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  

August 13 - Transit Talk and Treats

Calling all bus riders, public transit advocates, urbanists, climate activists, non-drivers, and people interested in better, safer, cleaner transportation options in our area!

• Meet & greet like-minded community members. Strengthen our network of active transportation advocates.
• Talk with representatives from the MTU, SMRT bus, and La Crosse Area Planning Committee. Learn what's new and share your experiences and ideas.
• Refreshments provided! 
• Door prizes including transit passes and transit riders' essentials.
• Music! (still working on it!)

Please share this invitation with others! Download, print, and post a .pdf flyer. Use this .jpg flyer to share on social media.

Contact LATA with questions or for more information!

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