Milwaukee County Transit System

Milwaukee County Transit System

Parent	Milwaukee County Government
Founded	June 1, 1975
Headquarters	1942 North 17th St. Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Service area	Milwaukee, Ozaukee, Washington, and Waukesha counties
Service type	Bus Service
Routes	50+
Hubs	Wisconsin Avenue, Milwaukee Intermodal Station , Henry Maier Festival Park (Seasonal)
Stations	Kinnicknnic Ave Garage, Fond du Lac Ave Garage
Fleet	About 400 buses
Daily ridership	151,000 (2011 avg. weekday)
Fuel type	Diesel
Operator	Milwaukee Transport Services, Inc.
Website	Milwaukee County Transit System

The Milwaukee County Transit System (MCTS) is the largest transit agency in Wisconsin, and is the primary transit provider for Milwaukee County. It ranks among the top 50 transit agencies in the United States for total passenger trips. The Milwaukee Transport Services, Inc. is a quasi-governmental agency responsible for the management and operation of the Milwaukee County Transit System. The county-run agency was formed in 1975 (under the direction of the "newly" created Milwaukee Transport Services, Inc.) after taking over the assets of the Milwaukee & Suburban Transport Company, a private operator.

Bus fleet

MCTS bus 4413, a 2001 New Flyer D40LF

MCTS operates a fleet of over 400 New Flyer low floor buses. All buses are 40 feet (12 m) long.

Fleet numbers

Active

Numbers	Builder	Model	Delivered	Notes
4600-4639	New Flyer	D40LF	April 2002	4607, 4614, 4617, 4626, 4632, 4633 & 4639 were converted as fare collection buses for Summerfest & Wisconsin State Fair for 2 seasons (2014-2015). 4636 returned to service in July 2017 during Summerfest and retired after that.
4700-4750	New Flyer	D40LF	Feb. 2003	5 active as of Dec. 14, 2018 4735, 4740, 4742, 4744, 4746 active 4701, 4702, 4706, 4728 & 4743 returned to service on Wednesday, June 26 to Friday July 7, 2017 during Summerfest and retired after that. Remaining to be retired by new buses by summer 2019. 4733 was the last remaining 4700-series bus with the old MCTS color scheme. 4718, 4750 Inactive
4800-4829	New Flyer	D40LF	January 2004	15 active as of Dec. 14, 2018 4801, 4803, 4804, 4808, 4810, 4817-4819, 4822-4825, 4827-4829 All to be retired by new buses in near future. 4811 was the only remaining 4800-series bus with the old MCTS color scheme. 4806, 4811, 4813, 4821 Inactive
4900-4914	New Flyer	D40LF	October 2004	12 Active as Dec. 21, 2018 4900-4902, 4905, 4906, 4908-4914 Active Officially "2005" as that is when they were paid for; a future purchase for 15 more buses (4915-4929) were canceled due to cuts. A few to be retired by new buses in near future. 4903, 4904, 4907 Inactive
5000-5008	New Flyer	D40LF	January 2006	5000-5007 active A future purchase for 23 buses (5009-5031) were canceled due to cuts. 5008 inactive
5100-5189	New Flyer	D40LFR	August 2010	All active First buses to feature near-zero emissions
5200-5234	New Flyer	D40LFR	April 2011	5200-5218, 5220-5234 active 5219 Inactive
5300-5354	New Flyer	D40LFR	March 2012	All active
5400-5454	New Flyer	XD40	July 2013	All active Clean air buses; First fleet in MCTS' history to feature rear destination signs on the back of the bus.
5500-5534	New Flyer	XD40	January 2014	All active Clean air buses
5600-5627	New Flyer	XD40	October 2015	All active Clean air buses with new interior features, such as an automatically opening electronic smart door at the back of the bus. 2 were canceled due to increased costs. NO 5628 & 5629. 5601 & 5603 used for demonstrations for MCTS Fleet Maintenance Tour. 5601 was first new bus in service on Route 19 on Friday October 2, 2015.
5700-5729	New Flyer	XD40	August 2016	All active Feature cameras on the outside of the bus. All in service as of Dec. 2, 2016.
5800-5814	New Flyer	XD40	September 2017	All active Buses are 41 feet long. 5801 on display on Aug. 16, 2017 at the Newaukee Festival Market in Downtown Milwaukee. 5807, 5813 used for demonstrations for MCTS Fleet Maintenance Tour. 5814 in service as of November 11, 2017. NO 5815, 5816.
5900-?	Gillig	TBD	2019	Delivery in Spring-summer 2019

Bus routes

Most of the year, MCTS operates more than 58 bus routes covering about 90% of Milwaukee County and parts of Waukesha County, Ozaukee County, and Washington County. In addition, special routes are run for certain festivals, sports games, and other special events.

