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 ridership562,145 (2020)[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

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

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

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

Total RidershipChangeTotal Revenue HoursChangeTotal Revenue MilesChangeFixed Route RidershipChangeFixed Route Revenue HoursChangeFixed Route Revenue MilesChange
2007[9] 1,043,403n/an/an/an/an/an/an/an/an/an/an/a
2008[10] 1,202,018Increase15.2%n/an/an/an/an/an/an/an/an/an/a
2009[11] 1,189,841Decrease1.01%n/an/an/an/an/an/an/an/an/an/a
2010[12] 1,230,030Increase3.38%n/an/an/an/an/an/an/an/an/an/a
2011[13] 1,255,407Increase2.06%n/an/an/an/an/an/an/an/an/an/a
2012[14] 1,152,781Decrease8.17%n/an/an/an/an/an/an/an/an/an/a
2013[15] 1,229,410Increase6.65%89,707n/a1,171,787n/a1,175,528n/a54,206n/a763,957n/a
2014[16] 1,223,182Decrease0.51%81,247Decrease9.43%1,113,534Decrease4.97%1,192,752Increase1.47%54,215Increase0.0%766,569Increase0.34%
2015[17] 1,128,992Decrease7.7%80,624Decrease0.77%1,136,698Increase2.08%1,102,173Decrease7.59%56,160Increase3.59%794,864Increase3.69%
2016[18] 1,059,472Decrease6.16%81,240Increase0.76%1,112,519Decrease2.13%1,032,964Decrease6.28%58,547Increase4.25%830,979Increase4.54%
2017[19] 1,025,797Decrease3.18%70,506Decrease13.21%1,043,529Decrease6.2%999,955Decrease3.2%58,801Increase0.43%844,107Increase1.58%
2018[20] 980,865Decrease4.38%67,404Decrease4.4%1,002,603Decrease3.92%959,453Decrease4.05%58,459Decrease0.58%845,271Increase0.14%
2019[21] 923,030Decrease5.9%67,734Increase0.49%988,717Decrease1.38%905,412Decrease5.63%60,626Increase3.71%866,971Increase2.57%
2020[22] 562,145Decrease39.1%62,788Decrease7.3%887,922Decrease10.19%552,719Decrease38.95%59,275Decrease2.23%826,151Decrease4.71%
2021[23] 524,717Decrease6.66%67,767Increase7.93%983,201Increase10.73%510,235Decrease7.69%62,356Increase5.20%884,284Increase7.04%
2022[24] 606,371Increase15.56%--1,012,367Increase2.97%587,835Increase15.21%--887,773Increase0.39%

Financial Information

Operating ExpensesFare RevenueFarebox Recovery RatioOperating Expense per Vehicle Revenue MileOperating Expense per Vehicle Revenue HourOperating Expense per Passenger MileOperating Expense per Unlinked Passenger Trip
2013[25] $4,426,715$646,95523%$5.79$81.66$1.18$3.77
2014[26] $4,661,352$633,58219%$6.08$85.98$1.30$3.91
2015[27] $4,993,931$632,43817.3%$6.28$88.92$1.46$4.53
2016[28] $5,123,647$645,20417%$6.17$87.51$1.60$4.96
2017[29] $5,153,871$610,97315.7%$6.11$87.65$1.72$5.15
2018[30] $5,150,579$612,67018%$6.09$88.11$1.79$5.37
2019[31] $5,317,615$537,19414.9%$6.13$87.71$1.96$5.87
2020[32] $5,301,401$170,1868.2%$6.42$89.44$3.20$9.59
2021[33] $5,408,836$251,8329.4%$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.

Bus fleet

Fleet sizeAverage fleet age
2013[34] 218.5
2014[35] 189.5
2015[36] 219.6
2016[37] 2110.6
2017[38] 2111.6
2018[39] 2112.6
2019[40] 2311.4
2020[41] 2111.7
2021[42] 227.7

See also

References

  1. ↑ "2020 Annual Agency Profile" (PDF).
  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 (8 June 2022). "New electric buses officially debut in La Crosse" (published June 8, 2022). 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". 25 August 2010.
  9. ↑ "MTU buses cruise to 1 million served". 2 March 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. ↑ "2013 Annual Agency Profile" (PDF).
  26. ↑ "2014 Annual Agency Profile" (PDF).
  27. ↑ "2015 Annual Agency Profile" (PDF).
  28. ↑ "2016 Annual Agency Profile" (PDF).
  29. ↑ "2017 Annual Agency Profile" (PDF).
  30. ↑ "2018 Annual Agency Profile" (PDF).
  31. ↑ "2019 Annual Agency Profile" (PDF).
  32. ↑ "2020 Annual Agency Profile" (PDF).
  33. ↑ "2021 Annual Agency Profile" (PDF).
  34. ↑ "2013 Annual Agency Profile" (PDF).
  35. ↑ "2014 Annual Agency Profile" (PDF).
  36. ↑ "2015 Annual Agency Profile" (PDF).
  37. ↑ "2016 Annual Agency Profile" (PDF).
  38. ↑ "2017 Annual Agency Profile" (PDF).
  39. ↑ "2018 Annual Agency Profile" (PDF).
  40. ↑ "2019 Annual Agency Profile" (PDF).
  41. ↑ "2020 Annual Agency Profile" (PDF).
  42. ↑ "2021 Annual Agency Profile" (PDF).
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