State Impediments to Transit-Centered Planning in Milwaukee,Wisconsin,1916–1928

Abstract

In 1916, a national planning expert strongly advised Milwaukee city and county planners to integrate electric railway transit into any comprehensive metropolitan plan. In that same year, a great proponent of publicly owned transit, socialist Daniel W. Hoan, became mayor of Milwaukee. Twelve years later—while Hoan was still mayor—a national engineering firm made the same recommendation. During the interim, however, it became apparent to city leaders, including Hoan, that they did not have either the legal or financial tools necessary to effectively implement any plan that involved altering and improving transit routes and service. Although Wisconsin adopted municipal “home rule” in 1924, the provision was in reality “too little too late” in that it did not grant cities authority to take over the privately owned for-profit transit companies holding monopolies over their streets. Nor was an option to establish a regional transit authority available until after World War II. This article explores the intersecting roles of state laws, the Wisconsin Railroad Commission, local elected leaders, and appointed planners in the ultimate—automobile-dependent—result.