Frequencies are approximate. Data from December 2018.

№	Name	First stop	Last stop	Frequency
				Peak		Midday		Evening		Saturday		Sunday
Blue		National at 69th	Park Place at Liberty	25		25		35-60		33		40
Gold		Maryland at Hartford	Brookfield Square	15		15		30		20		25
Green		Bayshore	Airport	15		15		20-30		18		25
Purple		Baker at Camden	IKEA	24		30		30		32		32
Red		UWM Kenwood at Prospect	Pick 'n Save at 127th	12		13		15-20		15		15
12	Teutonia - Hampton	5th at Intermodal	Green Bay at Schroeder	12	24	13	26	20	40	20	40	20	40
			92th at Glendale		24		26		40		40		40
14	Humboldt – Forest Home	Bayshore	74th at Holmes	20		20		30		20		30
15	Holton - Kinnickinnic	Bayshore	Chicago at Drexel	20		20		30		30		35
17	Canal Street	1st at Mitchell	Roundhouse at Canal	45				45		45		45
19	Martin Luther King, Jr. Dr. – S. 13th & S. 20th	35th at Silver Spring	13th at Zellman (via 13th)	15-20	35	15	30	30	60	20	40	23	46
			13th at Zellman (via 20th)		35		30		60		40		46
21	North Avenue	UWM Kenwood @ Stowell	Mayfair	15		15		15-30		18		20
22	Center Street	Kenwood at Stowell	Center at 60th	16		18		30		23		22
23	Font du Lac - National	National at 69th	Granville at Calumet	24		24		35		34		40
27	27th Street	Baker at Camden	College Avenue Walmart	24		30		35		32		32
28	108th Street	Silver Spring at 107th	Hales corners Park-Ride Lot	30		30		40		37-40		38
30/30X	Sherman - Wisconsin	Sherman at Florist	UWM Maryland at Hartford	10-11		10-11		20		12-15		12-15
31	State - Highland	9th at Wells	Mayfair	21	42	24	48	30	60	22	44	22	44
			Innovation Drive at Watertown Plank		42		48		60		44		44
33	Vilet - Juneau	Prospect at State	Vilet at 60th	30		30		25		25		25
35	35th Street	42nd at Silver Spring	35th at Loomis	18		21		30		20-25		19-30
40	Ryan/College Flyer	College Avenue Park-Ride Lot	10th at Courthouse	10-20
40U	Holt - College Avenue UBUS	Kenwood at Maryland	MATC South Campus	20-30		50		50-60
42U	6th Street - Port Washington Road UBUS	Wells at 6th	MATC North Campus	60-80		100
43	Hales Corners Flyer	10th at Courthouse/Wells	Forest Home at 84th	10-30
44	National Flyer	Wisconsin at Cass	Lincoln at 102nd	15-30
44U	Fair Park - Hales Corners UBUS	Hartford at Maryland	Hales Corners Park-Ride Lot	20-30		30-40		30-35
46	Loomis - Southridge Flyer	10th at Courthouse/Wells	Grange at Northway	15-20
48	South Shore Flyer	10th at Courthouse/Wells	Ryan at Howell	20-30
49	Brown Deer - Bayshore Flyer	6th at Kilbourn	Green Bay at Schroeder	10-30
49U	Brown Deer UBUS	Downer at Hampshire	Brown Deer East Lot	30		55		50
50	Morgan Avenue	Beloit at Morgan	Kinnickinnic at Crawford	two trips in each direction
51	Oklahoma Avenue	Oklahoma at New York	Oklahoma at 123rd	20-23		23		28		28		28
52	Clement - 15th Avenue	Kinnickinnic at Mitchell	Chicago at Drexel	42		40		85		40		40
53	Lincoln Avenue	Bay at Conway	Lincoln at 112th	22		30		48		30		40
54	Mitchell - Burnham	UMOS/Kinnickinnic at Mitchell	National at 111th	33		32		33		35		35
55	Layton Avenue	Warnimont Park	Hales Corners Park-Ride Lot	40		38		35-60		35		35
56	Greenfield Avenue	1st at Mitchell	Greenfield at 124th	30		28		35		35		35
57	Walnut - N. 92nd	St. Paul at 5th	92nd at Grantosa	30		27		32-50		25		35
60	Burleigh Street	Kenwood at Stowell	124th at Frederick	20		25		30		22		22
61	Appleton - Keefe	35th at Toronto	Germantown Walmart	22		27		30		27		35
63	Silver Spring - Port Washington	Silver Spring at Lovers Lane	Port Washington at Glencoe	21		21		32		27		27
64	S. 60th Street	Vilet at 60th	Southridge	40		40		40		38		37
67	N. 76th - S. 84th	Northridge Mall Road	87th at Layton (via 84th)	18	36	25	50	35	70	30	60	30	60
			87th at Layton (via 92th)		36		50		70		60		60
76	N. 60th - S. 70th	96th at Brown Deer	74th at Holmes (via 68th)	15-20	30-40	25	50	25-30	50-60	20	40	25	50
			74th at Holmes (via 76th)		30-40		50		50-60		40		50
79	Menomonee Falls Flyer	Wisconsin at Cass	Pilgrim Road Park-Ride Lot	four AM trips to Downtown and four PM trips back
80	6th Street	6th at Layton/Airport/MATC South Campus/Centennial at Target	35th at Capitol	12-14	24-28	17	34	30	60	21-28	42-56	30	60
			Villard at Appleton		24-28		34		60		42-56		60
85	Whitman - West	Bluemound at 70th	Center at 114th	two AM trips nad foru PM trips
87	Nathan Hale East	AR Nathan Hale	Wollmer at National	one trip in each direction
88	Cudahy	around Cudahy Middle School		three AM trips and two PM trips
89	St. Francis	around St. Francis High School		five AM trips and three PM trips
137	County Correctional Facility South	9th at Wells	HCVS					three trips in each direction
143	Ozaukee County Express	Walnut at 6th	Grafton/Port Washington Park-Ride Lot	12-30
219	Oak Creek Shuttle	Zellman Court	6th at Drexel	20
223	Park Place - Bradley Woods Shuttle	Granville	Park at Liberty	two AM trips to Granville, three AM trips to Park, five PM trips in each direction		one trip to Granville and two to Park, both weekday only
276	Brown Deer Shuttle	Brown Deer at Park Plaza	Cherrywood	30		30				30		30

