Milwaukee County Transit System

Milwaukee County Transit System

A pair of New Flyers, a second generation D40LFR (5101) and a 41-foot Xcelsior (5804), operating on Blue Line and Freeway Flyer route 40 in Downtown Milwaukee respectively.
Parent	Milwaukee County Government
Founded	June 1, 1975
Headquarters	1942 North 17th St. Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Service area	Milwaukee, Ozaukee, 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.

Accolades

MCTS is known for its bus drivers doing good deeds around the city of Milwaukee, such as rescuing lost children and helping the blind cross the street. Videos of such acts have gone viral, placing MCTS in the national spotlight. This recognition has resulted in MCTS receiving honors from organizations such as PETA to an Innovators Award from the American Public Transportation Association in July 2019.

Bus fleet

MCTS bus 4413, a 2001 New Flyer D40LF

MCTS operates a fleet of 369 buses (341 New Flyer D40LFRs and Xcelsior XD40s, and 28 Gillig low floor BRTs). Almost all buses are 40 feet (12 m) long, with the exception of the 5800 series XD40s being 41 feet long. The 28 new Gillig Low Floor Advantage BRT 40 ft coaches are all in active revenue service as of June 25, 2019, marking Gillig's first return to the MCTS fleet in years. As of July 2019, all New Flyer D40LFs have been officially taken out of service, ending a 23-year run of original low floor buses on the streets of Milwaukee.

Fleet numbers

Active

Numbers	Builder	Model	Delivered	Notes
5100-5189	New Flyer	D40LFR	August 2010	All active First buses to feature near-zero emissions
5200-5234	New Flyer	D40LFR	May 2011	5200-5218, 5220-5234 active 5219 retired early due to an accident at Marquette University on May 15, 2018
5300-5354	New Flyer	D40LFR	March 2012	5300-5333, 5335-5354 active 5334 retired early due to an engine fire at 76th and Layton on July 4, 2019
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. 5601 had an engine fire on March 1st, 2020 at 27th and Fond du Lac. Return to service unknown.
5700-5729	New Flyer	XD40	August 2016	All active 5713 features a white front LED destination sign 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.
5900-5927	Gillig	Advantage BRT	June 2019	All active as of June 25, 2019 First buses to have white LED destination signs (with the exception of 5713), heated side mirrors, and new anti-slip floors The first of a 50-bus order from Gillig
6000-	Nova Bus	LFSe	TBD	first battery/electric fleet

Retired

Numbers	Builder	Model	Delivered	Notes
4600-4639	New Flyer	D40LF	April 2002	All retired 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	All Retired 4701, 4702, 4706, 4728 & 4743 returned to service from Wednesday, June 28 to Friday July 7, 2017 during Summerfest and retired after that. 4733 was the last remaining 4700-series bus with the old MCTS color scheme (Now Retired)
4800-4829	New Flyer	D40LF	January 2004	All Retired 4801 was converted to a fare collection bus for Summerfest 2019 4811 was the only remaining 4800-series bus with the old MCTS color scheme (Now Retired)
4900-4914	New Flyer	D40LF	October 2004	All Retired Officially "2005" as that is when they were paid for; a future purchase for 15 more buses (4915-4929) were canceled due to cuts.
5000-5008	New Flyer	D40LF	January 2006	All Retired A future purchase for 23 buses (5009-5031) were canceled due to cuts. 5008 retired early due to engine issues

Bus Routes

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

Frequencies are approximate. Data from January 2019.

