MCTS to reduce fall service hours to address estimated $10.9 million 2025 budget deficit

    June 18, 2025
    The reduction in services will affect non-peak weekday high-frequency routes with the lowest ridership mid-day and frequency levels on Saturdays.
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    Milwaukee County Transit System (MCTS) will be reducing fall service hours starting Aug. 24 to address an estimated $10.9 million budget deficit for 2025. According to the agency, the budget deficit stems from unexpected expenses and lower passenger revenue. 

    MCTS says an approximately 20,000-hour reduction in service levels will be in effect through the end of the year. The agency notes any adjustments will affect non-peak weekday high-frequency routes with the lowest ridership mid-day and frequency levels on Saturdays. No routes will be cut. According to MCTS, MOVE 2025 improvements--including four new routes--will go forward this fall.   

    “Reducing the frequency of buses is the last thing we want to do, but it will have the least impact on our riders,” said MCTS Interim President and CEO Julie Esch. “We provide 80,000 rides a day—that’s tens of thousands of Milwaukee County residents who depend on us to get to work, school and medical care.” 

    MCTS says it has eliminated freeway flyers, school routes and special event shuttles during the past several years due to mounting fiscal challenges, and despite the elimination of these services, ridership has continued to grow. In 2024, ridership increased by 13 percent to more than 25 million rides. 

    “MCTS is a lifeline for the regional economy,” Esch said.  “MCTS is vital in connecting tens of thousands of individuals to work, school and medical care. Our goal is to ensure that service cuts have minimal impacts on the businesses, organizations and people who rely on this important service.”