[Lekooks] What you can do to promote transportation equity

[Gerald Flakas]

This is an article I planned to put in the July newsletter, but there will be no July newsletter. So here it is.

Thank you for your attention to this,

Gerry Flakas

Transportation in Waukesha County and Beyond

A common thread in vibrant metropolitan areas is good public transportation; the “El” and “Metra” in Chicago, the “T” in Boston, the “Metro” in Washington DC, and light rail even in oil-rich Houston! What’s missing in metropolitan Milwaukee? Exactly that! It takes someone in Milwaukee up to 2 hours to go a few miles by bus, and service to outside Milwaukee County is almost non-existent.

The Green Sanctuary Committee has been partnering with the Sierra Club, WISDOM/SOPHIA, Common Ground, and other Waukesha County organizations to try to bring about a more equitable and environmentally-friendly transportation system to our area. We co-sponsored a couple of public transportation events in Waukesha, one on Milwaukee, and participated in a major WISDOM event in Madison to call attention to the transportation needs of the elderly, disabled, job-seekers, and just about everybody else. But so far, our appeals have pretty much fallen on “deaf ears” in the Legislature and Governor’s office, with their obsession with building expensive super highways to enrich their donors.

This is your country, so what can you do as citizens?

Long term, vote for political leaders who will take the responsibility for public transportation as part of our civilization seriously, and will support it.

Short term, contact the political leaders who are now in charge:

The message:

We urge our elected officials to balance transportation priorities to serve everyone:

Restore previous cuts and increase transit funding by $34.4 million. This amount was recommended by the Governor’s commission in 2013 to be added each year over a ten year period.
Adjust specialized transportation funding levels to reflect the increasing demand from those with disabilities and the growing population of older adults unable to drive.
Increase the percentage of state reimbursements to provide needed investment to restore local roads to good condition.
 Who to contact: (if you don’t know who your legislators are, see https://legis.wisconsin.gov/ )

Waukesha County Senators:                             Waukesha County Representatives:

Sen. Kapenga (SD 33) 608-266-9173             Rep. Allen (AD 97) 608-266-9173

Sen. Craig (SD 28) 608-266-5400                   Rep. Neylon (AD 98) 608-266-5120

Sen. Vukmir (SD 608-266- 2512                     Rep. Duchow (AD 99) 608-266-3007

Sen. Darling (SD 8) 608-266-5830                  Rep. Wichgers (AD 83) 608-266-3363

Sen. Fitzgerald (SD13) 608-266-5660 Rep. Kuglitsch (AD 84) 608-267-5158

Sen. Nass (SD 11) 608-266-2635                   Rep. Sanfelippo (AD 15) 608-266-0620

                                                                        Rep. Hutton (AD 13) 608-267-9836

                                                                        Rep. Kooyenga (AD 14) 608-266-9180

                                                                        Rep. Brandtjen (AD 22) 608-267-2367

                                                                        Rep. Horlacher (AD 33) 608-266-5715

                                                                        Rep. Kleefisch (AD 38) 608-266-8551

2017 Joint Committee on Finance:

Sen. Darling 608-266-5830                              Sen. Nygren 608-266-2342

Rep. Kooyenga 608-266-9180                        Sen. Vukmir 608-266-2512

Sen. Olson 608-266-0751
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