|
Every year, more than 600,000 Wisconsin vehicle owners in seven counties dutifully — if not happily — trudge out for their mandatory biennial emissions test.
They’re not the only ones with cause to complain. From its start in April 1984 through the 2022-2023 fiscal year, the program has cost taxpayers approximately $271.4 million, according to the state’s Legislative Fiscal Bureau (LFB).
Yet, for all of the millions of dollars, time spent and inconveniences imposed, it’s nearly impossible to determine if the program meaningfully decreases exhaust emissions that form ozone and damage air quality.
| |
|
Milwaukee city officials are going to run their streetcars, part of the $128 million Hop, through a closed construction site on Sundays, and Sundays only, throughout the winter in order to satisfy the requirements of a federal grant.
If ridership on the new one-day-a-week “L-Line” are similar to Sunday numbers on the Hop’s single existing line, there will be few riders most of the time.
“A requirement of the grant is to begin service by 10/31/2023 on the L-Line,” wrote Tiffany Shepherd, a marketing and communications officer for the Department of Public Works in an email to the Badger Institute. “We could have requested an extension, but choose to use this an opportunity to provide access as soon as possible, even though it’s only one day a week...”
| |
Thank you again to the supporters, students and state representatives who made our Annual Dinner on Oct. 12 remarkably memorable. It was surely a night worth reliving — which we invite you to do through the event photos now available. | |
The downtown trolley operated by the City of Milwaukee, dubbed “The Hop,” is opening a second line one day a week this winter, though it will extend to a yet-to-open building. You can read a viewpoint with news about the city’s reasoning here. | |
|
The underlying numbers
The monthly ridership on The Hop not only varies seasonally, but it also is below prepandemic levels. In general, it has been increasing since the depth of the pandemic lockdowns in 2020, a pattern similar to many mass transit systems.
Monthly ridership since the trolley’s opening in November 2018:
| |
Another way of viewing ridership is to compare the average monthly number of passenger trips by year: | |
| 2018 | 78,246 | | 2019 | 63,360 | | 2020 | 21,775 | | 2021 | 25,098 | | 2022 | 31,009 | | 2023 | 42,867 | | |
Another way of looking at it is to see how much those annual figures for average monthly ridership have changed from 2018. Since average monthly ridership figures also are available over the same period for the Milwaukee County Transit System, we can compare how The Hop ridership has fared over the course of the pandemic to the change in ridership in a much larger and more usual transit system: | |
For reference, while The Hop’s monthly ridership in 2023 to date has averaged 42,867 passenger trips, the figure for the Milwaukee County Transit System, the largest bus system in Wisconsin, is 1,591,560. | |
Weekly Survey: Does vehicle emissions testing provide a public benefit worth the investment of Wisconsin taxpayers? | |
Invest in the Badger Institute | | |
|
The Badger Institute, formerly known as the Wisconsin Policy Research Institute (WPRI), has long been at the forefront of the fight for school choice, right to work, welfare reform, tax restructuring, limited government, civil society and so much more. If you appreciate the Institute’s legacy and want to support free markets, opportunity and prosperity, please consider donating today. Your support will help the Institute continue to advocate for conservative principles now and in generations to come. | |
|
The Institute never has, and never will, accept government funding. We gratefully welcome your online donation or email Angela Smith, Executive Vice President.
The Badger Institute is a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt nonprofit organization funded solely by the generosity of foundations, companies and individuals.
| | | | |
