MCTS bus security officers, committee approves $600K+ proposal
MCTS bus security officers proposal
Milwaukee County supervisors want to spend more than $620,000 on uniformed security officers with one job: convince more people to pay their bus fare.
MILWAUKEE - Milwaukee County supervisors want to spend more than $620,000 on uniformed security officers with one job: convince more people to pay their bus fare.
Free rides
The backstory:
A FOX6 investigation found 33% of Milwaukee County Transit System passengers did not pay their fares in the first five months of 2025. That's an estimated eight million free rides and $10 million in uncollected fares per year.
FREE DOWNLOAD: Get breaking news alerts in the FOX LOCAL Mobile app for iOS or Android
With six routes on the chopping block, MCTS is looking for ways to plug a massive budget hole.
The plan calls for the security officers to be placed on "high-evasion" bus routes. They would not be armed and would not have the power to issue citations.
MCTS bus riders skip paying fares 8 million times a year
More than 8 million riders per year are boarding Milwaukee County Transit System (MCTS) buses without paying the required fare, according to a FOX6 Investigators analysis of MCTS data.
Security spending
What they're saying:
To pay for the increased security presence, the county would wait a year before replacing more than 400 surveillance cameras at the jail, courthouse and public safety building.
"We have ways that we can make the facilities safe, but I think we also need to immediately address the amount of fare evasion that we're seeing on the buses," said Supervisor Shawn Rolland. "It is blowing a huge hole in the budget, and it's going to force us to cut bus routes. And that is really going to jam people up."
SIGN UP TODAY: Get daily headlines, breaking news emails from FOX6 News
The Milwaukee County Sheriff's Office is not so keen on that idea.
"It’s not a matter of if, but when these cameras fail. If we want to push this out a year, that's kind of like hoping your 1974 Ford Pinto with 300,000 miles is going to make it just one more year," said David Rugaber, MCSO deputy director.
Policy change?
What's next:
On Friday, the county board's Finance Committee voted 5-2 to approve the plan for security officers. It now goes to the full Board of Supervisors for a final vote.
Meanwhile, MCTS is considering a major policy change. The transit system ordered bus drivers to stop asking for fares in 2022, following federal safety guidance. Steve Fuentes, the transit system's CEO, said they're now considering allowing drivers to start asking for fares again. He did not give any timeline for a decision.
The Source: FOX6 Investigators reviewed the county board's proposal and vote, and referenced prior coverage related to MCTS fare evasion, for this story.