosprawl

MPR : "Transportation Commissioner Charlie Zelle told The Daily Circuit on Tuesday that the state needs $6.5 billion in the next 10 years to maintain Minnesota roadways. Rather than rely on one-time funding, Zelle said the state should establish a reliable revenue stream, such as a user fee, to pay for future road projects."

Should All Public Transit Be Free?

Big Think: "The key is to scale an already-subsidized industry with select free-fare groups into a system-wide program free to all.  This would create a tipping point toward more people using public transportation. "Of course public transportation has to be paid for,” writes Wright, “but it should not be paid for through the purchase of tickets by individual riders—it should be paid for by society as a whole through the one mechanism we have available for this, taxation.""

Vote yes to keep the bus running in Weston: column

wausaudailyherald : "Public transit is integral to the dignity and independence of many of our fellow citizens."

Boomers, millennials agree: State needs more transportation options

jsonline: "The millennial and baby boom generations are different in many ways, but there's one thing we increasingly share: a desire for more transportation options.

Wisconsin needs a new transportation vision. We need state and federal leaders to get real about our transportation future. The social and economic viability of our state will depend on how we choose to approach this issue — now. And, as our needs continue to change, it is imperative that the transportation networks we rely on every day also change to meet the growing demand for realistic, affordable options."

No car, no job?

Bernard-Schaber supporter of public transportation: "Imagine you are a person applying for a job that requires you to work several shifts or weekends. Job applications often ask, “Do you have a car or reliable transportation?” If you don’t have a car, it limits your job prospects which limit your freedom and the contribution you can make to the community. The public transit system needs to have schedules that accommodate people working outside of normal business hours. If you believe we need to work together as a community to make the public transportation system work better for everyone, your vote should be for Penny Bernard Schaber for State Senate in the 19th District."

Public transportation important to state

postcrescent : "As a Fox Valley community, we have a responsibility to ensure our neighbors and friends have the ability to access a workplace. Penny Bernard Schaber understands this responsibility and has consistently worked to make sure public transit continues to be a resource for residents of the Fox Valley. As our next state senator, Bernard Schaber will continue to be an advocate for public transportation that connects residents to jobs.

Penny feels that the state should consider setting up regional transit authorities as a method for supplementing funding for public transportation. To help make that happen, Penny, in 2011, brought forward a proposal in the state Assembly designed to keep the Valley Transit system running smoothly for years to come. Measures like these are a common-sense way to combat unemployment."

Social justice should be considered in transportation projects

Channel3000.com: "Channel3000 managing editor Kyle Geissler put online yesterday a study from the University of Colorado Denver that used Madison’s Verona Road reconstruction project as an example of how transportation policies can disregard public health issues when built through lower-income neighborhoods. The study found that while some neighborhood concerns were addressed by adding bicycle crossings and a pedestrian bridge, other issues like noise and air pollution were ignored.

That seems dangerously short-sighted to us as well as unjust."

La Crosse – #publictransit demand is up, funding is down

WKBT : "La Crosse Mayor Tim Kabat stressed the need for more money to be budgeted for public transportation.

"We could do so much more with some additional funding. I mean, you could actually have service coming more often and actually capture that demand that we're seeing," said Kabat.

There were about 1.2-million passengers on MTU buses last year, up three-percent from 2012."

Why the Zoo Interchange Project Should Be Stopped

Streetsblog : "We won’t succeed in the fight against climate change if we keep throwing billions of dollars down the sinkhole of car dependence and sprawl."

The flip-side: Public transit and attracting young professionals

Milwaukee Business Journal : "Some entry-level employees want a car, but can't access one. Others, particularly young professionals, can access a car, but don't always want one."

Parking Craters Aren’t Just Ugly, They’re a Cancer on Your City’s Downtown

Streetsblog USA: "Streetsblog recently spoke with Chris McCahill of the State Smart Transportation Initiative in Madison, Wisconsin, to learn about his research into how parking affects small cities’ downtowns. Most recently, McCahill and his co-authors have shown how policy makers’ preoccupation with parking not only hollows out city centers, it also decimates the downtown tax base."

Spending on roads making things worse in Wisconsin

Transportation secretary outlines funding crisis, hears concerns at public forum: "Despite more than $1 billion a year in road construction and hundreds of millions more on maintenance, Wisconsin’s transportation system is falling behind and facing a shrinking revenue stream."

County Officials Delay Solving Bus System’s Woes

Live in Milwaukee and wondering whats going on with the mess thats currently occuring with the Milwaukee County Transit systems bus contract?
Bruce Murphy has the inside scoop for those of you who are confused as I was.
http://urbanmilwaukee.com/2014/01/30/murphys-law-county-officials-delay-solving-bus-systems-woes/

"The more,bigger roads approach no longer sensible in Wisconsin"

Theres this great opinion piece that ran in the Sunday Milwaukee Journal Sentinel thats worth a read:

"Rather than build more highways to nowhere, we need to send more transportation money back into our communities. Local leaders depend on state assistance to fix potholes and maintain a viable transit system. Because of property tax levy limits and other cuts to local aids, their options are either to neglect local transportation needs or cut other local services such as police and fire.
With the changing travel habits of young people, who have the most to gain or lose from the transportation system we build today, let's make sure we are investing in the infrastructure that we'll be using in 20 years, not of eras gone by."

Millennials Drive Downtown Growth, GMC Told

Plenty of Horne: "After decades when population followed capital to the suburbs with their cheap land and free parking, capital is now following the creative class — and it’s heading downtown."

'via Blog this'