MILWAUKEE – In 1975, the cost to ride aboard a Milwaukee County Transit System bus was 50 cents. In 2025, that cash fare is now 2 dollars.
What that 2 dollars will get you starting this year is a ride aboard a new fleet of MCTS buses rolling out for the system’s 50th anniversary.
The Gillig 6400 series clean diesel buses begin their rollout Wednesday, and include new features such as video monitors at the front of the bus, and new plastic seating replacing the fabric seats of older buses. Riders will notice a similar feel to the current CONNECT1 buses running between The Couture downtown and the Froedtert campus in Wauwatosa. Additionally, a 5900 series bus currently running is being wrapped to look how a MCTS bus appeared in 1975, when Milwaukee County took over the bus system and established the Milwaukee County Transit System after taking over the assets of the Milwaukee & Suburban Transport Company.
“More new buses on the road bring you a smoother, faster and more reliable experience,” said MCTS interim managing director Julie Esch. The new fleet includes 30 of the 6400 series buses, each at a cost of over $650,000, and will be implemented throughout the year.
The 6400s also feature an updated color scheme: light and dark blue alongside yellow symbolizing Lake Michigan and Milwaukee’s brewing history, respectively.
Esch also revealed Wednesday an uptick in ridership for MCTS in the past year, with the reported 25,300,649 riders in 2024 representing a 13% increase from the 22.3 million riders across the system in 2023. The 2024 number still lags slightly behind what MCTS was seeing pre-pandemic; the system recorded nearly 29 million riders in 2019, which itself was down from an average in the mid-30 millions earlier in the decade.
The 50th anniversary also comes as transit systems across the country navigate an uncertain future for federal transportation funding. On March 10, U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy announced the department was rescinding two memorandums issued during the Biden Administration, which the Trump administration says “injected a social justice and environmental agenda into decisions for critical infrastructure projects.”
“Under President Trump’s leadership, the Department of Transportation is getting back to basics — building critical infrastructure projects that move people and move commerce safely. The previous administration flouted Congress in an attempt to push a radical social and environmental agenda on the American people. This was an act of federal overreach. It stops now,” said Duffy.
Late last year, MCTS projected a $140,651,559 budget for 2025 coupled with an expected loss of federal pandemic aid that has kept the system level for the past four years. In the 2025 budget summary, MCTS noted federal relief funds allocated to the system are expected to run out by late 2026 or early 2027, with the exact timeline dependent upon actual revenues and expenditures in the upcoming years. The summary adds the expiration of these relief fund revenues “will create a ‘fiscal cliff’ in the transit budget in future years.”
READ MORE: MCTS to implement fare cap increases in 2025
“We need greater partnerships, public transit for places like Milwaukee and other large metros across the country is essential,” Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley told WTMJ Wednesday. “We want to make sure that we have a strong economy in Southeast Wisconsin. When we think about attracting new businesses and workers, a lot of folks will look at services we provide.”
One of those services that was slated for expansion last year was the above-mentioned bus rapid transit system, to be tentatively named CONNECT2. But plans for a new route along 27th St. between Bayshore Mall and the Oak Creek IKEA were paused due to a lack of funding and ongoing fiscal challenges within the county. When Crowley was asked if the CONNECT2 would be a priority to revive, he reiterated the need to build greater partnerships to ensure the long-term success of MCTS.
READ MORE: MCTS recommends pausing CONNECT 2 bus rapid transit project due to budget concerns
In addition to the new buses, MCTS says 25 new bus shelters and new bus stop signage will rollout throughout 2025.
This story has been edited to note the Gillig 6400 series buses are clean diesel, not battery electric.
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