An inside look at the MCTS CONNECT 1 bus that was crashed into by a speeding vehicle that ran a red light over the weekend.
— Julien Johnson (@jujuelz_is) April 24, 2024
Another MCTS bus also was crashed into by a speeding vehicle that ran a red light over the weekend.
The damages are over 2 million dollars worth@620wtmj pic.twitter.com/n6GDrKfuqb
MILWAUKEE — Two deadly Milwaukee County Transit System crashes over the weekend leaves two people dead and two buses heavily damaged. On Thursday, a speeding vehicle clashed head-on with a standard MCTS bus, and on Saturday, another speeding vehicle crashed into the side of a Battery Run Transit(BRT) CONNECT 1 bus. The damages total to over two million dollars.
The CONNECT 1 bus is potentially able to be repaired and would cost 1.6 million dollars, but the other bus is out of commission and would cost about 650,000 dollars to replace.
MCTS President and Managing Director Denise Wendke said it takes about two years to draft up a contract and replace a bus, and they already are on short supply.
“We run on a budget that we get from the county every year, and it covers some of the expenses that we have as far as maintaining the buses, but this is something above and beyond what we’re prepared to handle.”
Wendke said the process to draft a contract, get approved, and build a new bus takes about two years to complete.
“We do have buses that get involved in different crashes, and we’re able to fix those buses and get them back on the road,” she said. “But this is quite an impact on not only our cost, but also as far as that we’re probably going to lose both [buses].”
MCTS Director of Maintenance Dwyane Reese said the BRT bus was in operation since September 2023, and the 5317 bus was in operation for 12 years. He said a bus has a typical lifespan of 12 years and 500,000 miles, and he shared what they’ll do with the 5317 bus that won’t be used anymore.
“We scrap them,” he said. “We replace the validators, the fare boxes and the radio systems… We take them out of those buses. We put them into other buses, and then we put them up for auction to sale.”
Even though the bus damages will cost millions of dollars, President and Managing Director Wendke told WTMJ that’s not what the biggest loss from these crashes are.
MCTS President and Managing Director Denise Wendke on the seriousness of reckless driving and the damage it causes.
— Julien Johnson (@jujuelz_is) April 24, 2024
A total of two people lost their lives in both MCTS crashes over the weekend.@620wtmj pic.twitter.com/6hxVfd2Jkm
“[It’s] absolutely the loss of life,” she said. “Buses can be replaced, it takes a long time, but I can’t bring back those people who were involved.”
Two people died from the crash. One was the driver of the speeding vehicle in a crash while the other was a passenger in the speeding vehicle in the other crash. Both drivers of the buses are alive, and no passengers on the buses died.
Wendke said when the BRT bus crash happened, there were two passengers that were sitting right at the window upon impact.
“If they would have been in an automobile, they would have not survived,” she said. “It’s terrible.”
Both crashes were the cause of a driver running a red light and driving at a high rate of speed into the buses. Wednke told WTMJ she’s horrified by how bad the crashes were.
“There’s no desire to turn the wheel one direction or the other, even in the last second,” she said. “No side swipes. They’re just head-on collisions.”
She said she’s wondering what it will take for people to stop driving recklessly.
“Stop… just stop. There’s just absolutely no need for this type of behavior… [and] disregard of life,” she said. “How many people have to die before this actually stops.”
Compared to the first three months of last year, the number of automobiles that have crashed into MCTS buses have increased by over 40%.
Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley has called on the Wisconsin state legislature to pass legislation for the City of Milwaukee to install automated traffic enforcement cameras to catch speeders and drivers who blow through red lights. Wendke said she supports these efforts and more to stop reckless driving.
“I think anything that can help our employees get home safe and help the community… we’re absolutely going to support,” she said . “This stuff just breaks my heart.”
