Number
080323
Version
SUBSTITUTE 1
Reference
Sponsor
ALD. ZIELINSKI
Title
Substitute resolution requesting the Federal Transit Administration to permit $91.5 million in federal funds designated for transit improvements in Milwaukee to be used for the purchase of hydrogen fuel-cell buses and/or battery-electric buses.
Analysis
This resolution requests the Federal Transit Administration to permit the $91.5 million in unspent federal funds designated for transit improvements in Milwaukee (i.e., for implementation of the recommendations of the Milwaukee Connector study) to be used for the purchase of hydrogen fuel-cell buses and/or battery-electric buses.
Body
Whereas, $91.5 million in federal funds appropriated in 1991 for public transit improvements in Milwaukee remain unspent due to the inability of local leaders to reach an agreement on how this money should be used; and
Whereas, The purchasing power of these unspent funds is diminished with each passing year; and
Whereas, According to the recent Public Policy Forum report Milwaukee County’s Transit Crisis: how did we get here and what do we do now?, since 2001, nearly $40 million of the Milwaukee County Transit System’s $44 million reserve of federal capital funds have been used to fill holes in MCTS’ operating budget, rather than for capital improvements such as the purchase of new buses; and
Whereas, Use of federal capital funds by MCTS to purchase new buses fell steadily from $13.3 million in 2001 to barely $2 million in 2006, with no bus purchases whatsoever in 2007 and 2008; and
Whereas, MCTS has extended its typical 12-year bus replacement cycle to 14 years for 150 buses in its fleet to allow continued use of federal capital dollars for the MCTS operating budget in 2008 and 2009, but has indicated that it will need to replace these buses over a 3-year period beginning in 2010 at a cost of $56 million; and
Whereas, Hydrogen fuel-cell buses and battery-electric buses are zero-tailpipe-emissi...
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