September Updates

We are still hoping to find a few volunteers to help with back to school tabling at Viterbo (8/28), Western Technical College (9/2), and UWL (9/3). If you can spare an hour or so to help promote public transit to students, please sign up here: https://tinyurl.com/fall2latavol

Thanks to those who attended and helped with our August 13 Transit Talk and Treats event. Thank you, People's Food Co-op, for the great space and for donating a fruit tray. Thanks to Pearl Street Books, Markos Apparel, and Larson's General for donating door prizes! We were able to talk to Tom & Tom from MTU about the new app, detours, plans for the future, and more. The La Crosse Area Planning Committee (LAPC) had information about their work (see below). We enjoyed sharing ideas and meeting fellow transit users and advocates.

 

The LAPC is accepting comments on its draft 2025 update of the Metropolitan Transportation Plan through September 16. They did two public info sessions in August. You can view the slides from the public programs, read the draft plan, and learn how to comment at https://www.lacrossecounty.org/metropolitan-planning-organization/planning-and-programming/metropolitan-transportation-plan They are also working with SRF Consulting on a feasibility study of establishing a Regional Transit Authority for our area. More information will be published at their site as it's available. https://www.lacrossecounty.org/metropolitan-planning-organization/planning-and-programming/modal-planning

ALERT: The Scenic Mississippi Regional Transit (SMRT) bus service is experiencing budget issues and needs our support and advocacy. We don't have details yet, but the issue will probably become more clear as the county starts talking about its budget. SMRT is a miracle regional transit system in a state that forbids regional transit authorities. LATA has advocated for better marketing and rider information in past years to improve commuter participation and use of the service by other groups. If you use the SMRT or support the SMRT for transportation equity and/or climate action, please stay tuned for more. Ask your County Board representative to keep you up to date on the SMRT. We will provide more information when we can.

The MTU Board met on August 19 to approve contracts for the coming year with postsecondary institutions and other municipalities. The cost for a year pass per student is about $1 per month. It was disappointing to see no upgrades to service for Onalaska or French Island. Woodmans, the airport, and the industrial parks near the airport as not well served by transit with limited weekday only service. More advocacy is needed! On the plus side, they continue to update their fleet, and newer buses have Scroll screens and clear audible stop announcements. Some even have audible bus ID when you board! aIn addition they are fixing up bus shelters and will be installing Solar lighting at 11 of them.

LATA Leaders will meet on Wednesday, September 10 at 6:30 online. Our main agenda items will be reviewing the August 13 event and planning for Week Without Driving (WWD), September 29 through October 5. If you would like to join the meeting, please reply to this email for access information. We keep our meetings to one hour at the most.

The LAPC's Committee on Transit and Active Transportation is scheduled to meet on Thursday, September 11 at 3:30 p.m. in person at the county's administration building and online. For more information about the committee and its agendas, visit https://www.lacrossecounty.org/metropolitan-planning-organization/committees/committee-on-transit-and-active-transportation

 We are still open to more co-sponsors for WWD. If your group, club, office, business, agency, or organization is interested, please fill out this form: https://tinyurl.com/wwdlaxcosponsor Co-sponsors help promote the event and encourage their contacts to participate. If they want, co-sponsors may donate a prize for WWD Bingo and/or host a WWD event or activity.

We will have information about La Crosse area WWD specifics in early September. Several events are planned including a kick-off press event, a display at the public library, a panel discussion of non-drivers, a film and discussion at the library, a bus ride with local leaders, a SMRT Transit 2 Trails ride to Coon Valley, and more. You can learn more about the event in general at https://weekwithoutdriving.org. You can also sign up for the WWD Experience--pledge to try a week without driving and journal your experience—at that site as well. For those who don't feel they can sign up for the week experience, we will have a WWD Bingo card (with prizes) to help you participate.

We will do another update later in September when WWD details are finalized. Please consider supporting this important event and participating however you can. If you can try the experience, help spread the word, talk to your city council and county board representatives about how we support and serve non-drivers, and/or attend one or more WWD events, it will help promote more discussion about accessible transportation options in our community.