Fares

As of December 2016, the adult, regular, non-discounted bus fare on MCTS is $2.25. For those that have an M•Card, the fare per ride is $2. Fare for children 6-11, Seniors and other qualifying riders is $1.10 cash or paid with an M•Card (free to children below 6, up to 3 per fare-paying rider). A 24-hour pass costs $5 for adults if paid in cash, $4 if paid with value stored on an M-card. A 7-day pass is $19.50. A monthly pass since January 2017, is $72. A transfer valid for 90 minutes from time of issue may be posted to an M-card at the time the rider pays for fare when boarding the bus; round-trips or stopovers prohibited.

In 2013, MCTS finalized plans for a transition from paper fare media (tickets, printed passes, and paper transfers) to a contactless smart card known as the M•CARD, with the project completion Leap Day 2016. While exact fares will still be accepted in cash, the M•CARD allows passengers to add daily, weekly, and monthly passes, store a declining value, and receive transfers automatically.

M•CARD Timeline and Transition Milestones

September 29, 2014: M•CARD passes (1, 7 or 31 day) launched at select sales outlets.

October 13, 2014: M•CARD customers were able to purchase Stored Cash Value.

April 6, 2015: MCTS begins issuing a one-time $2 charge fee for NEW! M•CARD purchase.

August 5, 2015: M•CARD Online launched.

November 16, 2015: M•CARD customers could purchase a 1-Day Pass from the farebox.

Coming 2016: M•CARD Lite (a disposable limited use smartcard) will be available to social service agencies and non-profit organizations.

As of February 29, 2016, the distribution of paper transfers and outlets that sell paper fare media was discontinued. Transfers are only available electronically (even for cash paying passengers), marking the beginning of an all M•CARD fare structure. Any remaining paper tickets were still accepted as fare through December 31, 2016.

The new fare system was funded predominantly by federal stimulus funds from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009.

Other transit services

MCTS is a partner in the Southeast Wisconsin Transit System, a joint-venture transit partnership that also includes Waukesha Metro Transit and Wisconsin Coach Lines in Waukesha, Washington County Commuter Express operated by Riteway Bus Service in Richfield, Belle Urban System (THE BUS) in Racine and Kenosha Area Transit (KAT) in Kenosha.

Other projects

Regional Transit Authority

In 2010, a proposal to form a regional transit authority that would incorporate MCTS was made in the Wisconsin State Legislature. The move faced opposition from some lawmakers, and was vetoed by then Governor Doyle.

See also

• Milwaukee Streetcar

External links

• Milwaukee County Transit System
• Milwaukee Streetcar Project
• Southeast Wisconsin Transit System website
• Milwaukee's transit history