Getting to Work: Opportunities and obstacles to improving transit service to suburban Milwaukee job hubs ABOUT THE PUBLIC POLICY FORUM Milwaukee-based Public Policy Forum – which was established in 1913 as a local government watchdog – is a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization dedicated to enhancing the effectiveness of government and the development of southeastern Wisconsin through objective research of regional public policy issues. PREFACE AND ACKNOWLEDGMENTS This report was undertaken to provide citizens, policymakers, and business leaders in the Milwaukee area with information that will allow them to better understand the many considerations and challenges impacting the potential to improve public transportation connections to suburban job centers throughout the region. We hope that policymakers and community leaders will use the report’s findings to inform discussions during upcoming policy debates, budget deliberations, and civic gatherings regarding public transportation services and strategies in our region. Report authors would like to thank the leadership and planning staff of the Milwaukee County Transit System for patiently answering our questions and providing us with information that made it possible to model potential transit routes. We also would like to thank officials and staff from the Milwaukee County Department of Transportation, Waukesha County Department of Public Works, Waukesha Metro Transit, and Waukesha-Ozaukee-Washington Workforce Development Board for providing additional information and insight. Finally, we wish to thank Transit Now for commissioning this research and for helping to fund it with a grant from the Greater Milwaukee Foundation, as well as the Helen Bader Foundation for its grant to the Forum for workforce development research, which also helped make this report possible. Public Policy Forum 100th Anniversary Sponsors Pillars of Public Policy ● Herzfeld Foundation, Greater Milwaukee Foundation, Helen Bader Foundation, Northwestern Mutual, Quad/Graphics, Wisconsin Energy Foundation Sentinels of Civil Conduct ● Baird, BMO Harris Bank N.A., Potawatomi Bingo Casino Getting to Work: Opportunities and obstacles to improving transit service to suburban Milwaukee job hubs December 2013 Study authors: Joe Peterangelo, Researcher Virginia Carlson, Research Director Rob Henken, President Table of Contents Introduction ............................................................................................................................................ 3 Job centers and transit accessibility............................................................................................... 4 Selecting job hubs for transit improvements .............................................................................. 9 Last mile challenge .................................................................................................................................. 11 Bus service was attempted before but eliminated ................................................................................. 11 Trip time on transit is prohibitive ........................................................................................................... 12 Transit exists, but service is not designed for reverse commuters ........................................................ 12 MCTS considerations and obstacles related to new transit routes ................................... 13 Route productivity .................................................................................................................................. 13 Funding limitations ................................................................................................................................. 15 Planning and implementation challenges ............................................................................................... 17 Summary ................................................................................................................................................. 18 Route modeling .................................................................................................................................... 19 Route 80X from Oak Creek to Mequon via downtown Milwaukee ........................................................ 19 Route 10X from UWM to Brookfield Square via downtown Milwaukee ................................................ 28 Route 351 from West Allis to the Westridge Business Park in New Berlin ............................................ 31 Summary ................................................................................................................................................. 34 Alternatives to fixed-route transit ................................................................................................ 35 Vanpools ................................................................................................................................................. 35 Shuttle services ....................................................................................................................................... 36 Car purchasing programs ........................................................................................................................ 38 Driver’s license recovery programs ........................................................................................................ 39 Private fixed-route bus services .............................................................................................................. 39 Summary ................................................................................................................................................. 40 Observations and policy considerations..................................................................................... 41 Appendix ................................................................................................................................................ 44 Page 2 Introduction In recent years, the divergence between where workers live in the Milwaukee area and where jobs are located – also known as the “spatial mismatch” – has been well documented, particularly in the context of declining public transportation services in the region. It is difficult or impossible to get to jobs in many suburban areas without an automobile, a problem that has been exacerbated over the past decade as the severe fiscal challenges facing the Milwaukee County Transit System (MCTS) have produced a series of cuts in service. In fact, those cuts have resulted in a 22% decline in total annual bus miles between 2000 and 2012 and have caused tens of thousands of jobs to become inaccessible via public transportation.12 This report takes a fresh look at workforce mobility in metro Milwaukee by reconsidering the options that may exist to improve access to suburban job centers for those who cannot afford an automobile, or who otherwise cannot or opt not to use one. Our focus is on the four-county Milwaukee metropolitan statistical area, defined as Milwaukee, Ozaukee, Waukesha, and Washington counties. In exploring this topic, we acknowledge that the relocation of jobs to Milwaukee’s suburbs that has occurred during the past several decades is problematic on many levels, and that an ideal solution would be to encourage job growth in areas that already are well-served by transit. That is a long-term solution, however, and in the meantime there is merit in re-exploring potential transportation strategies that will better connect those seeking employment with areas where jobs currently are available. The report begins by examining and identifying suburban Milwaukee job centers that might benefit most from improved transportation access. Transportation accessibility is discussed in terms of both the reach of current bus routes and the scope of alternative transportation services. The report next examines how new bus routes are developed – including the many operational, financial, and political considerations that factor into route planning – and models a few new suburban bus routes to illustrate potential costs, obstacles, and benefits. We also look at how alternative transportation services are managed and financed and their potential for expansion. With MCTS struggling to maintain existing bus services – and federal and state funding for public transit and other employment-focused transportation services in the Milwaukee area down from previous years – improving access for workers who depend upon or choose transit to get to suburban jobs in the region is no easy task. We hope this report will help policymakers as they deliberate potential ways of doing so. 1 According to the Milwaukee County Transit System’s 2012 MCTS Annual Ridership Statistics Book, total bus miles fell from a peak of 22.2 million miles in 2000 to 17.4 million miles in 2012. 2 The UW-Milwaukee Center for Economic Development estimated that a minimum of 40,000 jobs became inaccessible via public transit between 2001 and 2007: http://www4.uwm.edu/ced/publications.cfm Page 3 Job centers and transit accessibility Jobs are distributed unevenly within the Milwaukee metro area, with numerous job locations inaccessible by public transit, thus creating a particular problem for workers without cars. This is especially true for city of Milwaukee residents, where 13.3% of workers do not have access to a personal automobile, compared with 6.1% of workers in Milwaukee County’s suburbs and 4% or less in Waukesha, Ozaukee,