Please consider officially joining LATA here: https://tinyurl.com/joinlata to help us grow and have a stronger voice for public transit. 

Tuesday MTU Board Meeting

 

The MTU Board Meeting will be held in the Grandad Room at City Hall on Tuesday, August 19th at 4 pm.

 

Members of the public who would like to provide written comments may do so by emailing lorentza@cityoflacrosse.org or mailing the MTU, 2000 Marco Dr, La Crosse WI 54601.

 

Agenda:

https://cityoflacrosse.legistar.com/View.ashx?M=A&ID=1331524&GUID=2BA6E547-2384-4EF7-8FE1-F01216CE65DA

 

Join Zoom Meeting:

https://cityoflacrosse-org.zoom.us/j/88965216863?pwd=wFdt4qbbQDpQ1FGM5Oix1KP33kmKIE.1

 

Meeting ID: 889 6521 6863

Passcode: 422997

Amtrak Sale - book by 8/20

Amtrak Fall Sale

Book by 8/20. Up to 25% off. Travel from Sept. 3 - Nov. 13. "Combine this offer with any of our everyday discounts--seniors, students, kids and groups can save even more." Picture of blue and silver Amtrak Train rolling through fall colors along a green river valley. 

Public comments on Transportation plan update

Today is the start of a 30-day public comment period for the La Crosse Area Planning Committee's (LAPC) draft long-range Metropolitan Transportation Plan, Moving Ahead to 2055.

The comment period will conclude on September 16, 2025, at 5 p.m., with the LAPC Policy Board reviewing and approving the plan the following day at its September 17, 2025 meeting at 4:30 p.m. 

For more information and to access the Plan and its appendices, please visit: 

https://www.lacrossecounty.org/metropolitan-planning-organization/planning-and-programming/metropolitan-transportation-plan

Come and learn more and provide input about Moving Ahead to 2055 at one of two public open houses: 

First Open House:
Monday, August 18 from 4 to 5:30 p.m. at the Town of Onalaska Town Hall, N5589 Commerce Road, Onalaska, WI 54650.

Second Open House:
Tuesday, August 19 from 4 to 6 p.m. at the La Crosse County Administration Building, Room 1107, 212 6th St N, La Crosse, WI 54601. This open house is accessible by Downtown MTU bus service.

For those who cannot make it in-person, can attend the second open house virtually on August 19 from 4 to 6 p.m., to ask any questions. Any person may access this meeting utilizing the following options.

Option 1: Use the link below to join the TEAMS meeting on your desktop/laptop/phone to stream audio, video or both. If you do not have TEAMS on your desktop/laptop/phone, after you activate the link “Click here to join the meeting” you will have to follow several prompts to join the meeting.

Join the meeting now
Meeting ID: 224 190 802 908 8
Passcode: 4Gv9C3GV

Option 2: Dial in by phone (audio only)
+1 262-683-8845,,841117613# 
United States, Allenton

Find a local number
Phone conference ID: 841 117 613#

Comments may be submitted directly to Erin Duffer at eduffer@lacrossecounty.org or through our Send Us Your Comments page.

If you need special accommodation or translation into another language to view LAPC plans or programs, please contact Erin Duffer at 608-785-5597.

Yog tias koj xav tau kev pab tshwj xeeb lossis txhais ua lwm hom lus kom pom LAPC cov phiaj xwm lossis phiaj xwm, thov hu rau Erin Duffer ntawm 608-785-5597.

Si necesita adaptaciones especiales o traducción a otro idioma para ver los planes o programas de LAPC, comuníquese con Erin Duffer al 608-785-5597.

