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Jason Stein Wisconsin will receive $810 million in federal stimulus money to establish high-speed passenger rail from Milwaukee to Madison and to study the possibility of extending it to the Twin Cities, President Barack Obama’s administration will announce Thursday. That would eventually bring 110 mph passenger rail service from Chicago to Madison after years of fruitless attempts to jump-start the project and give Madison its first passenger rail service since 1971. Tom Held Wisconsin will receive more than $800 million to build a high-speed rail line carrying passengers between Milwaukee and Madison at 110 mph and recapture a piece of a regional rail system largely abandoned six decades ago. The high-speed line could be up and running as early as 2013, the state says. By Larry Sandler of the Journal Sentinel Posted: Jan. 19, 2010 South Milwaukee – Milwaukee County could create its own transit authority, funded by a sales tax of up to a half-cent, to take over the county’s cash-strapped bus system, under proposed legislation unveiled Tuesday. The full 0.5% sales tax would bring in about $60 million a year, or roughly $20 million more than the Milwaukee County Transit System would need to end property tax support and meet its funding needs, bus system spokeswoman Jacqueline Janz said. The new transit authority would be required to use the additional money to restore bus routes cut since 2001, to increase service or to reduce fares. Planners have warned the bus system would face a major service cut without new state or local funding to replace property taxes. By Robert Taylor The Dane County Board voted 20 to 16 to establish a regional transit authority Thursday that would oversee mass transportation planning within the county. The vote falls in line with the 22-13 vote the board sent as a signal of support to the state government for the creation of an RTA in 2007. by Matthew DeFour Metropolitan Madison residents, welcome to the Dane County Regional Transit Authority. The Dane County Board voted 20-16 with one absence early Friday morning to create a new governmental body with the power to raise a sales tax to fund bus and rail transportation options. Dane County Executive Kathleen Falk said she plans to sign the resolution, which will make the new body official. By NICK HEYNEN A proposed Dane County Regional Transit Authority received recommendations from two Dane County Board committees at a joint meeting Monday evening, bringing the long-sought planning body one step closer to reality. RACINE – Bernie Hoff, 59, of Racine, said she and her family enjoyed the comforts of commuter rail when they were living in a Chicago suburb 24 years ago before they moved to Racine. “We saw commuter rail is such an asset to the area,” said Hoff, who was at a transit forum Wednesday night. “We can’t understand why they don’t have it here.” More than 130 people attended the community forum “Tapping into Transit as a Game-Changer” Wednesday night at the DeKoven Center, 600 21st St. The forum, hosted by Racine Transit Task Force and Transit NOW, highlighted the benefits of public transit and specifics of the Kenosha-Racine-Milwaukee commuter rail project. The Task Force is a group working to improve transit for Racine. Framework likely requires Kenosha, Racine voter OKs
BY JOE POTENTE MILWAUKEE — Gov. Jim Doyle wants to give Kenosha and Racine counties time to merge into an umbrella regional transit authority that would fund and oversee bus and rail transit across a three-county region. The Business Journal of MilwaukeeWisconsin Gov. Jim Doyle on Tuesday announced a framework of a proposal crafted with legislators from southeastern Wisconsin on a plan to improve bus and rail service in Milwaukee, Kenosha and Racine through a Regional Transit Authority. The proposal would give Milwaukee County the authority to raise local sales taxes by 0.5 percent to fund local transit and a commuter rail line. By Larry Sandler of the Journal Sentinel Even without an engineer in the cab, the train is still moving forward. Regional planners are holding public hearings next week on plans for a commuter rail line connecting Milwaukee to Racine, Kenosha and the southern suburbs. But at the moment, they have no one to whom they can report the results of those hearings. by Josh Lintereur The City of Sheboygan will receive $2.1 million in economic stimulus to purchase five 35-foot buses, two support vehicles and other equipment, the U.S. Department of Transportation said today. The money is part of $27.4 million in American Recovery and Reinvestment Act funds that were awarded for transit improvements in Wisconsin. By Mike Johnson of the Journal Sentinel Posted: Aug. 20, 2009 Public transit systems in the city of Waukesha and Ozaukee and Washington counties have received a total of $2.87 million in federal stimulus funds to improve transportation, part of the $27.4 million in funds awarded in Wisconsin for such work, the U.S. Transportation Department said Thursday. Lawmakers signed off Tuesday on a $47.5 million state purchase of two high-speed trains from a Spanish company without a competitive bidding process. By Ryan J. Foley MADISON — Wisconsin lawmakers on Tuesday approved a $47 million no-bid contract to buy two passenger trains from a Spanish company under a plan to jump-start high-speed rail service in the state Wisconsin is closer than ever to gaining the high-speed rail service that is needed to put this state on the regional and national transportation map. In fact, the likelihood that a Chicago-Twin Cities route will make stops across the state is now so real that communities are fighting to be on it.
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