OPENPUBLICA · PUBLIC MEETING RECORD
Record of Proceedings

Transit Commission Meeting - March 19, 2026

Public Meetings — Thursday, March 19, 2026
BodyWaukesha, Wisconsin
SessionPublic Meetings
DateThursday, March 19, 2026
StatusFILED
Video Record
0:00 / 24:02

Transcript — Verbatim
0:10

Yep.

0:13

Go ahead and get started for the transit commission meeting for Thursday, March 19th.

0:21

Do that.

0:22

It's on.

0:25

Yeah.

0:27

Yep.

0:28

It's green.

0:32

Um I'll speak louder.

0:35

Apologize.

0:36

Kind of haspy.

0:38

Um take a vote.

0:42

Cassens here.

0:44

Kevin Riley here.

0:46

Oh, Donald here.

0:47

Hey in here.

0:48

We have a quorum.

0:51

Please rise to remove any head here.

1:16

Thanks, everyone.

1:26

We can uh we do have a public hearing, so we have a public hearing after minutes approval, so we can uh we can take comments at that time.

1:37

Gotcha.

1:38

Item four a uh approval of minutes from February 5th.

1:43

Pay and moves.

1:44

Kevin Riley seconds.

1:46

Any comments or questions?

1:49

Seeing none take a vote.

1:51

Casson's aye.

1:53

Kevin Riley, aye.

1:54

O'Donnell Aye.

1:56

Motion passes.

2:05

Now we enter a public hearing.

2:08

Um public hearing.

2:14

Kevin Riley so moves.

2:17

Paying seconds.

2:18

We have a motion and second to enter public hearing.

2:22

Um other questions or comments for that.

2:32

Yeah, you can just vote vote to open it.

2:34

Kevin Riley, aye.

2:38

O'Donnell I.

2:39

Pay and I.

2:40

Okay.

2:41

Uh Mr.

2:41

Chairman, then what I'll do.

2:43

Thank you for opening the public hearing.

2:45

I'll just briefly go over the proposed changes for uh service changes for June 15th.

2:52

Um first a general statement.

2:55

Um what we looked at for these changes were more opportunities where we could reallocate resources to higher ridership areas or make serve make service improvements.

3:08

Um, but there are some uh proposed reductions in service.

3:13

Um as we've talked many times at this board, uh we do have a significant long-term uh financial um deficit if we if everything is the same.

3:25

So we are looking for opportunities to make reductions that minimize the amount of folks that are passengers that are affected.

3:38

We when we do make a reduction, we realize that it does affect individuals or recommend that.

3:45

And so um uh we're we're sorry for that, but unfortunately, the financial realities both now and the future have us uh looking at these when we can or they are affecting as few folks as we can.

4:02

Um with that general statement, I'm just gonna go through um the proposed changes, and it's a lot of routes, but uh uh with the exception of two, um they were relatively minor, but the one of the big ones that requires the public hearing is uh route we're recommending uh the Route Six on Sunday um service, just Sunday service be eliminated at due to low ridership.

4:30

Um this wasn't made in the vacuum, and none of these decisions are made in a vacuum.

4:34

In fact, we've been looking at this as a possibility for the last couple years, and the ridership hasn't improved, and it's at a level where with the other routes, because at one point back 20 some odd years ago, all the routes ran on Sunday, but we've uh eliminated ones, but it's now at the level that we've eliminated in the past, um, like the others, and I just want to point out um that routes three, nine, and fifteen currently do not run on Sundays, and they have higher weekday and Saturday ridership and also higher ridership per hour.

5:00

And I just want to point out that routes three, nine, and fifteen currently do not run on Sundays, and they have higher weekday and Saturday ridership and also higher ridership per hour.

5:11

Um, and so those parts of the city do not have uh service.

5:16

Um the change to Route 5 would be elimination of the West High after school trip, um, and that would be eliminated after the school year in mid-June is very low ridership.

5:30

We only have one regular student riding that.

5:33

In fact, the average ride uh number of uh students riding is one, and then the other change with Route 5 would be the 850 a.m.

5:43

uh trip on Sunday.

Discussion Breakdown — Share of Meeting
Transportation Safety█████████████████████████████████████████████54%
Procedural██████████████████21%
Fiscal Sustainability█████6%
Community Engagement████5%
Economic Development████5%
Public Engagement████5%
Disability Rights███4%
Summary of Proceedings

Transit Commission Meeting - March 19, 2026

The Waukesha Transit Commission met on March 19, 2026 at 5:30 PM in Council Chambers. The meeting included a public hearing on proposed service changes effective June 15, 2026, followed by votes to recommend those changes and a federal transit grant resolution to the City Council. Commissioners present: Kevin Reilly, Eric Payne, Steve Kassens, Chad O'Donnell. Joe Pieper was absent.

