Jump to content

La Crosse Municipal Transit Utility

Add links
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
(Redirected from La Crosse MTU)

La Crosse Municipal Transit Utility
Bus #1202 in 2020
ParentCity of La Crosse
FoundedJanuary 2, 1975
Headquarters2000 Marco Dr.
LocaleLa Crosse, Wisconsin
Service areaLa Crosse County, Wisconsin
Service typeBus service, Paratransit
Routes11
HubsClinton & Caledonia Transfer Point
StationsGrand River Station
Fleet21
Annual ridership685,372 (2023)[1]
WebsiteLa Crosse MTU

The La Crosse Municipal Transit Utility or MTU is the primary provider of mass transportation in La Crosse, Wisconsin. Using 21 buses, eleven regular routes are provided from Monday through Friday. On Saturdays, the MTU runs six routes, and five routes on Sundays.[2]

History

[edit]

Public transit in La Crosse began with the opening of a horse-drawn streetcar line in 1879. Over time, more streetcar lines were added and in 1893, all streetcars had been electrified. Beginning in the early 20th century however, increasing car ownership led to a decline of the privately run streetcar system. As a result, buses began to replace streetcars throughout the city and by November 1945, the last streetcar line closed. The City of La Crosse took over operations of the buses in 1975 from the Mississippi Valley Public Service Company, as the buses could no longer be operated profitably.[3]

In 1945, in the first timetable after streetcar service had ended, there were four bus routes. The earliest bus left at 5:40am and the last bus returned at 1:00am. Buses ran at a 10 to 15 minute headway throughout the day. In total, the buses provided 1519.95 hours of service per week. In 2022, the MTU provides only 1141.6 hours of service per week, a decline of 24.89%.

In 2019, a real time bus tracking mobile app was launched.[4] The first two electric buses were introduced to the system on June 13, 2022, which was followed in October with the launch of a mobile app for fare payment.[5][6][7]

Routes

[edit]

Services Mon-Fri (5:12am–10:40pm) Sat (7:42am–7:40pm) Sun (7:42am–6:40pm):

  • Route 1: South Avenue
  • Route 2: Green Bay
  • Route 4: Losey Boulevard
  • Route 5: Valley View Mall
  • Route 6: Northside

Services Mon-Fri only

  • Route 7: French Island
  • Route 8: Crossing Meadows
  • Route 9: Onalaska
  • Ciculator Route 1
  • Circulator Route 2

Services Mon-Sat only:

  • Route 10: La Crescent Apple Express

Grand River Station

[edit]
Grand River Station panorama
Grand River Station can be seen on the right of this aerial in downtown La Crosse

Grand River Station is the downtown transfer point for the majority of MTU routes and provides an MTU ticket counter along with retail and housing. The center opened on August 25, 2010, allowing transfers between MTU buses, intercity buses and commuter buses.[8] Prior to the construction of Grand River Station, transfers between buses occurred by the Post Office at the intersection of 5th Avenue and State Street.

Ridership and service

[edit]
Total Ridership Change Total Revenue Hours Change Total Revenue Miles Change Fixed Route Ridership Change Fixed Route Revenue Hours Change Fixed Route Revenue Miles Change
2007[9] 1,043,403 n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a
2008[10] 1,202,018 Increase15.2% n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a
2009[11] 1,189,841 Decrease1.01% n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a
2010[12] 1,230,030 Increase3.38% n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a
2011[13] 1,255,407 Increase2.06% n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a
2012[14] 1,152,781 Decrease8.17% n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a
2013[15] 1,229,410 Increase6.65% 89,707 n/a 1,171,787 n/a 1,175,528 n/a 54,206 n/a 763,957 n/a
2014[16] 1,223,182 Decrease0.51% 81,247 Decrease9.43% 1,113,534 Decrease4.97% 1,192,752 Increase1.47% 54,215 Increase0.0% 766,569 Increase0.34%
2015[17] 1,128,992 Decrease7.7% 80,624 Decrease0.77% 1,136,698 Increase2.08% 1,102,173 Decrease7.59% 56,160 Increase3.59% 794,864 Increase3.69%
2016[18] 1,059,472 Decrease6.16% 81,240 Increase0.76% 1,112,519 Decrease2.13% 1,032,964 Decrease6.28% 58,547 Increase4.25% 830,979 Increase4.54%
2017[19] 1,025,797 Decrease3.18% 70,506 Decrease13.21% 1,043,529 Decrease6.2% 999,955 Decrease3.2% 58,801 Increase0.43% 844,107 Increase1.58%
2018[20] 980,865 Decrease4.38% 67,404 Decrease4.4% 1,002,603 Decrease3.92% 959,453 Decrease4.05% 58,459 Decrease0.58% 845,271 Increase0.14%
2019[21] 923,030 Decrease5.9% 67,734 Increase0.49% 988,717 Decrease1.38% 905,412 Decrease5.63% 60,626 Increase3.71% 866,971 Increase2.57%
2020[22] 562,145 Decrease39.1% 62,788 Decrease7.3% 887,922 Decrease10.19% 552,719 Decrease38.95% 59,275 Decrease2.23% 826,151 Decrease4.71%
2021[23] 524,717 Decrease6.66% 67,767 Increase7.93% 983,201 Increase10.73% 510,235 Decrease7.69% 62,356 Increase5.20% 884,284 Increase7.04%
2022[24] 606,371 Increase15.56% - - 1,012,367 Increase2.97% 587,835 Increase15.21% - - 887,773 Increase0.39%
2023[25] 685,372 Increase13.03% - - 1,016,566 Increase0.41% 667,034 Increase13.47% - - 896,617 Increase1.0%

