Badger InstituteBadger Institute
  • Home
  • Issues
    • Taxes
    • Education
    • Crime & Justice
    • Spending & Accountability
    • Economy & Infrastructure
    • Federalism
    • Licensing
    • Healthcare
    • Civil Society
  • Mandate for Madison
  • Research
  • Magazines
    • Diggings
    • Wisconsin Interest
  • Events
  • Media
    • Podcast
    • Fact Sheets
    • Viewpoints
    • Press Releases
    • Badger in the News
    • Video
    • Audio
    • Testimony
  • About
    • Our Mission
    • Board of Directors
    • Team
    • Visiting Fellows
    • America’s Future
    • Careers
  • Newsletter
  • Donate
  • Contact Us

Subscribe for Updates

Get the latest news and updates from Badger Institute.

What's New

UW-Milwaukee Graduation Numbers for Black Students Plummet Even Further

June 1, 2023

Why public school-goers support choice

June 1, 2023

Natural gas and regulation in Wisconsin: a policy brief

June 1, 2023
Facebook Twitter YouTube LinkedIn Instagram
TRENDING:
  • UW-Milwaukee Graduation Numbers for Black Students Plummet Even Further
  • Why public school-goers support choice
  • Natural gas and regulation in Wisconsin: a policy brief
  • State landlords hit hard by eviction moratorium
  • Legislature protects Milwaukeeans from $15-per-rider fare-free trolley folly
  • Latest crime figures show a Milwaukee in trouble
  • Wisconsin lawmakers in the dark on broadband
  • Foreseeing the Future of Wisconsin’s Flat Tax
  • Donate
  • Newsletter
  • Contact
Facebook Twitter YouTube LinkedIn Instagram
Badger InstituteBadger Institute
SUPPORT OUR MISSION
  • Issues
    • Taxes
    • Education
    • Crime & Justice
    • Spending & Accountability
    • Economy & Infrastructure
    • Federalism
    • Licensing
    • Healthcare
    • Civil Society
  • Mandate for Madison
  • Research
  • Magazines
    • Diggings
    • Wisconsin Interest
  • Events
  • Media
    • Podcast
    • Fact Sheets
    • Viewpoints
    • Press Releases
    • Badger in the News
    • Video
    • Audio
    • Testimony
  • About
    • Our Mission
    • Board of Directors
    • Team
    • Visiting Fellows
    • America’s Future
    • Careers
Facebook Twitter YouTube LinkedIn
DONATE
Badger InstituteBadger Institute
Home » Viewpoints » Legislature protects Milwaukeeans from $15-per-rider fare-free trolley folly
Viewpoints

Legislature protects Milwaukeeans from $15-per-rider fare-free trolley folly

By Patrick McIlheranMay 11, 2023
Share
Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Pinterest

In need of quiet solitude not long ago, I did the obvious: I got on Milwaukee’s streetcar, The Hop.

Image of The Hop in Milwaukee’s Third Ward neighborhood.

It did not disappoint: In all, five people Hopped on, then off, as we trundled 2.1 miles across downtown. It’s a bit under what the latest federal transit data says is average: In 2021, for every mile the trolley ran, four people got on; for every hour a 150-passenger car runs, 23 people board.

That’s why it surprised no one that, when a garbage truck crashed into a streetcar in March, no passengers were hurt, there being no passengers.

It’s why, again in those latest Federal Transit Administration numbers, The Hop cost $15.03 per ride in operating expenses, never mind the cost of rails and wires — not a dime of it paid by passengers. It’s why the Legislature is doing Milwaukee a favor when it says, “enough.”

The low passenger counts along the route that was supposed to be most hungry for trams — train station to Third Ward to office towers — are only half the equation. The numerator is the cost. The FTA’s latest figures say that in 2021 for every hour a Milwaukee streetcar is out impeding traffic, it costs the city $351.

Compare that to the alternative. The Milwaukee County Transit System runs not only throughout downtown but through much of metro Milwaukee. It uses buses, plain old buses, though clean and comfortable. Every hour one is running the streets, it picks up about half as many passengers as the streetcar, but it costs only $103 to operate, or 29% of the price.

Buses just cost less to run: $142 per vehicle-hour in Madison, for instance, or $95 in Appleton. Streetcars cost more: Portland’s larger, established system pays $251 an hour in operating costs. Philadelphia pays $275 an hour, says the FTA, while its buses cost $169 to do the same thing. This suggests The Hop will remain costly even if the city expands it past the best-case starter route, as supporters hope.

Graph of Monthly Ridership for Milwaukee Hop Streetcar

It will remain costly even if ridership bounces back. In 2019, when new, the trolley attracted 760,000 people to take fare-free rides. Ridership crashed in 2020 amid pandemic lockdowns. Despite The Hop still being fare-free — no fareboxes are even installed — it has only half-recovered, with 372,000 passengers last year. Squeeze your eyes shut and wish hard for 500,000 this year: That’s still about $10 a ride.  

