An Historic Occasion!

From Dan Krom, Director of MNDOT's passenger rail service.

Please join us for the signing of the federal grant agreement for the Twin Cities-Milwaukee-Chicago (TCMC) Intercity Passenger Rail Project that will improve transportation in the Midwest.

The event is scheduled for:

1 p.m.Wednesday, March 9th at the Amtrak Station in La Crosse

The program is open to the public, and confirmed speakers include WisDOT Secretary Craig Thompson, acting MnDOT Commissioner Nancy Daubenberger, Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) Administrator Amit Bose, Amtrak President and CEO Stephen Gardner, and a representative of Canadian Pacific Rail.

The program will consist of brief remarks on the significance of the Federal Railroad Administration’s Consolidated Railroad and Infrastructure Safety Improvement (CRISI) grant. The funds will be used to advance a second daily, round-trip, that will provide a new, travel option to connect the Twin Cities-Milwaukee-Chicago areas, and multiple cities along the way.

The short program will be followed by media interview opportunities.

Because of limited space, please RSVP me at daniel.krom@state.mn.us  by Wednesday, March 2 to confirm attendance or for any questions.

We are excited to see this important second daily train connecting a few important Midwestern cities move forward. It's a step in the right direction. Here's a map of Wisconsin passenger rail (Amtrak) and related bus service in Wisconsin and surrounding states.

Here's a glimpse of where we could go.  

Passenger rail service in Switzerland, France, Netherlands. Wisconsin is about 3.4 times bigger than Switzerland and The Netherlands, and about 3.9 times smaller than France, and about 3.3 times bigger than the Netherlands.

 

LAPC Regional Transit Development Plan update

This just in!

The Service and Policy Recommendations Report for the La Crosse Regional Transit Development Plan (TDP) is now posted on the project website.

PROJECT WEBSITE: https://www.lacrossecounty.org/metropolitan-planning-organization/LAPC-Home/regional-transit-development-plan

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY: https://www.lacrossecounty.org/docs/default-source/metropolitan-planning-organization/lacrosseregtdp_executivesummary.pdf?sfvrsn=277f4eb_0

TRANSIT NEEDS ASSESSMENT REPORT: https://www.lacrossecounty.org/docs/default-source/metropolitan-planning-organization/needsassessment_202109155892ae9d88de472fa1bab2fc76f90134.pdf?sfvrsn=f4ddb022_0

SERVICE AND POLICY RECOMMENDATION REPORT: https://www.lacrossecounty.org/docs/default-source/metropolitan-planning-organization/lacrossetdp_finalreport_final20211230-4final.pdf?sfvrsn=ce40291e_0

The La Crosse Regional TDP provides a vision for La Crosse area transit services provided by La Crosse Municipal Transit Utility (MTU), Onalaska Shared Ride (OSR), and Scenic Mississippi Regional Transit (SMRT) to meet the travel needs of residents and visitors in the region over the next ten years, with an emphasis on future needs and sustainable growth. 

The project is an initiative of the La Crosse Area Planning Committee (LAPC) and their partners. The LAPC will provide the plan to MTU, the City of Onalaska, and SMRT for their consideration and possible future implementation.

Please contact Peter Fletcher or Jackie Eastwood at the LAPC with any questions.

Menno Schukking, AIC Transit Planner III, SRF Consulting Group

Where are the signs?

Friends of LATA recently sent this story:

We went out for Indian food yesterday at Jackson Plaza, intending to come home on the Circulator. Even though the app said there were bus stops at East/Jackson and at 20th/Jackson, there were no bus stop signs.

We contacted the MTU. Apparently, the contractor on the Jackson St./State Road project took out (nearly) ALL of the bus stop signs. Now it seems that city workers are working to put the signs back in.

If the signs were removed as part of a state DOT project, why is it the city’s responsibility (and expense) to replace the signs? Why isn’t that the DOT’s responsibility? Will the tate is reimbursing the city for this expense, but haven’t brought it up ourselves yet.

I had the same experience on January 31 when I took the circulator from visiting a relative to meet someone at the transit center for a ride-along. 

For new riders, it's confusing enough trying to read the schedule and figure out which bus goes where. Having to guess where the bus stops makes it even less likely people will try a ride.

Do you have a story to share? Email LaCrosseTransitAdvocates@protonmail.com. We'll be highlighting some of the rider stories people submitted during Transit Equity Days.

Thank you!

Thanks to all who helped with and participated in last week's Transit Equity Days! Thank you drivers, riders, advocates, elected leaders, and media. We will.share some of the stories collected during the week and hope to use some in this year's programming.

Next up, the Wisconsin Association of Rail Passengers, WisARP, will hold it's spring conference in person and online on Saturday, March 26 in Appleton. Learn more here: https://wisarp.wordpress.com/calendar/meetings/