Thursday, December 4, 2014

Bus routes funded through discrimination suit begin in January

Props to Urban Milwaukee for showing when and where new express MCTS lines will be run in and out of Milwaukee.

Some of the funding comes from the state to settle a discrimination lawsuit over Zoo Interchange transportation reconstruction planning which had no transit component.

Discrimination against Milwaukee and its low-income, predominantly minority population is so ingrained in the region - - dating in part to the mid-1950's "Oak Creek law" that froze Milwaukee's borders, fueled the suburban boom and closed off housing and employment opportunities  - - that it took a lawsuit and judicially-approved settlement and order to remedy just one illegal state transportation practice.

One 2012 posting with that history, here:

Kudos to the civil libertarians who have doggedly pursued social and economic justice from the State of Wisconsin, the Department of Transportation and others in southeastern Wisconsin on behalf of minority, low-income and urban residents:
The state Department of Transportation did not follow federal civil rights rules for at least seven years, a yearlong investigation has found. 
An American Civil Liberties Union attorney applauded the decision by the Federal Highway Administration's Office of Civil Rights as a step toward holding state transportation officials accountable for how their actions affect minorities.
These matters and the struggle for rights and fairness by advocates have been tracked on this blog repeatedly.


1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Only downside is, with a monetary settlement rather than an injunction, this gives a green light to WisDOT to keep on violating the Civil Rights Act. They just pay money each time.