The Assembly Committee on Transportation held a public hearing Thursday to discuss Wisconsin transportation planning and possible rail and bus services.
Of the Senate and Assembly bills discussed at the hearing, Rep. Peter Barca's, D-Kenosha, sponsored bill seeks to create a regional transit authority in southeastern Wisconsin that would plan for commuter rail and bus expansion.
He spoke to the committee about the impact his bill would have on the immediate and surrounding regions. He said the transit authority project was vital to connect the Northern Suburbs of Milwaukee to Southern Suburbs of Chicago.
""This project is about more than connecting Kenosha, Racine and Milwaukee or their northern and western suburbs. The Southeast Regional Transit Authority is about our state's role in the region… tying together one of the largest corridors in the country and this corner of the state to one of the largest metro areas in the U.S."" Barca said
According to Barca, the ""train corridor"" from Milwaukee to Chicago would have 1.2 million people living within a mile of the route. Barca also said that this infrastructure investment would spur job creation and sustain growth into the future.
Members of the business community, mayors, environmentalists and fellow representatives urged regional transit system legislation to ease congestion, expand service and create jobs, according to the Wisconsin State Journal.
""Creating an integrated, coordinated transportation infrastructure in southeastern Wisconsin, where approximately 40 percent of our state's population lives, is critical to helping our state's economy to grow and to giving our workers the ability to get to the jobs they need to support their families,"" Barca said.
""Make no mistake about it, this is a jobs bill.""
According to a spokesperson from Barca's office, Thursday's session represented a first step. The committee must now hold an executive session to consider and amend the bills before they are sent to the floor for a vote.
The committee also heard testimony on the formation of Transit Authorities for Fox County and La Crosse.