Financial Information

[edit]
Operating Expenses Fare Revenue Farebox Recovery Ratio Operating Expense per Vehicle Revenue Mile Operating Expense per Vehicle Revenue Hour Operating Expense per Passenger Mile Operating Expense per Unlinked Passenger Trip
2013[26] $4,426,715 $646,955 23% $5.79 $81.66 $1.18 $3.77
2014[27] $4,661,352 $633,582 19% $6.08 $85.98 $1.30 $3.91
2015[28] $4,993,931 $632,438 17.3% $6.28 $88.92 $1.46 $4.53
2016[29] $5,123,647 $645,204 17% $6.17 $87.51 $1.60 $4.96
2017[30] $5,153,871 $610,973 15.7% $6.11 $87.65 $1.72 $5.15
2018[31] $5,150,579 $612,670 18% $6.09 $88.11 $1.79 $5.37
2019[32] $5,317,615 $537,194 14.9% $6.13 $87.71 $1.96 $5.87
2020[33] $5,301,401 $170,186 8.2% $6.42 $89.44 $3.20 $9.59
2021[34] $5,408,836 $251,832 9.4% $6.12 $86.74 $3.54 $10.60

Although the MTU does not recover all of its operating expenses through fares, neither does the local motor vehicle infrastructure recover any of its expenses through user fees. In fact, not one cent of local road costs are paid for by the user, not to mention the abundant subsidized parking in the city.[editorializing]

Bus fleet

[edit]

The MTU bus fleet is composed primarily of Gillig Low Floor models. As of 2021, the 22 buses in the fleet had an average age 7.7 years, down from a high of 12.6 years in 2018.[35][36] As of 2023, the bus fleet comprised the following vehicles:[37]

Count Year Manufacturer Model
1 2001 Gillig Low Floor 35'
2 2002 Gillig Low Floor 35'
5 2007 Gillig Low Floor 35'
3 2012 Gillig Low Floor HEV 35'
4 2019 Gillig Low Floor 35'
6 2021 Gillig Low Floor 35'
2 2021 Proterra ZX5 35'
2 2023 Gillig Low Floor HEV 35'

See also

[edit]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ "National Transit Database". Retrieved March 25, 2024.
  2. ^ "Transit System Map and Rider's Guide".
  3. ^ La Crosse Tribune, February 2, 1964, pg 4
  4. ^ Jourdan Vian (April 22, 2019). "La Crosse MTU launches real-time bus-tracking app". Retrieved January 15, 2023.
  5. ^ Alex Loroff (June 8, 2022). "New electric buses officially debut in La Crosse". Retrieved September 5, 2022.
  6. ^ "City Debuts Two New Electric Buses, La Crosse, WI, 2022". Retrieved September 5, 2022.
  7. ^ Leah Rivard (October 3, 2022). "La Crosse's MTU launches mobile bus pass app". Retrieved January 15, 2023.
  8. ^ "La Crosse's new transit center opens late, over budget". August 25, 2010.
  9. ^ "MTU buses cruise to 1 million served". March 2, 2008.
  10. ^ "Grand River Transit Service Enhancement & Policy Plan 2015-2025".
  11. ^ "Grand River Transit Service Enhancement & Policy Plan 2015-2025".
  12. ^ "Grand River Transit Service Enhancement & Policy Plan 2015-2025".
  13. ^ "Sustainable La Crosse Commission Minutes" (PDF).
  14. ^ "Grand River Transit Service Enhancement & Policy Plan 2015-2025".
  15. ^ "2013 Annual Agency Profile" (PDF).
  16. ^ "2014 Annual Agency Profile" (PDF).
  17. ^ "2015 Annual Agency Profile" (PDF).
  18. ^ "2016 Annual Agency Profile" (PDF).
  19. ^ "2017 Annual Agency Profile" (PDF).
  20. ^ "2018 Annual Agency Profile" (PDF).
  21. ^ "2019 Annual Agency Profile" (PDF).
  22. ^ "2020 Annual Agency Profile" (PDF).
  23. ^ "2021 Annual Agency Profile" (PDF).
  24. ^ "National Transit Database". Retrieved July 6, 2023.
  25. ^ "National Transit Database". Retrieved March 25, 2024.
  26. ^ "2013 Annual Agency Profile" (PDF).
  27. ^ "2014 Annual Agency Profile" (PDF).
  28. ^ "2015 Annual Agency Profile" (PDF).
  29. ^ "2016 Annual Agency Profile" (PDF).
  30. ^ "2017 Annual Agency Profile" (PDF).
  31. ^ "2018 Annual Agency Profile" (PDF).
  32. ^ "2019 Annual Agency Profile" (PDF).
  33. ^ "2020 Annual Agency Profile" (PDF).
  34. ^ "2021 Annual Agency Profile" (PDF).
  35. ^ "2021 Annual Agency Profile" (PDF).
  36. ^ "2018 Annual Agency Profile" (PDF).
  37. ^ "2023 NTD Vehicle Inventory". Retrieved November 11, 2024.
[edit]
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=La_Crosse_Municipal_Transit_Utility&oldid=1257272376"