From MTU:
At the beginning of service on Wednesday, August 05, through Friday, August 14 the intersection of Hwy 16 and Gillette St will be closed for road construction. Route 5 will go through the industrial park to get to the mall and back.
The bus stops on Hwy 16 will be closed and the bus stop at Office Depot will be demand response during this time.
If you have any questions, please ask your driver or call MTU at 608-789-7350.
There will be a special meeting of the MTU's ADA Advisory committee on Tuesday, August 11 at 6 p.m. The link to join will be added to this post when available. The meeting is open to the public.
Call to Order
Roll Call
Approval of Minutes
Agenda Items:
Public Input Regarding Transit ADA Issues
LATA Leaders will not meet in August. Our next meeting is on Tuesday, September 15 at 6:30 p.m. Please email if you would like to join us.
Wisconsin Transit Riders Alliance will host a meeting of all members on Thursday, August 6 at 6:30 p.m. online. The agenda includes discussion of WTRA feedback on RTA legislation, connections with other transit-friendly state organizations, and reports from around the state. Please email for the link to join.
The MTU Board is scheduled to meet on Tuesday, August 18 at 4 p.m. in person and online. The agenda is not yet available but will be at https://tinyurl.com/LaxMTUBoard when finalized. The public is welcome at these meetings.
CAN YOU HELP? LATA will table at postsecondary back-to-school events this fall (Viterbo on 9/3 between 12:45 and 2:15 p.m., WTC on 9/8 from noon to 1:30 p.m., UWL on 9/9 from 10:30 a.m. to noon OR noon to 1:30 p.m.). It's a great chance to highlight the availability of car-free transportation options and connect with students. If you can help out by taking a shift or two at our table, please sign up at https://tinyurl.com/latatablefall26
Week Without Driving is coming soon! We are hoping to host a WWD Stories event this year including written and recorded personal experiences of non-drivers and those who will try to be non-drivers during the week. Look for details on or before September 1! Also, if you can donate a WWD Bingo prize like a gift card or useful item please let us know before August 31. Please consider being a co-sponsor of our local WWD event, October 1-8, by signing up at https://tinyurl.com/laxwwdcosponsor. If you are planning a WWD event, please get info to us no later than August 31 if possible! Email with questions.
The next Week Without Driving (WWD) webinar is scheduled for Wednesday, August 26 at 1 p.m. online. These webinars help people connect their lives, agencies, communities, and organizations to Week Without Driving to elevate and amplify both. This link takes you to a registration page and includes links to past webinars: https://weekwithoutdriving.org/organize/
As you know, the La Crosse County Board decided to end funding for the current SMRT program after this year. They are still required to hold a public meeting but we don't know when that will be. Some board members have indicated they would like to find something to serve La Crosse county residents, but of course if that ends at the county line, it doesn't really help workers, patients,students and others get here and back from out-of-county locations. If you have opportunities to speak with county board supervisors—in your neighborhood, at events, at public meetings—please bring this up and encourage them to keep working on it.
In July, the Coalition for More Responsible Transportation hosted an online forum on the possibility of Regional Transit Authority (RTA) enabling legislation coming back to the legislature next year. A regional transit authority would ensure that system administration is shared among those who benefit and that there is a way to fund the system. The CMRT group is working to gather suggestions from advocates, operators, planners, electeds, and transit users that will help a new RTA bill be the best possible that everyone can support. If you haven't yet completed the survey (which also provides links to educational materials), please do so at https://forms.gle/pNWKNMWdPbL44bA28. We expect there will be a statewide RTA advocacy campaign later this year. We will keep you posted.
Election Days - August primary, August 11. Congressional election, November 3.
From the American Public Transportation Association:
DOT Proposes to Eliminate All Guaranteed Funding for Public Transit and Passenger Rail
"On July 22, Secretary of Transportation Sean P. Duffy sent a letter to Senate Committee leaders outlining the U.S. Department of Transportation’s (DOT) proposals for the Surface Transportation Authorization Act or related Surface Transportation Authorization Extension Act.
