MILWAUKEE – The Milwaukee County Transit System is recommending a pause on the CONNECT 2 Bus Rapid Transit project due to a current lack of funding and ongoing fiscal challenges within the county.
MCTS Director of Marketing Kristina Hoffman says currently, MCTS does not have a sustainable funding source and notes while the 0.4% sales tax increase implemented by Milwaukee County at the start of the year prevented major cuts to transit service, a report from the Milwaukee County Comptroller shows financial gaps in the transit operations budget as soon as 2025, growing into an annual shortfall exceeding $15 million by 2028, which is the same year that CONNECT 2 was set to launch.
Hoffman says pausing the CONNECT 2 project at the current phase frees up potentially $15 million in one-time temporary funds that can be directed toward MCTS operating costs to maintain current service levels and avoid route disruptions.
PREVIOUS COVERAGE: Public input sought on second MCTS bus rapid transit line
The CONNECT 2 Bus Rapid Transit line would travel across five municipalities, as well as a state roadway, between Bayshore Mall in Glendale to IKEA in Oak Creek. It would replace one of the county’s busiest bus routes, the PurpleLine, which will continue serving riders along 27th Street while MCTS seeks out dedicated funding for the CONNECT 2 project from state, federal and local sources.
The CONNECT 2 recommendation will be considered by the County Board’s Transportation and Transit Committee on September 4th.
The news regarding CONNECT 2 follows weeks of a growing budget crisis across Milwaukee County. In addition to sales tax revenue coming in to the county failing to reach earlier projections, the county is also navigating around over seven million dollars in excess overtime racked up by the Milwaukee County Sheriff’s Office. Sheriff Denita Ball has said a staff shortage is the primary cause of the excess overtime hours.
“It’s always been an issue for us” Sheriff Ball told our news partners at TMJ4 News earlier this week. “When you have to use overtime to complete our core functions, that cost has gone up, we’re paying them time-and-a-half. And the overtime budget has not increased with wages”.
County Executive David Crowley completed his third of three town halls across the county Thursday discussing the budget for 2025 and what needs to be decided before its approval this fall.
READ MORE: Milwaukee County hosting Town Hall-style 2025 budget meeting in Greenfield
“We need to be in constant communication with how we’re going to be moving forward, and making sure that our Milwaukee County budget not just this year, but moving forward, is solvent” Crowley told me August 8th in regards to talks between constitutional county officers and the Milwaukee County board concerning the budget issues.
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