Milwaukee County budget hearing focuses on proposed bus cuts, urgent pleas to shore up Birth to 3 and food-access programs

Milwaukee County supervisors heard more than three hours of public testimony on Oct. 27 at Mitchell Park Domes on the county executive’s recommended 2026 budget, with many speakers urging the board to reverse proposed cuts to Milwaukee County Transit System (MCTS) service and to increase funding for early-intervention and food-access programs.

The most urgent appeals centered on a proposal to eliminate six MCTS routes — identified by speakers and MCTS materials as routes 20, 28, 33, 34, 55 and 58 — and to reduce service on several others. Tom Stawicki, a resident and transit advocate who addressed the board, said: “The total elimination of 6 routes and a reduction of service in several others would leave thousands of riders without affordable transportation options.” Transit workers, riders and organizations warned that the cuts would disproportionately harm students, seniors, people with disabilities and workers who rely on buses to get to jobs, medical appointments and school.

Why it matters: Public testimony tied transit service to access to work, school and health care and pressed supervisors to consider alternatives to full route eliminations, including “tripper” peak-hour service and targeted short-term pilots. Speakers also urged that the budget protect same-day paratransit pilots and to address operational and contracting problems raised by Paratransit provider Transdev.

Speakers and specifics

- Tom Stawicki, transit advocate (resident): urged preservation of routes and suggested tripper/peak-hour service as a short-term compromise; cited a roughly $1.7 million estimate discussed by MCTS for limited “tripper” buses on the affected lines.

- Nicola Pfeiffer, an MCTS operator on Route 34, described regular riders who depend on the route and urged retention of service: “Many of these residents are working 2 jobs just to make ends meet. It is very essential that we maintain that route.”

- Tristan McClinton and students from Ronald Reagan International Baccalaureate School said cuts to routes 20 and 55 would force students into longer, less direct commutes and could jeopardize attendance. “Cutting this route would force me to take multiple transfers or walk through neighborhoods that aren’t well lit or pedestrian friendly,” one student said.

- Michael Brown, vice president of ATU Local 998 (union representing bus operators), criticized past MCTS management decisions and said operators and riders…