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20, RIP
 
By Bobby Tanzilo RSS Feed Twitter Feed
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More articles by Bobby Tanzilo

What is a blog?  For us it is a short blurb that we write when the mood strikes us.  It can be first person, funny or informative. In short, a blog is whatever we want it to be. Published March 25, 2008 at 11:10 a.m.
Tags: mcts, 16th street viaduct, radio doctors, route 20 bus

The day I moved to Milwaukee in 1983, I boarded a No. 20 bus where Muskego Avenue meets 16th Street and Greenfield Avenue and rode to Radio Doctors to buy a dub album by the great reggae engineer Scientist. (I hopped off the bus, crossed against the light and was welcomed in true Milwaukee style with a jaywalking violation from an MPD officer!)

A 17-year-old native New Yorker, I saw no reason to own a car. So, until my parents convinced me that life in Milwaukee would be better with wheels -- sadly, they were right -- I was an inveterate bus rider and walker. I'd walk Downtown across the 16th Street viaduct on a regular basis. But my main wheels were the ones on the No. 20 bus, which took me up 16th Street, across the viaduct to Wisconsin Avenue, where it turned to head east. It terminated on Cass Street, just south of Wisconsin.

It was on the No. 20 bus that I met Mike Layton, my first Milwaukee friend, and my entre into the local music scene. It was running for the No. 20 bus that I lost and had to retrieve my black and white Puma sneaker (laced, Brooklyn style, without being tied) after storming out and quitting the hell that was working for Mr. Bravi (ironically named, if you ask me) at the Woolworth's Downtown. It was the No. 20 that I rushed to catch before service shut down for the night. The No. 20 took me halfway to school when I went to UWM.

The No. 20, which back then had a different route -- it went straight up 16th Street instead of turning at Wisconsin Avenue -- was the bus my mom rode when she grew up in the same house that we moved to (and where her dad grew up after my great-grandfather bought it in the early 1920s).

So, as I read that the No. 20 route is being targeted for permanent termination, I feel a pang of sadness. But until the city and the county get their acts together regarding mass transit in the area, this is bound to keep happening.



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Milwaukee County Transit System
1942 N. 17th St.
Milwaukee, WI 53205
(414) 344-6711

8 comments about this article.
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Recent Talkbacks ...

Posted by Transit man on March 25, 2008 at 3:07 p.m. (report)

No need to get argumentative, MilwaukeeD. I was just pointing out that the county might not necessarily have a stranglehold on transit. Even you seem to suggest that the state can be involved, which could mean the city could work with the state to do something, right?

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Posted by CoolerKing on March 25, 2008 at 2:59 p.m. (report)

Perhaps a combination of increased jobs and higher gas prices would push the light rail, but I don't see it happening in the present. Hey Bobby, it's a good thing you were only jaywalking back then. Now if you were riding a skateboard downtown in '83, you'd be much worse for the wear by the MPD.

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Posted by MilwaukeeD on March 25, 2008 at 2:42 p.m. (report)

transit man, name one city in the country that has successfully built a light rail line on its own. No city has. It is always done by a regional transit authority or county gvt. The city would need taxing authority, which it doesn't have, in order to raise the funds. The county and state, on the other hand, could allocate portions of existing sales taxes, gas taxes, etc. towards transit.

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Posted by Z_boy on March 25, 2008 at 2:40 p.m. (report)

Scott Walker must go! As others have alluded to, this loss is due to Walker's lack of visionary leadership when it comes to mass transit. Oh, yeah, the killing off of our parks systems, too -- that's also the brilliance of Walker.

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Posted by littletinyfish on March 25, 2008 at 2:21 p.m. (report)

The 20 was the first bus I rode when I moved to Milwaukee. I used to commute to Wauwatosa and back to visit a (now ex) girlfriend. The bus trip are looked upon more fondly than that relationship.

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Show me the other 3 Talkbacks
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