July updates

Here are a few things that might be of interest.

LATA Leaders will meet on Wednesday, July 9 at 6:30 p.m. online. If you would like to join, please reply to this email. We'll be focusing on planning a transit advocates gathering this summer and planning for Week Without Driving (WWD) this fall.

MTU buses appear to be almost all connected to the new Transit app so you can see where your bus is in real time. Unfortunately, you can only view one route at a time so if you are planning to switch buses outside of the usual transfer points, you'll have to switch back and forth to see what bus is where. Do you have thoughts on the new app? Feedback on the new app is one of the things we hope to include in a summer transit advocates gathering.

The MTU ADA Advisory Committee is scheduled to meet on Tuesday, July 8 at 5:30 p.m. in the Grandad Room at City Hall and on Zoom, but confirmation hasn't been sent yet. These meetings are open to the public. If you would like to attend, please contact Tim Koterwski at the MTU or email us for the Zoom link.

MTU Director Adam Lorentz is scheduled to be at this month's Citizens with Disabilities meeting, Thursday, July 10 at 9 a.m. The meeting will be held in the Hedgehog Room at City Hall and online. It is open to the public. The agenda is not posted yet. The Zoom link will be on the agenda. Find it at https://cityoflacrosse.legistar.com/DepartmentDetail.aspx?ID=42236&GUID=5C1B4DD4-92F5-4DF8-8681-8023B1556EE7

The La Crosse Area Planning Committee's Committee on Transit and Active Transportation will meet on Thursday, July 10 at 3:30 p.m. in person Room 2106 of the County Administrative Building (6th & State) and online. The agenda includes a report on a Regional Transit Authority study (alas, RTAs were not included in the budget Gov. Evers recently signed) and discussion of LAPC participation in Week Without Driving.

The Wisconsin Department of Transportation will hold a public input meeting as part of its US 53 & US 14/61 Corridor Study on Wednesday, July 16 from 4:30 to 6:00 p.m. at the Black River Beach Neighborhood Center. Learn more and get a link to comment online at https://wisconsindot.gov/Pages/projects/by-region/sw/533516-lacrosse/us53us1461.aspx

The folks at America Walks, national sponsors of Week Without Driving, have been holding monthly webinars on different ways transit advocates, nonprofits, schools, government agencies, businesses, and more can use WWD to spread the word about their services, products, priorities. The next webinar is on July 9 at 1 p.m. and it will deal with rural transit. You can see the schedule of coming webinars and get links to view past ones at https://weekwithoutdriving.org/events/

America Walks is doing a research study with UC Davis on the importance of elevating non-drivers' experiences in transportation discussions. They are looking for non-drivers to interview as part of the project. There is a stipend for those who are chosen. If you cannot drive and would like to be considered, please fill out the form at https://forms.gle/bBDfY4h2EKs2aUtn8

You may have seen that the Borealis continues to overperform expectations, serving 222,475 passengers during the first full 12 months of operation (June 1, 2024 - May 31, 2025), as reported by the Wisconsin Association of Rail Passengers. They also note, “Since March 26, 2025, train capacity has been reduced approximately 20-25% due to a rail coach shortage (we're tracking it). We recommend avoiding peak days (Friday and Sunday) if possible. Sellouts are more likely on those days.”

The budget bill signed by the Governor a few days ago was disappointingly lacking in transit improvements, despite heavy lobbying by citizen groups.. As reported by Wisconsin Transit Riders Alliance secretary Susan DeVos, “It appears that aside from a 10% funding increase to local Paratransit funding for FY 2026, funding for Mass Transit Aids and Passenger Rail Operating Assistance will remain at FY 2025 base levels.”

During debate on the budget, Sen Jeff Smith (District 31 – Chippewa Valley) supported an amendment that included authorization of RTAs which failed on party lines. The Governor did not elevate RTAs in his negations, either. Sen Smith's leadership on Regional Transportation Authorities should be recognized. You can send him a note of appreciation for this effort and for uplifting how important RTAs are: https://legis.wisconsin.gov/senate/31/smith/contact/contact-me/

We are still looking for co-sponsors for La Crosse Area Week Without Driving (Sept. 29 – Oct. 5), including faith groups, businesses, non-profits, organizations, clubs, school groups, and service agencies. Co-sponsors help spread the word, encourage their contacts to participate, and, if they want, host a related activity or event. If you'd like more information, contact us. If you'd like to co-sponsor, please complete this form at your earliest convenience: https://forms.gle/gyon1uYL77Hb3mXw6

Check out this Project Drawdown webinar by Cameron Roberts about Low-Carbon Mobility - False Solutions, Partial Solutions and a Full Solution. https://youtu.be/2DOPLdE8mZw?feature=shared

 

June updates

The Transit Talk event we are working with MTU has been pushed to July as has the MTU Board meeting. No details yet. 

 

 The City is hosting two "Zoning 101" information sessions about its work to update zoning codes. There are zoning changes that can encourage transit and make transit safer and more efficient. If you can, consider attending the session TONIGHT at 6 p.m. at 401 West Ave. S (take the #2 OR the C2 Circulator) or on June 23 at 6:30 p.m. at First Congregational Church, Losey & Main (take the #4). This is a good place to learn more and advocate for better zoning for transit and Transit Oriented Development. Visit https://forwardlacrosse.org/ for more information.