Consent Calendar

  • Approval of Minutes (February 5, 2026): Approved unanimously (4-0) with a motion by Ald. Eric Payne, seconded by Kevin Reilly.

Public Comments & Testimony

  • Mark Zarwell (1219 S. Grandview Blvd.) expressed concern about proposed elimination of Sunday Route 6 service. He stated he takes Route 6 daily to work and transfers to Route 1, and does not want to move or pay for Uber. He asked for Route 6 to run longer.
  • Michael (no last name or address provided) opposed Route 9 reductions, stating he uses the weekday bus daily.

Discussion Items

  • Proposed Service Changes (Effective June 15, 2026): Transit Manager Brian Engelking presented the changes, summarized as follows:
    • Route 6: Eliminate Sunday service due to low ridership; similar to routes 3, 9, and 15 which already lack Sunday service.
    • Route 5: Eliminate the West High after-school trip (average 1 student rider) and the 8:50 a.m. Sunday trip.
    • Route 9 (Weekday): First trip delayed from 5:55 to 6:30 a.m.; 12:20 p.m. trip pushed back to 2:25 p.m. for operational efficiencies.
    • Route 9 (Saturday): Route truncated north of Silvernail Road (no service to WCTC area). Only one boarding and 2.5 alightings per Saturday on that segment, saving 40-45% of mileage. The freed bus will be used to run a second Route 4 on Saturday to increase frequency to 30 minutes (Route 4 serves south-central Waukesha including Walmart).
    • Route 4 (Saturday): Last two evening trips eliminated, service ends at 7:45 p.m. instead of 8:45 p.m.
    • Route 4 (Sunday): A second bus added for a 5-hour span to boost capacity (Route 4 has highest Sunday ridership after Route 1).
    • Route 3: Last two Saturday trips eliminated, service ends at 5:00 p.m. (Route 1 provides nearby coverage until 11 p.m.).
    • Route 8: 6:15 p.m. weekday trip eliminated (average 1 rider per trip), changing frequency from 30 to 60 minutes starting at that time.
    • Paratransit: A slight reduction to the weekend MetroLift zone to match the truncated Route 9 Saturday service (no longer extends to WCTC area on weekends).
  • WCTC/YMCA consideration: Member Reilly asked about potential future service if the YMCA relocates near WCTC. Engelking stated the city cannot afford any new service without outside funding (from WCTC, City of Pewaukee, or Waukesha County). He confirmed WCTC was notified and had no comment.
  • Outreach to affected riders: Engelking noted drivers have been handing notices on affected trips. He also offered to work with Mark Zarwell on potential conditional MetroLift eligibility.

Key Outcomes

  • Motion to recommend service changes to City Council: Motion by Ald. Eric Payne, seconded by Kevin Reilly. Carried 4-0 (Joe Pieper absent).
  • Motion to recommend Resolution Authorizing Filing of 2026 Federal Transit Grant: Motion by Ald. Eric Payne, seconded by Kevin Reilly. Carried 4-0. The grant covers operating expenses and approved capital projects, including 2027 bus purchases and future paratransit buses.
  • Public hearing opened at 5:32 PM and closed at 5:46 PM.
  • Communications: Engelking invited commissioners to visit Badger Drive next month to see buses and the new bus wash.
  • Meeting adjourned unanimously at an unspecified time.

Meeting Transcript

Yep. Go ahead and get started for the transit commission meeting for Thursday, March 19th. Do that. It's on. Yeah. Yep. It's green. Um I'll speak louder. Apologize. Kind of haspy. Um take a vote. Cassens here. Kevin Riley here. Oh, Donald here. Hey in here. We have a quorum. Please rise to remove any head here. Thanks, everyone. We can uh we do have a public hearing, so we have a public hearing after minutes approval, so we can uh we can take comments at that time. Gotcha. Item four a uh approval of minutes from February 5th. Pay and moves. Kevin Riley seconds. Any comments or questions? Seeing none take a vote. Casson's aye. Kevin Riley, aye. O'Donnell Aye. Motion passes. Now we enter a public hearing. Um public hearing. Kevin Riley so moves. Paying seconds. We have a motion and second to enter public hearing. Um other questions or comments for that. Yeah, you can just vote vote to open it. Kevin Riley, aye. O'Donnell I. Pay and I. Okay. Uh Mr. Chairman, then what I'll do. Thank you for opening the public hearing. I'll just briefly go over the proposed changes for uh service changes for June 15th. Um first a general statement. Um what we looked at for these changes were more opportunities where we could reallocate resources to higher ridership areas or make serve make service improvements. Um, but there are some uh proposed reductions in service. Um as we've talked many times at this board, uh we do have a significant long-term uh financial um deficit if we if everything is the same. So we are looking for opportunities to make reductions that minimize the amount of folks that are passengers that are affected. We when we do make a reduction, we realize that it does affect individuals or recommend that.

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