WED AM News: Proposed commuter rail project aims to connect SE WI communities; Nearly 150 doctors urging state leaders to expand BadgerCare

July 31, 2024

— A proposed commuter rail project in southeastern Wisconsin aims to connect dozens of communities throughout the region while delivering a projected $1.5 billion in economic impact.

That’s according to Jacqulynn Honl, chief operating officer for Transit Innovations LLC. For the last dozen years, this Milwaukee-based company has been working toward the creation of the E-Way Regional Commuter Rail System, a network of commuter stations and associated real estate development built along more than 100 miles of existing railroad infrastructure.

Honl spoke yesterday during a meeting of the Milwaukee Rotary Club, where she touted the potential for the project to benefit residents in Milwaukee, Waukesha, Racine, Kenosha and Washington counties. She said the project has a 10-year timetable for building out the network, though she said that will be affected by how community-level work goes.

“It connects communities to educational and medical campuses, it provides access to the region’s entertainment districts as well as access to employment centers, thus creating an opportunity of equity through transportation, and ultimately a catalyst for economic development,” she said.

She said the company is pursuing federal transit authority grants dedicated for commuter rail projects, noting its business model leverages private funding along with public investment “to ensure the success of this project.” Honl said the key to that success is achieving sustainable profitability without subsidization.

“Because we operate privately, without the burden and the cost of public pensions — which typically consume about 45% of public transit budgets — the E-Way can be sustained by ticket sales, parking revenues, last-mile connector revenues and advertising revenues,” she said.

That involves leasing existing rail infrastructure from railroads, which includes ongoing maintenance for bridges, track and right-of-ways, she said. The company is also moving forward with acquiring and remediating contaminated, abandoned sites to redevelop into the E-Way stations.

This network currently has two existing commuter stations, according to a map at the company’s website, while other planned locations are distributed along rail lines in the area.

Transit Innovations has conducted ridership studies over the past decade that identified a “desire for year-round daily ridership” on the system, Honl said.

“The E-Way is not just a transit system,” she said. “The E-Way system alone is an $800 million-plus commuter rail network of rail infrastructure and station development, with an additional proposed $500 million-plus of real estate development.”

The company is currently working on a job creation study through Milwaukee advisory firm Baker Tilly to gauge the impact on the regional workforce. Honl said the network would connect employers throughout the region with workers, ranging from downtown Milwaukee to Waukesha, New Berlin, Oak Creek, Milwaukee Mitchell International Airport and other employment hubs.

“Access to labor is key,” she said. “Communities need labor for growth. Communities that grow do thrive, and communities that thrive are here and better 100 years from now. And that is exactly what this economic development project is all about.”

Honl says the project has “a wide range of support” from local counties and municipalities to proceed.

“They have applauded our efforts, and they encourage us to finalize our ridership revenue studies, to accomplish the necessary equity raise for the acquisition of our station sites, and to secure the rail access leases,” she said.

Watch the video at WisconsinEye.

— Nearly 150 Wisconsin doctors are urging state lawmakers to expand the state’s BadgerCare program to include more low-income families.

Speaking yesterday during a call organized by the national Committee to Protect Health Care on the anniversary of Medicare and Medicaid being signed into law in 1965, Dr. Ann Helms said too many Wisconsin residents are being left without care. Helms is a Milwaukee-area neurologist and the committee’s Wisconsin state lead.

“Too many Wisconsinites still lack access to affordable health care, as I see every day in my practice,” she said. “So as physicians, we’re here today to call on the Wisconsin Legislature to finally expand Medicaid in our state.”

The doctors backing this change have signed onto a letter to state lawmakers urging support for expanding BadgerCare eligibility from 100% of the federal poverty level to 138%. This would make nearly 90,000 low-income families in the state eligible for Medicaid coverage, speakers on the call said.

Dr. Bob Freedland, an ophthalmologist in La Crosse, said residents of states that have expanded Medicaid get screened more often for breast cancer, high cholesterol, diabetes and other conditions, leading to better health outcomes.

And Dr. Barbara Hostetler, an OB/GYN in Verona, says it’s “painfully obvious” to her that lacking health insurance leads to delays in care. She also noted expanding BadgerCare would bring in more federal funding to the state.

“In addition to providing affordable care to individuals in the state, Wisconsin would receive an additional $2.2 billion in federal funding over the next two years,” she said, adding “this is money that Wisconsin has been leaving on the table now for several years.”

For more of the most relevant health care news, reports on groundbreaking research in Wisconsin, links to top stories and more, sign up today for the free daily Health Care Report from WisPolitics and WisBusiness.com.

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— The Department of Workforce Development has been awarded $1 million in federal funding for the state’s apprenticeship program.

The state agency yesterday announced the funding from the U.S. Department of Labor, part of a $39 million national investment in apprenticeships across 46 states.

The DWD’s Wisconsin Apprenticeship program will use the grant funding to: conduct outreach about apprenticeships; offer new opportunities for “emerging sector employers” to bring on apprentices; boost partnerships with the state Department of Corrections; update technology, and more.

See the release.

— This year’s Forward Festival in Madison has 42 in-person events, the most since before the pandemic, organizers announced.

The 15th annual technology festival takes place Aug. 19-23 at various locations in and around Madison, featuring gatherings and speakers focused on AI, startups, investing, cryptocurrency.

Laura Strong, festival board member and strategy advisor at Archeus Technologies in Madison, says “it’s exciting to see” more of the festival’s 50 events take place in person.

“We are providing attendees with information on advances in technology, yet we still have core sessions on how to build a business,” she said in a statement. “There is something for everyone.”

See the release and find more event details.

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