The Milwaukee streetcar, known as The Hop kicked off expanded service on Oct. 29. The new service will be on Sundays only until next spring.
There's controversy over the expansion.
What's known as The L-Line began service on E. Michigan St. as far as The Couture high-rise condos that are under construction Monday through Saturday. The L then rolls back west on Clybourn St., to Milwaukee St. before going north, and overlapping some of the route — known as the M line — that has been operating for five years.
Streetcar Manager Andrew Davis-Lockward got a round of applause from a Saturday meeting of the Wisconsin Association of Railroad Passengers when he mentioned the expansion.
"Thank you," Davis-Lockward began. "So, we're going to be reaching out to the lakefront area. And, coming up in spring of 2024, when the building is complete, we'll ramp up service to have our weekday service as well. This is going to be a 1.8 mile route. We're going to be running from 7 am to 10pm and have 20 minute frequencies," he said.
But with the construction money for The Hop coming from the federal government, U.S. Rep. Bryan Steil (R-WI) has been trying to block the Sunday-only Hop expansion. Steil lives in Janesville. But his redrawn Congressional district now includes more suburbs in southern Milwaukee County. Steil has asked U.S.Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg to waive a federal grant requirement that the city says forces the streetcar expansion to start by the end of month.
Steil argues The Hop won't add many passengers on Sundays near the Couture construction and the expansion now is "not in the best interest of taxpayers."
But a Streetcar spokesperson told WUWM that instead of asking the federal government for an extension, the service has decided to acquaint operations staff with the L-line and for the public to become familiar with it. That means both riders and car drivers will be interacting with The Hop on Michigan and Clybourn streets.
But as The Hop came out from under the Couture and curved west onto Clybourn, rider Charles Strauss, a Milwaukee County resident, said the expansion now is a great thing.
"I believe it'll bring more business into the area, with people being able to get on and off. It does go to a number of certain great places in Milwaukee. A lot of stops within three or four blocks of major things in Milwaukee, and I think it's great for Milwaukee," Strauss said.
Riding the new — again, for now, Sunday only — L line is free, as are transfers between the L and M.
