Milwaukee County’s Board of Supervisors adopted a $1.4 billion budget for next year. It restores some funding to the Milwaukee County Transit System, but the future of major routes — including Route 28 — and paratransit services is uncertain.
Among the approved amendments is a nearly $5 million investment in transit and paratransit services. But the investment is nowhere near the $14 million needed to fully restore transit and paratransit services for 2026.
The board also adopted a resolution requiring MCTS and the Milwaukee County Department of Transportation to present a strategy to maintain essential bus routes while sustaining and improving the system.
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Chairwoman Marcelia Nicholson authored the measures. She said hundreds attended the annual public hearing to support restoring funding to transit cuts in the original recommended budget.
“It was disheartening to hear person after person share how a transit cut will impact their lives,” Nicholson said. “Whether it’s not being able to make it to their doctor’s appointment, not being able to go visit their friends and feeling isolated, maybe perhaps feeling unsafe, getting to and from school every day, and hearing those stories you can’t not want to do something.”
MCTS has until December to present a proposal showing changes to the transit system.
Until then, Nicholson says the board will lobby transit leadership to ensure residents still have access to necessary routes and paratransit services.
Around 40 percent of Milwaukee residents do not drive. More than 25 million rode the bus in 2024. The MCTS has seen an over 40 percent increase in ridership in the past five years but remains below pre-pandemic levels.
The Milwaukee County Transit System has relied on $192 million in federal American Rescue Plan Act funds since 2020. The transit system used $20 million in ARPA funds in 2025 and will use another $9 million in ARPA funds next year. But the transit system faces a $14 million budget deficit in 2026 when federal pandemic relief aid runs out.
Some on the board say they were blindsided because they learned about the deficit through the media rather than MCTS directly.
“We thought that they were operating at least whole or at a surplus,” Nicholson said. “Having to fill that gap and the final hours meant that there needs to be some tough decisions in how we protect our transit routes.”
Last month, Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley presented his proposed 2026 budget to the county board. It called for eliminating six bus routes, modifying five routes and increasing bus fares from $2 to $2.75 for adults. It would also discontinue the Transit Plus Same Day pilot program — a van service providing individuals with disabilities $10 rides for “vital trips” that cannot be scheduled the previous day.
The pilot program is part of the larger Transit Plus service which provides paratransit services to those with disabilities leaving them unable to use usual bus routes. The rides typically must be scheduled 24 hours in advance. Transit Plus provided more than 360,000 rides in their ADA compliant vans last year, according to an MCTS annual report.
Cheryl Orgas is a community advocate and executive director of Audio and Braille Literacy Enhancement. She was among dozens of residents who shared their concerns with the board during an Oct. 27 meeting. She told the board she pleaded with them two years ago to provide paratransit same-day services to disabled residents.
“And you heard us,” Orgas said. “You heard us, and you brought an amendment. And 2,000 riders have received same day services because of all of you.”
Two years later, she urged the board to amend the budget to continue the same day services.
“So do all those people now miss their doctor appointments again, not get to work, not get their kids to daycare, not get their kids home from daycare in emergencies?” Orgas said.
The adopted 2026 budget moves to Crowley’s desk for final approval or a veto. But, Nicholson urged the public to contact their state representatives and Gov. Tony Evers if they care about the MCTS.
“Let them know that Milwaukee County needs funds so that we can fund these routes for our community, and hopefully that can have a ripple effect all across the state of Wisconsin, because it’s not just a Milwaukee issue, it’s a Wisconsin issue,” Nicholson said.
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