The Milwaukee County Transit System’s new East-West Bus Rapid Transit line (BRT) provided 16,800 rides during its first week of service, according to ridership figures released Wednesday by MCTS.
Called CONNECT 1, the new route replaces the traditional MCTS Gold Line, that previously connected the Milwaukee Regional Medical Center (MRMC) and Wauwatosa to downtown Milwaukee, with a streamlined route that has fewer stops and a dedicated bus lane aimed at moving passengers along the busy corridor faster.
Service launched on Sunday, June 4, and the ridership figures reflect the number of rides provided to people from June 4 through June 10. Rides on the route are currently free to all passengers, thanks to an agreement with Umo Mobility, the MCTS new ridership app provider. Rides on the line will remain free until Sept. 30, under the partnership.
Planning for the BRT route, which involved capital improvements topping $55 million, began back in 2016.
“We are thrilled with the early results on CONNECT and appreciate all of the positive comments we’ve received about our new BRT line,” said MCTS president and managing director Denise Wandke. “Thanks go out to all our supporters who have championed this project: elected officials, business leaders, transit advocates, and our dedicated riders.”
The top CONNECT 1 destinations across the 9-mile route are downtown Milwaukee, Marquette University and the Milwaukee Regional Medical Center. The most popular station is at Water Street, with 300 rides a day.
Ridership numbers from CONNECT 1’s first week also show that passengers are taking advantage of the connection to Waukesha’s Metro Route 1 to access jobs and services in Waukesha County. Metro 1 ridership has increased from approximately 300 rides per day to 700, according to MCTS.
The BRT achieves faster travel time by removing the sorts of things that can slow buses down. Instead of stopping every quarter mile, like a lot of buses, the BRT stops every half mile. Rather than stopping at the farebox to pay a fare or show a bus driver a pass, riders pay for their tickets at a ticketing machine at one of the BRT’s 33 new stations or use the MCTS app, WisGo.
Having a marked, and dedicated bus lane across half of the nine-mile route, also helps to speed things up by taking the bus out of mixed traffic for a good chunk of the ride. Although MCTS buses have always traveled in the far-right lane. Those lanes are now marked as “bus only” throughout most of the route’s Milwaukee portion.
