On January 29, The Milwaukee County Transit System did a major overhaul with routes and buses, eliminating three bus routes, adding extra stops and reducing others on existing bus lines and creating five new routes, including three new express routes called the MetroEXpress Bus Service.

This change began last year when Milwaukee had a 10% reduction in aid from the State. However, a Federal Congestion Mitigation Air Quality grant was given to the Milwaukee County Transit System on the condition that new bus service was created.

Jacqueline Janz, the Chief Marketing and Communications Officer of the Milwaukee County Transit System stated on the changes, “It’s important for people to understand that we were going to initially make cuts because of the decrease in state funding. I think that with the new bus services, people will have more options.”

The major routes affected by this change are 62, 11, 18, 23, 54, 63 and 68 with routes 11, 18 and 68 being completely eliminated. The 62 route has a dramatically reduced number of stops and the 63, 15, 23, and 54 having an increased number of stops.

Route 56 is a new route that replaces parts of routes 11 and 18 and route 52 will travel between Kinnickinnic Avenue and Mitchell Street as well as Drexel Boulevard via 15th Avenue.

The new MetroEXpress service includes three buses, the RedLine, BlueLine and GreenLine.

The RedLine provides service on Capitol Drive between 124th Street and UW-Milwaukee. The BlueLine provides limited service from the Park Place business district on the northwest side of Milwaukee and travels through Downtown to the south side of Milwaukee along National Avenue and to S. 70th Street and Greenfield in West Allis near the West Campus of MATC.

The GreenLine provides service between Bayshore Town Center and Mitchell International Airport, connecting the Whitefish Bay Area to UW-Milwaukee, Milwaukee’s east side, Walker’s Point and the south side area near the airport.

MATC students who currently get to their respective campuses using routes 40, 42U and 80 are still able to travel on those routes. Students who have to take connecting routes to their campuses are encouraged to visit the Milwaukee County Transit System’s website, RideMCTS.com and use the Trip Planner app on the site provided by Google Transit to find which bus they can now take to get to school on time.

It is also encouraged that students who ride the bus should pick up their U-Pass. The U-Pass is only good for one semester and the fee is included in the school’s tuition. If picked up early enough, it saves more money. Check with your Student Life Office for hours and locations on picking up a U-Pass, and look for an update regarding the U-Pass in the next issue.