June Blog: Workforce Connector
Public Transportation effect on employment
With the rising cost of gas prices and the scarcity of parts essential to repair cars, transportation has become a struggle for employees. Since public transportation services are not as developed and as funded as other public services in Wisconsin communities, they are not the most reliable and are limited to how many citizens in a community they can reach. As communities grow in Wisconsin, public transportation services have not been able to keep up with the growth.
If businesses can want to help these services, they can pressure state legislators to fund more resources towards these services, so they can expand to more locations in the community. Wisconsin public transportation systems have seen success in their funding through the Federal government with the passing of the Infrastructure Law in congress, but the Wisconsin state legislator still keeps funding at 60%.
The director of the Eau Claire Transit Tom Wagener stated,
“The value of providing transportation options for people should be a priority for all development. Right now we see our city growing and expanding, but [not] resources for public transportation to keep up with this expansion.”