Ride the Bus!

A recent La Crosse Tribune article reported on the consolidation of the two La Crosse high school show choirs and noted that some students may have trouble participating because of transportation.

Wow. 

If only there were a service that moved people, safely and affordably, from one part of the city to another without the need for a driver's license or an expensive, dangerous private car. Hmmm.

We DO have such a system and it's called public transportation. Let's promote it and use it. Let's include it for school activities, community events, and daily life.

There are three MTU buses routes that stop by Central and two from the north side that connect at the Transit Center. If rehearsals were move to the Polytechnic it woud be even easier. The student passes are a great deal. Time on the bus can be used socializing or studying.

And there are other places you can get to by bus. You can take the #4 to the Earth Fair, for example. What better way to greenify your travel than to hop on a bus (if you can't bike or walk there). I think the bus route will even detour on April 28 to get riders closer to the fair entrance.

If you haven't ridden before or if it's been a while, contact us for a Ride Guide. One of our guides will meet you, ride with you, go over the maps and apps, and answer your questions so you'll be an expert rider in no time.

Let's get on the bus and encourage others to ride, too!

Upcoming events and another detour

See below for detour info on the #6!

This Saturday, April 6, Wisconsin Association of Rail Passengers is holding its annual spring meeting in the Wisconsin Dells and online. There will be a variety of updates on national and state rail projects including the TCMC second daily Amtrak that is expected to start soon, progress on siting an Amtrak station in Madison, information about new rail lines from Milwaukee to the Twin Cities via Madison and Eau Claire and the Milwaukee to Green Bay rail project. For more information visit https://wisarp.wordpress.com/2024/02/06/wisarp-spring-membership-meeting-date-announced/

LATA Leaders will meet online on Tuesday, April 16 at 5:30 p.m. This is different than our usual time. If you would be interested in joining us at this meeting, please reply to this email. We will continue planning events for the year and looking for ways to bring good transit into the community conversations.

We are looking for a few more people to be at our LATA table at the Sunday, April 28 Earth Fair, any time between 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. If you could spare an hour to help spread the good word about transit, please reply to this email.

We will host a Ride SMRT to Viroqua on Wednesday, May 1. We catch the SMRT Yellow that picks up at various locations in La Crosse between about 9:30 and 10:15 and gets to Viroqua at a little after 11 a.m. Then you're on your own with several return trip options. The cost is $4 cash paid to the driver each way. Get more details and the registration link at http://lacrosseata.blogspot.com/p/smrt-2-viroqua.html  Please register by April 28!

We are hoping to apply for an AARP grant to help restart a more robust Ride with a Guide program in partnership with the MTU. This program will train volunteers to help new riders navigate the public transit system. If you would be interested in being a Ride Guide, please reply to this email.

We are also working on planning Week Without Driving, Sept. 30 through October 6. This is not a transit-specific event but it's a national week that challenges electeds and decision-makers to pledge a week without driving and experience the life of a non-driver public policies, budgets, and decisions have created. Learn more about WWD here: https://weekwithoutdriving.org/ and please let me know if you and/or your organization would like to help plan and/or co-sponsor, please reply to this email. The main event is the WWD challenge. We will do some local things to highlight the message of the week, including the WWD Bingo card, a LATA ride, possibly a panel discussion, etc.

The official roll out of the official 3D tactile map, a project that Liz Fryseth and her children started and worked on last year, is still in progress but with no firm date for public release. We would like to encourage the MTU to give this priority. If you interact with MTU drivers or admins, please ask about it. We are looking at doing some LATA sponsored events to highlight the map later this spring and summer.

DETOUR - ROUTE 4:  Starting April 8 and through summer, the #4 will have a detour. Just north of Hintgen school, rather than continuing north on 28th, it will turn left onto Robinsdale, coming out by Starbucks on Mormon Coulee Road. The bus will turn onto MC Road and then north onto Losey and continue north along its regular route. The stops at 28th and James, 28th and Hass, and 26th and Hass will be closed until road work in the area is completed some time in August.