"APTA strongly opposes DOT’s proposals to eliminate all guaranteed funding for public transit and passenger rail by eliminating the Mass Transit Account of the Highway Trust Fund and advance appropriations. These proposals jeopardize more than 85 percent of Federal public transit and passenger rail investment across the nation, including all public transit formula grants. On July 23, APTA issued a statement urging Congress to reject these funding proposals and build upon current public transit and passenger rail investment in the next Surface Transportation Authorization Act.
"We strongly encourage APTA members to make their voices heard on these and other critical issues. We urge all APTA members to invite your Members of Congress to Site Visits during the August recess to allow lawmakers to see firsthand the impact of Federal public transportation investments and connect policy decisions to their local constituents. To assist with your planning, please use APTA’s Guidance for Planning Site Visits and Events with your Members of Congress."
Read more here: https://www.apta.com/advocacy-material/u-s-department-of-transportation-submits-surface-transportation-authorization-proposals/
###
From Transportation for AmericaTransportation for America: "If there was any lingering confusion about the Trump administration’s willingness to faithfully and fully implement any current or future bipartisan deal on transportation reauthorization that Congress might consider, USDOT Secretary Duffy’s unhinged letter to Senate leadership about the administration’s reauthorization priorities should put a nail in that coffin.
"Congress should extend the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) for a year to keep the transportation funding moving, and then they should not even consider coming to the negotiating table on a long-term bill until past grants that are rescinded are restored, frozen transit capital projects are restarted, and ironclad protections are put in place to ensure that USDOT faithfully implements whatever Congress assembles—whether it aligns with the administration’s priorities or not."
Read more here: https://t4america.org/2026/07/27/usdot-letter-shows-it-will-likely-undermine-any-bipartisan-reauthorization-deal
###
From Urban Wire: "Adjusted for inflation, the BUILD Act would authorize lower overall transportation funding than the current federal transportation legislation, the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA), which expires on September 30, 2026. Transit and rail programs face some of the deepest cuts under the BUILD Act, which prioritizes funding instead for road and highway infrastructure."
Read article: https://www.urban.org/urban-wire/how-will-congresss-proposed-cuts-transit-funding-affect-your-state-and-congressional
Please mark your calendars and plan to join us for a few minutes or a longer time on Thursday, August 20 from 4:30 to 6:30 p.m. at the La Crosse People's Food Co-op Community Room (2nd Floor), 315 Fifth Avenue South, for our annual TRANSIT TALK & TREATS open house Meet & Greet.
We'll have refreshments, music, info about upcoming events and advocacy opportunities, and DOOR PRIZES (including transit essentials and gift cards from area businesses). And it's all TOTALLY FREE and OPEN FOR EVERYONE!
Please help us share the flyer! Here's one to share online and here's one to print and post.
To donate a door prize, please contact us at LaCrosseTransitAdvocates@proton.me.
We don't expect the resolution to fail. But, the year is not over yet, and the commitment many of us heard when they re-funded the service for 2026 is unfulfilled. If they vote to end the SMRT, what will be next? We must insist that it's not nothing. The same issues people wrote, called, and testified about last year are still valid. People still need to get to work or school. Patients still need to get to treatment. Folks still need to get to the train or the mall or the bus to Minneapolis.
It is especially important for SMRT riders/advocates who live in La Crosse county to feed back. Your story is most important. If you want some other talking points,
It is also important for those who live outside the county to weigh in. Your counties have already said no to funding, but we don't know what options they had, what other models were considered, or how much input they had in the process.
This board is mainly focused on La Crosse County, so whatever you can do to highlight how your ride benefits the county might have impact. Many come for work, school, shopping, medical appointments, social or recreational activities. It's too bad you have to justify your transportation needs by demonstrating how it benefits someone else, but that's where we are!
The recently published La Crosse Area Regional Transit Authority Feasibility Study (Executive Summary here) noted that for every $1 invested in regional public transit in our area, we can expect at $4 to $5 return in economic activity. There are also some other quotable quotes you might want to include.
No matter what happens on Thursday, we need to keep up advocacy for something. Non-drivers need a connected, accessible transportation system. Fewer cars means less air and particle pollution and lower greenhouse gas emissions. More people on buses means fewer traffic deaths and injuries.
We will try to focus on what that or those programs might be in the coming months.