Milwaukee County's Connect Bus Rapid Transit will remain free until early 2024, MCTS says

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

The new battery powered CONNECT 1 electric bus heads east down East Wisconsin Avenue on the second day of the start of the $55 million nine-mile CONNECT 1 East-West Bus Rapid Transit line in Milwaukee on Monday, June 5, 2023. The first BRT route in the county will stretch from Milwaukee's downtown to the Milwaukee Regional Medical Center in Wauwatosa along Wisconsin Avenue and Bluemound Road will let. Passengers will ride for free through September 30.

Rides for Milwaukee County's Connect Bus Rapid Transit will remain free until early 2024, MCTS announced Monday morning.

Due to supply chain delays, the pre-board fare equipment will not be ready to install as planned for this fall.

The equipment will allow riders to pay at the platform before boarding the bus. Once the new platform validators are installed in 2024, riders will be able to scan their WisGo card or Umo mobile app before boarding the CONNECT 1.

The first BRT route launched June 4 and let passengers ride for free over the summer. The line spans from Milwaukee's downtown to the Milwaukee Regional Medical Center in Wauwatosa along Wisconsin Avenue and Bluemound Road.

The bus operates from 4:30 a.m. to 1:30 a.m. During the daytime, on weekdays, buses will arrive every 10 minutes and every 15 minutes on weekends. Evening buses are scheduled to arrive every 20 to 30 minutes.

Ridership on the BRT line has grown since June 2023 and is now at 3,600 rides a day, according to MCTS.

MCTS will announce the timeline when WisGo pre-board fare collection will begin on the BRT sometime in early 2024. For more information, visit RideMCTS.com/CONNECT.