A new AVL (auto vehicle locator) system should be in place by fall. The current DoubleMap app is no longer being supported which is why it may blink in and out or not show your bus in certain situations. The hope is that the new system will be more reliable and offer more options for fares, and accessibility enhancements.

The MTU and ATU have come to an agreement on a contract through arbitration. This will be finalized at the City Council meeting this month. On March 18, Public Transportation Employees' Day, LATA presented a Thank You card poster to MTU employees (see the card at https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3AlZfJBcGpcpKlMcVFC4isoGU5L3IAyYFWWwUhQecUvcpx9JUwStT7b703bYhdqwOymNoRZSLG4vYFVs9YfR2WpemSZMONzM_jxpduyn6Gr9pLMULtydSAqn8Kz-WIskRjETDc_92LMb75yWF-B1k6iMyiHh_MOSRGUhm2B5irFsZR12Mtflnl48K1Yo/s2000/Image.jpeg )

The March 9 Wisconsin Transit Riders Alliance Spring Meeting went well. Our speaker, Dave Steele, gave an interesting overview of his non-profit, MobiliSE and their Milwaukee area workforce on-demand transit system FlexRide. You can watch the presentation here: https://youtu.be/8pP76TfsmBo LATA will be represented on the 2024 WTRA board by Cathy Van Maren. Members of LATA are also members of WTRA.

Attention Route 6 Downtown Passengers.

Beginning Monday Apr 8th the intersection of Onalaska Avenue and North Salem Rd will be closed. Route 6 Downtown will use Harvey St to Stoddard St, Stoddard St to Prospect St and Prospect St to North Salem Rd. Please catch the bus at Hamilton St and North Salem Rd or North Salem Rd and Loomis St. 

If you have any questions, please ask your driver, or call 608.789.7350.

Ceeb Toom Txoj Kev 6 Hauv Nroog Cov neeg caij tsheb. Pib hnub Monday Lub Plaub Hlis 08th kev sib tshuam ntawm Onalaska Avenue thiab North Salem Rd yuav raug kaw. Txoj Kev 6 Hauv Nroog yuav siv Harvey St mus rau Stoddard St, Stoddard St mus rau Prospect St thiab Prospect St mus rau North Salem Rd. Thov caij tsheb npav ntawm Hamilton St thiab North Salem Rd lossis North Salem Rd thiab Loomis St.

Yog tias koj muaj lus nug, thov nug koj tus neeg tsav tsheb, lossis hu rau 608.789.7350.

Atención Pasajeros de Ruta 6 Centro.

A partir del lunes 8 de abril, la intersección de Onalaska Avenue y North Salem Rd estará cerrada. La Ruta 6 del Centro utilizará Harvey St hasta Stoddard St, Stoddard St hasta Prospect St y Prospect St hasta North Salem Rd. Tome el autobús en Hamilton St y North Salem Rd o North Salem Rd y Loomis St.

Si tiene alguna pregunta, pregúntele a su conductor o llame al 608.789.7350.

Election Day - Free (with detour)

RIDE THE MTU FREE ON

APRIL 2 - ELECTION DAY!

And, on Tuesday, April 2, the # 4 bus stops from East Ave and La Crosse St to Pine St and Campbell Rd will be closed. Both Route 4 buses will use La Crosse St to 23rd St and 23rd St to Campbell Rd. Temporary bus stops will be placed at the corners of East Ave and La Crosse St and La Crosse St and Hillview Ave. 

If you have any questions, please ask your driver or contact MTU at 608-789-7350.

[This will get voters who use the Nature Place polling location a little closer and still serve those, with the East Ave & La Crosse Street stop, who vote at the UWL Student Union.]

March 18 - Transit Employees Appreciation Day!

Thanks to MTU, SMRT, OHWS Taxi, Amtrak, Greyhound, Jefferson Lines, and every other transit employee!