March updates

One Transit Equity Day related event we failed to report on was a great student project.  A State Road School fourth grade class got a lesson in transit advocacy from LATA leader Liz Fryseth as they contacted local leaders about getting a bus stop closer to their school. +In addition to their letter-writing campaign, the students learned how to ride the bus and had a tour of the Transit Center. On the following day, they took the bus for a field trip at the Urban Agriculture greenhouse on 7th Street. We would love to encourage more classes to become bus advocates and to use the bus for class trips.

We are starting to plan now for Week Without Driving, a similar but not as transit-specific event, held every year in the fall. The event focuses on the challenges faced by non-drivers trying to navigate a car-centric world. If you would like to help plan or co-sponsor WWD 2025 (September 29 – October 5), please email. See https://weekwithoutdriving.org for more information.

On Thursday, March 6, Wisconsin Transit Riders Alliance welcomed Patty Kiewiz, Director, Green Bay Metro Transit, who talked about their integration of on-demand transit with their fixed route system. Then, we heard from Gary Goyke, public policy consultant, about what's happening with the state budget and what opportunities transit advocates have to advocate for improvements. He shared really useful information. View the program at https://youtu.be/JnUzTu4df9E

On February 13, Adam Lorentz, MTU Director, was at the La Crosse Citizens with Disabilities committee to follow up on plans to improve access and information for those with disabilities. They are nearly done with putting signs at all bus stops indicating which routes stop there. They will soon have large print information available and at the Transit Center along with Braille materials. They are making some large maps, too, and are working on a way to have a large map available when the Center is closed. They have restarted the effort to make official 3-D tactile maps based off the maps the Fryseth family made in 2023. There was discussion of improving the website so people needed accessible information could find it more easily. The MTU ADA Advisory Committee is seeking more members. The committee meets every other month (see below).

On February 15, more than 40 transit advocates from around the state gathered online at the Wisconsin Transit Summit to get organized for state budget season. The group is working to settle on top priorities, create messaging and outreach scripts and talking points, and scheduling opportunities for advocates to talk to our elected representatives about transit issues. As we know, the governor has released his budget for 2025-2027 which includes increases in transit funding, state-wide Regional Transit Authorities, and other positive items. The Joint Finance Committee will be holding public hearings later in March and in April as it prepares its own budget. We will probably send another group notice when the JFC public hearing schedule is available. For now, please consider calling or emailing our La Crosse area state legislators (see contact info below) to encourage them to support increases in funding for public transit, RTAs, better intercity transit, better support for multi-modal transportation, and a transportation budget that prioritizes equity and carbon reduction. We hope the Transit Summit Talking Points will be available soon and we will post them here.

Coming up:

March 11 at 8:30 a.m. the city's Bike Ped Advisory Committee meets in person with online access. It's a public meeting. Transit is pedestrian infrastructure. Link to agenda and online access info: https://tinyurl.com/laxbpac325

March 11 at 5:30 p.m. the MTU ADA Advisory Committee meets. THEY ARE LOOKING FOR MORE MEMBERS and the public may attend. Agenda and access information is here: https://lacrosseata.blogspot.com/p/mtu-ada-advisory-committee.html

March 12 at 5:30 p.m. LATA Leaders meeting online. We will plan events for the year. Email for the link to participate.

March 13 at 4:30 p.m. La Crosse Area Planning Committee – Advisory Committee on Transit and Active Transportation meets in person and online. Find more information here: https://tinyurl.com/LAPCCTAT325

Here is a good article in Vox: Congestion pricing is good for low-income residents. Why? Because it improves public transit.