No.	Name	First stop	Last stop	Frequency
				Peak		Midday		Evening		Saturday		Sunday
BlueLine	Fond Du Lac - National	National at 69th	Park Place at Liberty	10-12	20-24	15	30	20	40	15	30	15	30
			Granville at Calumet		20-24		30		40		30		30
GoldLine	Wisconsin Ave - UWM	UWM-Maryland at Hartford	Brookfield Square	15		15		30		20		25
GreenLine	Bayshore - Airport	Bayshore	Airport	15		15		20-30		18		25
PurpleLine	27th Street	Baker at Camden	IKEA/College Avenue Walmart	12		13-15		15-20		15-20		15-20
RedLine	Capitol Drive	UWM-Kenwood at Prospect	Pick 'n Save at 127th	12		13		15-20		15		15
12	Teutonia - Hampton	5th at St. Paul-Intermodal Station	Park Plaza at Brown Deer	12	24	13	26	20	40	20	40	20	40
			Hampton at 124th		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
19	Martin Luther King, Jr. Dr. – S. 13th & S. 20th	Silver Spring at 35th	Zellman Court (via 13th)	15-20	35	15	30	30	60	20	40	23	46
			Zellman Court (via 20th)		35		30		60		40		46
21	North Avenue	UWM-Kenwood at Stowell/North Avenue at Lake Drive	Mayfair	15		15		15-30		18		20
22	Center - 92nd	UWM-Kenwood at Stowell	92nd at Grantosa	16		18		30		23		22
28	108th Street	Lovers Lane at Silver Spring	Hales Corners Park & Ride Lot	30		30		40		37-40		38
30	Sherman - Wisconsin	Woolworth at Sherman	UWM-Maryland at Hartford	10-11		10-11		20		12-15		12-15
31	State - Highland	5th at St. Paul-Intermodal Station	Mayfair	21	42	24	48	30	60	22	44	22	44
			Innovation Drive		42		48		60		44		44
33	Vilet - Juneau	Prospect at State	Vilet at 60th	30		30		25		25		25
35	35th Street	Teutonia at Good Hope	Loomis at Howard	18		21		30		20-25		19-30
40	College Avenue Flyer	College Avenue Park & Ride Lot	Wells at 10th-Courthouse	10-20
40U	Holt - College Avenue UBUS	UWM-Kenwood at Maryland	MATC South Campus	20-30		50		50-60
43	Hales Corners Flyer	Wells at 10th-Courthouse	Hales Corners Park & Ride Lot	10-30
44	State Fair Park Flyer	Wisconsin at Cass	State Fair Park & Ride Lot	15-30
44U	Fair Park - Hales Corners UBUS	UWM-Hartford at Maryland	Hales Corners Park & Ride Lot	20-30		30-40		30-35
46	Loomis - Holt Flyer	Wells at 10th-Courthouse	Loomis Park & Ride Lot	15-20
48	South Shore Flyer	Wells at 10th-Courthouse	Chicago at Drexel	20-30
49	Brown Deer - Bayshore Flyer	Kilbourn at 6th	Brown Deer East Park & Ride Lot	10-30
49U	Brown Deer UBUS	UWM-Downer at Hampshire	Brown Deer East Park & Ride Lot	30		55		50
51	Oklahoma Avenue	New York at Oklahoma	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/Lipton at Kinnickinnic	Hales Corners Park & Ride Lot	40		38		35-60		35		35
56	Greenfield Avenue	1st at Mitchell	Greenfield at 121st	30		28		35		35		35
57	Walnut - Appleton	St. Paul at 5th-Intermodal Station	Lovers Lane at Silver Spring	30		27		32-50		25		35
60	Burleigh Street	UWM-Kenwood at Stowell/Humboldt at Locust	Feerick at 124th	20		25		30		22		22
63	Silver Spring - Port Washington	Lovers Lane at Silver Spring	Brown Deer East Park & Ride Lot	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 at 76th	Layton at Hawk (via 84th)	18	36	25	50	35	70	30	60	30	60
			Layton at Supreme (via 92nd)		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	4 AM trips to Downtown and 4 PM trips to Pilgrim Park & Ride Lot
80	6th Street	Airport/MATC South Campus/Centennial at Target	35th at Capitol	12-14	24-28	17	34	30	60	22-24	44-46	22-25	42-45
			Villard at Appleton		24-28		34		60		44-46		42-45
137	County Correctional Facility South	Wells at 9th	HCVS					three trips in each direction
143	Ozaukee County Express	Walnut at 6th	Saukville Walmart/Grafton Commons	12-30
RR1	Reagan High School via Route 19	Reagan High School	Silver Spring at 35th	2 AM trips to school (1 via 13th, 1 via 20th), 3 PM trips from school (1 via 13th, 2 via 20th)
RR2	Reagan High School via Purple Line	Reagan High School	Layton Blvd at National	2 AM trips to school, 2 PM trips from school
RR3	Reagan High School via Blue Line	Reagan High School	Congress at Fond du Lac	1 AM trip to school, 1 PM trip from school

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

MCTS NEXT

MCTS is looking to provide "faster service with more connections and increased accessibility". This project, under the name "MCTS NEXT", seeks to implement more high-frequency bus routes, while potentially eliminating lower-frequency routes. As of late 2018, this project is in its developmental stage. A concept will be finalized in 2019, with new service beginning sometime between 2020 and 2021.

East-West BRT (Bus Rapid Transit)

The East-West BRT is a 9-mile planned route that would run along Wisconsin Avenue in Milwaukee and Bluemound Road in Wauwatosa, connecting riders from Downtown Milwaukee and Marquette University to the west side of the city to the Milwaukee Regional Medical Center (MRMC). Its goal is to connect thousands of people to and from work, universities and recreational centers. As of late 2018, the project design is being finalized, and the BRT route should begin service in 2021. It is estimated that by 2035, the East-West BRT route would average more than 9,500 weekday riders.

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