MILWAUKEE — As the search continues for a new person to manage Milwaukee’s streetcar “The Hop”, the city’s operations manager says the system may be without a dedicated leader until as late as early June.
Speaking before the Public Works committee Thursday, Department of Public Works operations manager Chuck Schumacher informed committee chair and Fourth District Alderman Bob Bauman that the city had extended its filing deadline for the streetcar manager position until March 21st, after a previous deadline had been set for February 28th.
“So it could be until June before anyone’s on board?” asked Bauman.
“Well the posting is open until the 21st, but realistically probably May or June would be my guess,” replied Schumacher.
The Hop has been without a manager since October 15th, when Andrew Davis-Lockward resigned from the post in lieu of discharge following growing concern from the city over degrading rail infrastructure and a lack of confidence in the system’s France-based operator Transdev. In the interim, a consultant from HNTB has been brought in to assist with day-to-day streetcar operations.
Schumacher initially said Thursday he was unsure of why it took four months for the city to post the job opening, but later speculated it may have been because the Department of Employee Relations had done outreach to other transit operators looking to research what they were paying for the position. “That may have been part of the reason why it was a little bit delayed, because DER had to do some studying on what other transit operators are paying,” said Schumacher. The current job opening lists a minimum starting salary of $116,493, with a maximum resident-incentivized salary of $131,235.
It was also confirmed Thursday that an internal candidate for the streetcar manager position was not explored.
The open manager position was not the only streetcar-related topic addressed Thursday. Schumacher also provided an update on the replacement process for wheels which are “worn to a state of near condemnation,” according to communications between the city and Transdev in October.
“Wheels have already been replaced or are in the process of being replaced right now on all five cars,” said Schumacher, who added the work must be done by Transdev and should be completed by the end of the year.
Switch shorts were also addressed, with Schumacher saying the city is waiting for a dry period of winter to investigate the potential source of the issue, excavate and replace the two switches at Milwaukee-Michigan and Milwaukee-Kilbourn that are having problems and have led to several shutdowns of the L-Line this year.
“How many times has that happened?” asked Bauman.
“Oh, it’s happened numerous times,” replied Schumacher.
Schumacher was also pressed by Bauman on the current ridership numbers for the streetcar in 2025, since the online ridership details have not been updated since August of 2024. Schumacher confirmed that there have been 1,034 riders across the M and L lines combined per day in 2025 as of mid-February. In January of 2024, the system averaged 1,036 riders per day, which was three months before the L-Line went into full-time operation in April.
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