MKE Bus Blues? Blame Trump!!

Milwaukee County Transit Co (the bus company) lost $10++ million last year.  State taxpayers "contribute" (at the point of a gun) 39% of the company's revenues; Federal taxpayers "contribute" another 21%, meaning taxpayers gave this failure $90 million--which went down the tubes.  And if you think Milwaukee County will fix it---think again.

Even with that enormous "contribution" the Company lost $10++ million.

So.  Who to blame??

TRUMP, silly!  Why bother to ask?

... Sandra Kellner, apologized to the board in July, then laid out a series of unexpected cost increases that have plagued the system in 2025. Kellner cited the rising cost of vehicle parts due to federal tariffs, inefficient delivery of paratransit services by a contracted vendor, and bus operators racking up overtime....

So the Company contracted with an incompetent vendor (you get one guess why it's incompetent) and totally mismanaged driver scheduling, yet a couple of months' tariffs are highlighted by this management twit.  Sure, honey.

Is there something more?  Why yes!!  Yes, indeed!!  And thanks to a competent team of highly-trained professional news types, we learn that thousands of petty criminals are taking the Company down like termites in a shaky wood home.

... FOX6 Investigators requested MCTS' own comprehensive data tracking ridership and fare payments....

... MCTS estimates 3.4 million non-paying riders took the bus from January to May 2025. That equates to 8.2 million free riders per year. ...

BINGO!!!

The average fare is $1.25/rider.  Multiply that by 8+ million, and you have $10 MILLION of missing revenues.  Gee.  That's almost dead-nuts the total of the Company's operating loss.

You mean it was NOT Trump??  Nope.  Not Trump.  It was the petty criminals who ride the Center St., Burleigh St., Hampton Ave., Silver Spring, Reagan HS, and Howard Fuller lines.  IYKYK.

So what's the plan??  The usual total BS:

 ...The plan lays out six specific strategies, including:

1. Public education campaign - "Every Fare Counts" signage, social media posts and audio messages
2. Open Loop Payment - allowing credit cards as well as Apple Pay and Google Pay to be used for fare payments
3. Targeted Fare Enforcement - $1 Million for 26,000 annual hours of private security devoted to fare enforcement
4. Fare Ambassadors - Non-police staff to educate riders on how to pay the fare
5. New collection equipment - Add fare collection equipment to certain buses
6. Equity-Focused Fares - Create an income-based fare reduction program...

So will that fix it?

HELL, no!

 The MCTS plan sets a goal of reducing fare evasion from 33% to 30%  by September 2026.

Oh, wow!!  Reduce the loss from $10 million to $9 million.  

They'll call that a victory and go home to have a few cocktails, then scream for more State and Federal money and blame Trump when he tells them to shove it where the sun never shines.

(Meantime, watch Robin Vos cave in and send another $20 million taxpayer dollars.) 

So here's the final quiz:  Is This Another Democrat-Run Government??  Yes/No.