Again, that’s just operating costs. The existing 2.1-mile set-up cost about $124 million, including about $4.5 million each for the cars. The city in 2019 priced a 0.4-mile extension at $28 million, or about $70 million a mile, not out of line with what Seattle paid over a decade ago, for rails and wires that serve no other means of transport. Buses, by contrast, use existing pavement. And they cost about $900,000 each. That means you can afford to run more of them, more frequently, for better service. 

But talk of dollars per ride misses the point of a project that’s less about transportation than transformation. The city’s website says, “The vision for The Hop has always been to serve as a catalyst for economic growth.” Ex-mayor Tom Barrett, talking up expansion, billed it as “a catalyst for economic growth.” The city’s grandiose new plan to rip up and rebuild downtown, touts “the ability of the streetcar system to spur economic development.”  

It’s not about moving people around but signaling coolness. If developers see rails, goes the thinking, they’ll want to build.  

The idea has been questioned or debunked for years, with development mostly coming from tax incentives.  In Milwaukee, Barrett in 2019 tried claiming The Hop spurred millions in development. His story imploded when Badger Institute journalist Ken Wysocky interviewed the developers involved. Most said emollient things about the costly rolling adornment but said it didn’t catalyze their cranes.  

Want to help downtown? How about doing a better job at curbing Milwaukee’s horror-show moments in the national headlines. Milwaukee’s crime spike has scarcely abated, and the city can’t fill even the depleted number of authorized police positions.  

This is why the Legislature offered ample new funding specially to Milwaukee — not only a share of the state’s sales tax revenue but power for the city to levy the extra sales tax it long has sought. The city said it couldn’t afford both cops and its pension obligations, so the Legislature is offering money — so long as the city doesn’t spend any of it on its luxury-priced decorative trolley that cost $124 million before the first rider boarded and costs another $15 a ride now.

Both city officials and Gov. Tony Evers may complain, but this is what responsibility looks like.

Patrick McIlheran is the Director of Policy at the Badger Institute. Permission to reprint is granted as long as the author and Badger Institute are properly cited.

Featured News Trending
Share. Facebook Twitter Pinterest LinkedIn Tumblr Telegram Email
Patrick McIlheran

Related Posts

Why public school-goers support choice

June 1, 2023

Natural gas and regulation in Wisconsin: a policy brief

June 1, 2023

State landlords hit hard by eviction moratorium

May 25, 2023
Categories
Top Posts

Local pols filling old budget holes with massive COVID aid

December 8, 20221,490

This is not four years ago

November 10, 20221,316

Latest crime figures show a Milwaukee in trouble

March 23, 2023889

Legislature protects Milwaukeeans from $15-per-rider fare-free trolley folly

May 11, 2023748
Archives

Sign Up for Top Picks

Our weekly e-Newsletter with the latest items and updates

Connect with Badger Institute
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • YouTube
  • LinkedIn
About Us
About Us

The Badger Institute is a nonpartisan, not-for-profit institute established in 1987 working to engage and energize Wisconsinites and others in discussions and timely action on key public policy issues critical to the state’s future, growth and prosperity.

Facebook Twitter Instagram YouTube LinkedIn

Sign Up for Top Picks

Our weekly e-Newsletter with the latest items and updates

What’s New

UW-Milwaukee Graduation Numbers for Black Students Plummet Even Further

June 1, 2023

Why public school-goers support choice

June 1, 2023

Natural gas and regulation in Wisconsin: a policy brief

June 1, 2023

State landlords hit hard by eviction moratorium

May 25, 2023
© 2023 Badger Institute | Privacy Policy | Disclaimer | Sitemap

Type above and press Enter to search. Press Esc to cancel.

This site uses functional cookies and external scripts to improve your experience.

Privacy settings

Privacy Settings

This site uses functional cookies and external scripts to improve your experience. Which cookies and scripts are used and how they impact your visit is specified on the left. You may change your settings at any time. Your choices will not impact your visit.

NOTE: These settings will only apply to the browser and device you are currently using.

CRM Software

Customer Relationship Management Software

Google Analytics

Google Analytics is a web analytics service offered by Google that tracks and reports website traffic. Google uses the data collected to track and monitor the use of our Service. This data is shared with other Google services. Google may use the collected data to contextualize and personalize the ads of its own advertising network.

You can opt-out of having made your activity on the Service available to Google Analytics by installing the Google Analytics opt-out browser add-on. The add-on prevents the Google Analytics JavaScript (ga.js, analytics.js, and dc.js) from sharing information with Google Analytics about visits activity.

For more information on the privacy practices of Google, please visit the Google Privacy & Terms web page: https://policies.google.com/privacy?hl=en

Powered by Cookie Information