'Micro-transit' project getting national support to see if it can connect urban workers with suburban jobs

Natalija Mileusnic
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
FlexRide Milwaukee will use a concept called micro-transit to connect urban workers with suburban jobs.

A national award-winning proposal from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee is targeted at addressing two problems — one of them fairly recent and one chronic.

The recent problem is the labor shortage that afflicts many businesses trying to come out of the pandemic. The chronic problem is getting unemployed workers in Milwaukee to jobs in the suburbs, particularly Waukesha County.

Enter the idea of "micro-transit."

In September, the National Science Foundation awarded a team from UWM a $1 million grant to transport workers living in high unemployment areas of Milwaukee to jobs in suburbs. Transportation is expected to start Feb. 1 and the UWM team is working now to match up jobs with people. The program even has a new name: FlexRide Milwaukee.

The UWM team worked alongside the Southeastern Wisconsin Regional Planning Commission and was one out of almost two dozen winners of the NSF Civic Innovation Challenge. 

YueYue Fan of NSF said the team was awarded the grant for the micro-transit research because of its ability to "integrate equity measures and employment improvement opportunities.”

Kevin Muhs, executive director of the regional planning commissions staff, said the UWM team first approached SEWRPC with a goal of improving transit services to Milwaukee residents. He said the majority of the job growth in the metro area has been in suburban cities, so it's vital to get Milwaukee residents access to those jobs. 

“We have a longstanding interest in trying to work on issues in this region with regard to equal access to jobs,” Muhs said. “From our perspective it was a great opportunity to further our work and try to win a grant and try some things out.” 

Dave Steele

Other partners have been brought into the research project.

Dave Steele, executive director of the Regional Leadership Council, first learned about the opportunity to partner with the UWM team through SEWRPC. 

“We approached UWM and brought in the Waukesha County Business Alliance and the Center for Growth on the planning effort,” Steele said. “Because the grant is really about connecting people to businesses a bit further out in Waukesha County.”

Employ Milwaukee is also involved.

The employment center of the Menomonee Falls and Butler area were selected as the first destination points. 

“One problem is unemployment and lack of job opportunities for a lot of people in the city of Milwaukee and really throughout the region,” Steele said. “It addresses the workforce shortage that a lot of businesses are facing these days.” 

The proposal involves a micro-transit model that would base availability on level of demand. Vehicles ranging from SUV’s, vans and shuttle buses will be used.

“The Southeastern Wisconsin Regional Planning Commission is holding a contract with a transportation company named VIA,” Steele said. “Users will be able to pick up the shuttles from five different locations on the northwest side of Milwaukee.” 

Muhs described how the transportation service will work for users. 

“It’s an on-demand type service, similar to Uber or Lyft where people can access it via the phone or an app and request a pickup at one of five locations,” Muhs said. “The shuttle will take them right to the door of their employer.” 

So far, locations for pickups include Sherman Phoenix, Midtown Center, Silver Spring Neighborhood Center and two locations in the upper northwest. 

“All of those locations have access to MCTS routes and will offer an easy transit for people,” Muhs said. After a bus drops them off, they can call for micro-transit.

“We’re expecting that we’ll have capacity for about 150 individuals to participate at a given time,” Muhs said. 

Robert Schneider

Robert Schneider, professor of architecture and urban planning at UWM, said the NSF has been communicating with the team in hopes that the transportation program will be ongoing.

“In their meetings with us they mentioned how they want this to be a sustainable program,” Schneider said. “They also said they want it to be transferable to other communities.” 

Ivy Hu, principal investigator of the project.

Since it’s a research project, the UWM team plans on conducting surveys with employers and riders to ensure that their needs are being met. Principal investigator of the project Ivy Hu said that would help lead to sustainability. 

“Our goal is not only to count the number of people who use the service, but (to measure) economic development benefits,” said Hu, professor of architecture and urban planning at UWM. “We want to evaluate how many low income people we’ve helped and how many people shift their travel modes by energy consumption.”