Merging systems is new transit chief’s mission

Everything about Joy Neilson’s new job as head of the Ozaukee County Transit Services comes in twos, because she also oversees Washington County Transit Services.

Neilson’s first day on the job as the first transit superintendent for both counties was the first step toward creating a joint transit program. 

For her, that means reporting to two county boards and two oversight committees and overseeing two separate transit systems, each of which has its own shared-ride taxi and commuter service.

“It’s a new venture and it’s pretty exciting,” she said. “I’m enjoying looking at the different systems.” 

In 2017 a study by the Southeast Wisconsin Regional Planning Commission, or SEWRPC, said benefits of a merged transit system would include reducing administrative costs and breaking down border issues between the two counties.

A year later, in December 2018, the idea of a merger was included in the Ozaukee County transit plan.

In January, the Washington County transit superintendent position became vacant and Washington County officials approached Ozaukee officials about reviving the effort.

Then in March, Washington County officials approached Ozaukee County to negotiate an agreement to share the superintendent position and explore the formation of a joint transit commission.

Ozaukee County officials agreed and began a search to replace Jason Wittek, who had served in that capacity as an add-on to his main job as assistant to Administrator Jason Dzwinel.

“It wouldn’t make a lot of sense to create a joint position” if the aim isn’t to create a merged transit system, Wittek told supervisors at the time. “Creating a joint superintendent position is the key step in creating a joint system.”

Neilson, who splits her time between Port Washington and West Bend, said that, besides running the two transit systems, her main job is to look at forming a transit board.

There is a lot of interest, she said, but time is a factor.

“Both counties have strongly stated they both want a strong cross-county transit system,” she said. “If the boards decide we want to do the full merger, then we would have to have a regional transit commission in place by late next summer to get grants in place,” she said.

Federal and state funding pick up the vast majority of the transit systems’ cost.

If merged, taxis would be able to travel from Port Washington to West Bend or Mequon to Germantown without stopping at the county line.

Currently, someone wanting to go from Port to West Bend, for instance, has to be dropped off at the Casey’s General Store gas station in Newburg and wait for a Washington County taxi to pick them up. With a merged system, the taxi could continue on to West Bend.

Prior to taking the transit job, Neilson worked for the state Department of Corrections, managing contracts with vendors who provide service to people under supervision  in southeast Wisconsin, including Milwaukee County, such as housing and counseling services.

Neilson and her family recently moved from Shorewood to Port Washington, she said.

Besides operating the two transit systems, Neilson said her biggest challenge over the next year will be marshalling the political will of the two counties to expand services over the county line.

“Beyond that, it’s looking at everything in the transit portfolio of services to make sure we have a system in place that looks at needs of the community and anticipates growth,” she said.

That includes perhaps expanding the service to bring workers into the county from Milwaukee county.

“What’s making this easy for me is that a lot of the research has already been done and planning from SEWRPC. And Jason Wittek did a lot of work to try to put scenarios out there,” she said. 

According to a memo from Wittek earlier this year, a shared transit commission would consist of at least seven members — three from the Washington County Board, two from the Ozaukee County Board and one citizen member from each county — appointed by the county boards or county board chairmen.