County committee recommends MCTSs Move 2025 route changes; plan would add four routes, extend several and eliminate small campus route

The Milwaukee County Committee on Transportation and Transit recommended adoption, by a 5-0 vote, of Milwaukee County Transit Systems Move 2025 recommended route plan, a cost-neutral package of service changes planned to take effect with the fall schedule on Aug. 24.

MCTS presenters said the plan is budget-neutral (no net additional operating hours) and is based on six months of public outreach including public meetings, station boards for drivers, surveys in English and Spanish, and targeted stakeholder engagement. Tom Winter, director of service development at MCTS, and Jesus Ochoa, planning manager, outlined four categories of proposed changes: increased frequency on high-ridership corridors, creation of four new routes, route extensions to improve connections, and targeted modifications where ridership is low.

Key elements described by MCTS: - Frequency increases: Blue Line service north of Hampton would be increased from every 30 minutes to every 15 minutes; Routes 57 and 63 would receive more frequent service during weekday peak periods. - Four new routes: Route 59 would provide new service along Drexel Avenue to Drexel Town Square and IKEA; Route 73 would serve a Mill Road segment; Route 74 would connect Highway 175 to Miller Parkway (with a potential future stop near the baseball stadium tied to a WisDOT interchange project); Route 82 would be a segment split off from Route 19 to serve Oak Creek and Drexel Town Square. - Extensions and connection improvements: Route 14 would be extended further west on Wisconsin Avenue toward Marquette University; Route 52 and Route 56 would be extended to serve additional shopping nodes, parks and senior centers; Route 68 would be extended eastward to UWM. - Modifications and reductions: Route 19 would be shifted off a narrow segment of Martin Luther King Drive to wider Sixth Street through downtown to improve reliability; limited, low-ridership weekday segments on routes 51 and 55 over Lake Drive would be removed; Route 49U, a small, school‑year‑only route serving Brown Deer Park & Ride to UWM, would be eliminated and mitigated by the Route 68 extension.

MCTS emphasized a service‑equity (Title VI) analysis that, according to presenters, found no disparate adverse impact on minority or low‑income populations and noted planned mitigation for eliminated segments. The agency said it had engaged with the Office of Equity, ATU local leadership and municipal DPW staff during plan development; ATU representatives urged clearer breakdowns of hours transferred between routes and requested additional station meetings for operators.

Public commenters at the committee hearing included Transit Plus and disability advocates who urged continued funding for the same‑day paratransit pilot program (a separate informational item). Committee members asked for clarifications about specific district impacts, layover location safety at a Greendale layover near Northway and Grange, and the plans outreach and multilingual accommodations. MCTS said training and rider outreach would follow approval. Supervisor Ekblad moved the item; the motion carried 5-0.