Milwaukee — Bus System to Bid

March 2017

Milwaukee County cleared the way for the county's bus system to bid on operating the city's modern streetcar line which was to begin its construction downtown in April, the urbanmilwaukee.com site reports.

The initial segment in Wisconsin's largest city will be followed by a wire-free branch to the Couture high-rise real estate development along the Lakefront. Milwaukee is buying Brookville Equipment Corp. "Liberty" model modern streetcars in dual mode with battery power and pantograph current collection.

Similar units are operating at Dallas-Oak Cliff, and will serve the Detroit Woodward Avenue line. They've also been ordered by Oklahoma City:

Milwaukee County will throw its hat in the ring to operate the city’s streetcar system, despite long odds against winning. With an April 4th deadline looming, the Milwaukee County Board of Supervisors approved legislation that requests the Milwaukee County Transit System and Milwaukee County Department of Transportation to respond to the city’s request-for-proposals to operate the Milwaukee Streetcar.

Their chances of winning are hurt as the bid, which will be scored by the city on a 100-point scale, requires a “Minimum of five years of demonstrated streetcar or related transit service experience on similar systems in an urban environment.” Unless county officials find a partner in a hurry, their bid seems likely to receive a failing grade.