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Chuck Kamp, general manager of Appleton-based Valley Transit, was among those who traveled to see transit authorities in action in Kalamazoo, Lansing and Grand Rapids. "What we learned was that the decision-making process seemed to be more logical, more streamlined and more effective," Kamp said. At a time when many Wisconsin transit services were contemplating raising bus fares to counter rising gas prices, these transit authorities in Michigan were holding fares steady because, as independent government bodies, they could tax for reserves that could be drawn on in emergencies, Kamp said. Most important, Kamp said, the group observed that transit authorities in Michigan have to go back to the public every five years for a referendum authorizing their continued operation. "To me that is true accountability," Kamp said. David Nennig, transit director for Green Bay Metro, agreed: "We were really impressed with what the transit systems in Michigan have been able to accomplish. In Wisconsin, with transit funded through municipal budgets, "it is a year-to-year thing," said Joe Caruso, spokesman for Milwaukee County Transit. "Even though the transit system may have come in under budget it may be affected by some other department being hit hard." "When you look at what other regions outside of Wisconsin have done, when you look, for example, at areas like St. Louis and Denver, typically those regions have a dedicated source of funding for transit," Caruso said. Keith Carlson, manager of the La Crosse Municipal Transit Utility, said La Crosse is so interested in the idea that in 2003 it listed having a regional transit authority as one of its long-range goals. |
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