Erin Duffer, AICP (she/her)

Transportation Planner

La Crosse Area Planning Committee, MPO

Phone: 608-785-5597

eduffer@lacrossecounty.org

Speak up for transit

From 1000 Friends of Wisconsin:

Time Sensitive: Speak Up for Transit

The US Department of Transportation has opened a request for information for the next surface transportation reauthorization. This is an opportunity for individuals and coalitions who support transit to submit letters and comments. Comments must be submitted by August 20 or sooner.

Alliance for a Just Society has created a toolkit (linked here), including a template that is able to be customized and submitted. For assistance, contact Stevie Pasamonte, at the Alliance for a Just Society.

August updates

Join us on August 13 at Transit Talk and Treats from 4 to 6 p.m. at the La Crosse People's Food Co-op for some some food, talk, and door prizes. Representatives from the La Crosse MTU, the SMRT bus, and the La Crosse Area Planning Committee will be there to let us know what's new and to listen to our ideas and feedback. We will have refreshments and door prizes, too. A flyer is attached. Please help us spread the word on social media. This is a great opportunity to connect and advocate for better public transit in our area!

LATA Leaders will not meet in August, but we are looking for a few volunteers to help us table at upcoming student back-to-school events on August 28 from 1 to 3:30 at Viterbo, on September 2 from 11:30 to 1:30 at Western Technical College, and on September 3 from 10 a.m to 1 p.m. at UWL. You can sign up at the August 13 event, sign up online at https://tinyurl.com/LATA-Fall25-B2STabling or reply to this email. Our next meeting will be September 10 at 6:30. Anyone is welcome to join us! Email for access information.

The city's Bike-Ped Advisory Committee (remember, transit is pedestrian infrastructure!) meets in person (Miller Room, City Hall) and online on the second Tuesday of every month and is open to the public. The August meeting will be at 8:30 a.m. on August 12 and the agenda with access information will be available at their web page: https://tinyurl.com/bpaclacrosse

The MTU Board will meet on August 19 at 4 p.m. in person and online. The agenda and access information will be published at the committee's web page when it is finalized: https://tinyurl.com/mtuboard.

The Mayor is hosting a series of community roundtables starting with one on August 21 from 5 to 7 p.m. at the La Crosse Center. This is a great opportunity to talk about schedules, routes, seating at stops, ADA accessibility, an other transit-related ideas. Learn more and register for the event at https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/YLGZGZP

If you were not able to attend the recent public input session about the WisDOT corridor studies for Highways 53 and 14/61, you can still provide input. Are there accommodations like pullouts at or safe crossing near bus stops? Visit the project's public involvement page at https://wisconsindot.gov/Pages/projects/by-region/sw/533516-lacrosse/us53us1461-pi.aspx

The Wisconsin Department of Transportation (WisDOT) invites the public to review and share comments on the agency’s 2025 Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) Transition Plan to help its efforts to continually improve accessibility throughout the state highway system including roadside facilities, navigability within public rights of way and public input processes. Per federal law, the transition plan is regularly maintained with opportunities for public input. As suggested by Wisconsin Transit Riders Alliance secretary, Susan DeVos, should accessible bathrooms at transit centers or seating at bus stops be required? What other accommodations should be considered? Please provide feedback by August 31 using this online form: https://tinyurl.com/wisdotadasurvey

Gil Penalosa's Cities for Everyone webinar series will feature Janette Sadik-Khan, Former NYC DOT Commissioner. currently with Bloomberg Cities, chair NACTO, and chair ITDP in a program called Street Fight – Handbook for an Urban Revolution on Tuesday, August 5 at 10 a.m. online. Learn more, get links to past webinars, and register here: https://cities4everyone.ca/webinar/

We are still looking for co-sponsors for Week Without Driving, September 29 through October 5. Co-sponsors will have their names and/or logos on event materials and help spread the word and encourage their contacts to participate by signing up for the WWD experience or filling in a WWD Bingo Card. Please fill out this form asap if you would like to be a co-sponsor! https://tinyurl.com/wwdlax-cosponsor.

Please consider officially joining LATA to help us grow and increase our outreach. You can use the join form at https://tinyurl.com/joinlata