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Sunday, April 29, 2012

LARSON Weekly Report - April 26, 2012


Dear Friend,

In honor of May being National Bike Month, we will focus on discussing important issues and opportunities related to transit by land, water, and air in our community.

As usual, please feel free to contact me with any questions, concerns or opinions you may have about our community or our state.

Sincerely, 


Senator Chris Larson
7th District
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A number of factors are shaping the transportation patterns and preferences in our community, including: higher gas prices, increasing costs associated with driving, common-sense regulations banning texting while driving, improvements in technology making transportation alternatives more attractive, and changes in our travel priorities.

Emerging data suggests that these trends are not confined to just a small group of neighbors. A new WISPIRG report recently released finds that Wisconsinites, like most Americans, are driving less, and young people are leading the charge.

From World War II until just a few years ago, the number of miles driven annually on America’s roads steadily increased. In fact, 2004 was the year in which vehicle miles traveled, overall and per capita, peaked in Wisconsin. Shortly after the turn of the century, something changed--Americans began driving less. In 2010, the average Wisconsinite drove nearly 500 miles less than just six years earlier in 2004.

This trend away from driving is even more pronounced among young people. The average young person, age 16 to 34, drove 23 percent fewer miles in 2009 than the average young person in 2001. Meanwhile, travel by young people on public transportation increased exponentially. From 2001 to 2009, the number of passenger-miles on public transit by people ages 16 to 34 increased by 40 percent nationwide. Additionally, in 2009, young Americans also walked up to 16 percent more and biked up to 24 percent than they did in 2001, when driving was still at its peak.

Federal, state, and local governments have historically made massive investments in new highway capacity on the assumption that driving demand would continue to increase. The changing transportation preferences of Americans, throw those assumptions into doubt. Trends showing a shift away from driving support the idea that we should be investing our valuable tax dollars in other modes of transportation, rather than simply expanding our grandparents' highway transportation system.
Continue reading for more information about bus and bike transit alternatives our community has to offer. If you live outside of the Milwaukee area, please contact your local municipality for information about public transit programs in your neighborhood.
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Exploring Milwaukee County by Bike
Whether you are interested in saving money, reducing your carbon footprint, getting more exercise, or simply want to better explore our community, biking is a great transit alternative. The Milwaukee area has a lot to offer cycling novices and enthusiasts alike, with its 65 miles of bike lanes and 75 miles of bike routes. Biking also plays a key role in driving our local economy. Therefore, it is important that we continue supporting and building our biking infrastructure. Doing so will not only ensure that Wisconsin's tourism industry remains competitive  with neighboring states, but also maintain a quality infrastructure for future generations.
Below are just a few options for those looking at becoming more avid bikers:
  • Jump on Our Nearby Trails--Our community connects to both the Hank Aaron State Trail and the Oak Leaf Trail. The former offers 10 miles of continuous paths between the lakefront and Milwaukee's West End. It even runs by Discovery World, the Milwaukee Art Museum, Summerfest, and the Historic Third Ward. The latter boasts over 100 miles of trails from Milwaukee into Wauwatosa and connects to all of the major parks in the Milwaukee County Park System.
  • Participate in Bike to Work Week (May 14 to 18)--Take the Friends of Hank Aaron State Trail to work, and stop by the Breakfast Station, which will be offering free coffee and baked goods throughout the week.
  • Bring the Whole Family (June 2 to September 11)--The Park People, advocates of the Milwaukee County Parks system, is hosting the Oak Leaf Discovery Tour during the summer. Purchase an Oak Leaf Discovery Tour Passport, and collect stamps from various parks along the trail. After collecting eight stamps, register the passport for the opportunity to win valuable prizes at the end of summer. Passports are available for purchase at many park locations, bike shops, or online. They are $3 each, or 5 for $10. Proceeds go to towards the enhancement of the Oak Leaf Trail.
Click here for more information about Milwaukee County bike trails and to view maps

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Navigating Milwaukee County by Bus
Public transportation, that includes a well-run bus operation, is vital to our neighbors who have a disability, are elderly, or are commuting to and from work or school. According to the Milwaukee County Transit systems, on average 140,000 bus rides are provided daily. Of these, 39% are commuters traveling to and from work, another 5% are heading to job interviews, and 11% are students making their way to classes to learn valuable skills for their future careers.
Unfortunately, public transit, including our local buses, was not made a priority in the most recent legislative session. In his budget, Governor Walker chose to decrease funding for public transit by 10% and eliminated $77 million from shared revenue to local governments in order to fund $2.3 billion in tax breaks for large corporations. As a result, local governments have been forced to shift funding, raise fares, change or eliminate routes, and reduce vital services.

While many of these changes have been seen by riders in our own community, Milwaukee County has been doing what it can to try and decrease the impact of these cuts on our neighbors. A method they have used to try and improve bus services for riders is applying for federal funding and grants. One project that was a result of such efforts was the creation of three new MetroEXpress Routes in our community earlier this year. These routes were created after Milwaukee County was awarded a Congestion Mitigation Air Quality grant by the federal government. The new routes--the BlueLine, RedLine and GreenLine--operate every day of the week in high ridership corridors.

This session I fought to provide Wisconsin workers, students, the elderly, and neighbors with disabilities with reliable, accessible transportation by authoring and supporting a number of legislative initiatives. One such bill was the Workforce Mobility Act. This legislation sought to prevent further cuts by reinvesting in our state’s public transit infrastructure. According to the nonpartisan Legislative Fiscal Bureau, a recent re-estimate of the transportation fund indicated that an additional $32.9 million remains available for use. This bill would have used $9.6 million of this funding to restore the cuts to our mass transit systems ensuring that our workforce can get to their jobs each day.
Unfortunately, this and many other bills aimed at supporting our public transit infrastructure were discarded by Governor Walker and Republican legislators with little to no consideration given to the proposals. However, I will continue working hard on your behalf to have adequate funding put towards our public transit infrastructure.
Click here for more information about Milwaukee County's bus services.
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Milwaukee Professionals Association commends Senator Chris Larson for his "INFORMATIONAL" approach to sharing constituents' news. 

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