FlexRide connecting Milwaukee residents to suburban job opportunities

MILWAUKEE — Each week day on the nook of 52nd and Capitol, Richard Ellis waits for his trip to work.

Ellis simply moved to Milwaukee a couple of month in the past from Chicago and he mentioned initially, he was a bit involved about attending to his new job in Butler, Wis.

“It got here at a really well timed time. I simply acquired a proposal letter from Cargill Meat and I used to be inquiring a couple of trip to work, since Butler is out of the bus vary of Milwaukee,” mentioned Ellis.

However Ellis doesn’t have to fret a couple of trip since he began utilizing FlexRide – a brand new program that launched in Milwaukee about a couple of months in the past, connecting residents to job alternatives in Menomonee Falls and Butler.

“Menomonee Falls and Butler had been beforehand served by bus routes. These had been quickly funded, and when the funding went out, the bus routes went away,” defined Eric Lynde of the Southeastern Wisconsin Regional Planning Fee. “They had been job strains routes and due to that, lots of staff misplaced their jobs once they weren’t in a position to get to their jobs anymore. So we try to fill that. We all know that serving a few of these areas with a bus is inefficient.”

The pilot program is backed by a $1 million grant from the Nationwide Science Basis, with the College of Wisconsin-Milwaukee and Southeastern Wisconsin Regional Planning Fee conducting analysis into how totally different modes of transportation can create new employment alternatives.

“As we’ve got seen from a number of of our riders from the start, they’ve been in a position to get jobs and maintain jobs and be arriving on time. And that’s one of many issues via the analysis we’re going to be investigating, how many individuals do benefit from this method and do they finally have a greater expertise for transportation due to it,” mentioned Robert Schneider with UW-Milwaukee.

For Ellis, the bus service stops a couple of mile earlier than his job.

“The bus stops at twenty fourth and Hampton, and it’s a must to stroll 8-10 blocks,” mentioned Ellis.

Nevertheless, via FlexRide, he is dropped off proper on the door. It’s primarily similar to ordering an Uber or Lyft. Residents can get picked up at any nook in designated zones. A trip to Zone 1 is free and Zone 2 value $1.50 per a method.

The purpose is to attach folks with new alternatives, and for Ellis, he credit FlexRide as the rationale why he was in a position to save up cash and not too long ago buy a brand new automobile.

“With out FlexRide, I would not have been in a position to entry the job. With out the job, I would not have been in a position to entry the test and I would not have the ability to purchase a brand new automotive,” he mentioned.

The examine runs till November, and primarily based on the findings from UW-Milwaukee, they’ll report back to different communities to see if versatile transportation is a viable choice.

Schneider mentioned if this program is profitable, they wish to broaden it to different areas.

As of proper now, FlexRide is attempting to get its ridership as much as about 150 customers. Proper now about 30 individuals are utilizing the app.

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