Jay Weber Show 4-24-25
We talked to Badger Institute President Mike Nichols about how The Hop is a genuinely unsustainable boondoggle that needs to be ended. Losses need to be cut. Milwaukee residents have no idea what a decaying, expensive mistake this has become.
via Mike's piece from Badger Institute....
Milwaukee’s $128 million streetcar, the Hop — despite adding a second line — has even fewer passengers than six years ago, operates cars that are often nearly or completely empty, and stands virtually no chance of ever expanding.
In addition to the $128 million initial cost, my colleague Mark Lisheron reported that the City of Milwaukee is using its transportation fund’s money to plug a $4 million annual hole in the Hop’s operating budget.
There are actually two lines, the original M Line that runs on a 2.1-mile downtown loop, and the new L Line that, extending west from the Couture apartments on the lakefront, forms a 0.4-mile segment and intersects with the M Line.
The L Line has averaged only 165 rides a day and the M Line only 1,355 a day over the last year, according to the Department of Public Works. Both lines run an average of 18 hours a day, which means the L line has less than 10 riders per hour. I don’t know how long an average rider is on the Hop, but the whole L loop takes less than 20 minutes. Lots of riders are likely on there for maybe five or 10 minutes. That means cars on the L Line are often empty or carry one person.
The full article here > Derail the Hop permanently
photo credit: Badger Institute
Here's the segment here > It's time to derail The Hop permanently.