LATA leaders are still meeting on the second Wednesdays at 5:30 p.m. We haven't yet found another day and time but we're still trying! If you would like to attend the June LATA meeting (June 11 at 5:30 p.m. online), please email us = LaCrosseTransitAdvocates at proton.me

We are starting to schedule some back to school tabling in the fall. We will be at Western Tech's Resource Block Party on September 2.

There are a couple of public transit related Youth Climate Action Fund projects in the pipeline. We'll know more and report on these soon.

Week Without Driving planning continues. If your faith group, organization, business, or group would like to be a cosponsor and/or offer a program or activity during the week (September 29 through October 5), please use this form: https://tinyurl.com/LaXWWDCoSponsor  If possible, please complete the form by the end of June.

If you are hosting an event, please consider exchanging Where to Park information with HOW TO GET HERE information and prioritize bus/bike at the top. It seems like a small thing, but including information about taking the bus reminds people that the bus is an option. (If it isn't, maybe you should have your event someplace else!) Encouraging public/active transportation can also reduce parking stress. This article, How to use campaigns and marketing to encourage sustainable transport choices, from C40 Cities Climate Leadership Group, provides more examples and ideas. https://www.c40knowledgehub.org/s/article/How-to-use-campaigns-and-marketing-to-encourage-sustainable-transport-choices?language=en_US

Construction and Detours

Reminder: There will be no bus service on Memorial Day Monday, May 26th.

This year's road construction is causing delays in car and bus travel! It's especially affecting the Route 5. Here are some notices about detours and options from the MTU. Note that MTU and Drift Link Public Transit (Onalaska-Holmen-West Salem Shared Ride) are coordinating even more than usual with special return transfers for those needing to get to the Target area from Valley View Mall. 

You can always set up a transfer ahead of time by phone or online from MTU to Drift Link. The transfer point is the #5 stop at Valley View Mall. Transfers are limited to Drift Link service hours and will get you to points in the City Limits of Onalaska, Village of Holmen, and Village of West Salem. Normally, for the return ride, you pay the Drift Link fare to get back to the Mall to transfer back to the MTU, $3.00 - $4.50, depending on age, ability, and status, but there's a special transfer for Target rides during this construction period.

If you have questions about any of these changes, please ask your driver or call 608-789-7350.

Route 8 Crossing Meadows - For the duration of the Highway 16 construction project, bus stops on Hemstock Street will be demand response only during MTU office hours M-F, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Please tell your driver that you want to be dropped off there OR CALL MTU at 608-789-7350 to get picked up there.

Ride SMRT but more smart is needed

Yesterday, we did our annual May Day SMRT 2 Viroqua ride. There were only three of us on this trip and the weather was a bit drizzly, but it was well worth the trip. Both buses I rode on were almost brand new! It was so great to have a much smoother ride (part of that is also due to road work done in 2024). Alas, there is no wifi on the buses now. The La Crosse to Viroqua bus had an American flag pinned up over where the wifi password used to be. The return bus had nothing. The return driver noted that wifi is difficult in that terrain and never seemed to work well anyway. This is true! Neigher bus had a bike rack either, though if you bring a bike, they will put it inside the bus. I didn't bring my bike on this ride as planned because of the drizzle.

Both rides were smooth and on time. The drivers have a tablet that tells them when to be at each time-point stop and this seems to work well. 

There were some new and ongoing challenges:

We learned that the Vernon Memorial Hospital stop was changed in November, but no one has noted this on the schedules or website at RideSMRT.com. Had we not learned about the change from our morning driver, we might have missed the return bus. While there is a sign on the door of the hospital (that someone waiting for the bus might not even notice), there's nothing on the sign that says where to go to catch the bus! Fortunately, our morning driver told us where to stand (on Hickory Street just south of the hospital between (Kwik Trip is on the south side of the street). There is no "CATCH THE SMRT HERE" sign anywhere near there.

The UWL stop continues to be a puzzle. There's a SMRT sign in the shelter by Newman Center (south side of State Street near the Campbell Road intersection) and the schedule says "State St - Cartwright Center" but there's not SMRT sign on the north side of State Street which is where the westbound SMRT would pick up. It would be nice if they could place as sign exactly where the bus picks up on State Street (I caught it just at the 17th & State Stop sign in front of Wing.)

The Western TC stop (on the east side of 7th Street at the MTU shelter) is well marked as is the Mayo stop (MTU shelter outside the hospital). The stop at Gundersen Lutheran - outside the East Building - is not marked, and with people dropping off and picking up patients there, you may have to stand in the road to see the bus and make sure the driver sees you.

Despite these glitches, the ride is great and very worthwhile. This bus especially, mid-morning to Viroqua - is often relatively empty and is a great opportunity for folks to go shopping and eating for the afternoon. With four return options (from 12:15 to 3:40 leave times), you can just do some quick shopping or make an afternoon of it.

LATA will do another SMRT ride this fall.