Free
to move.
Free buses. E-bikes. A system built around the people who ride it, from the marina to downtown and beyond.
The fare is the barrier
I think Shoreline Metro should be free.
Lots of people already ride free or on passes: students, seniors, veterans, disabled riders, agency clients. What's left is a patchwork of fare boxes and pass programs, and the people paying fares are often the ones who can least afford it.
When it's hard to get around, everything else gets harder too: a job, a doctor, a place to live. When you depend on someone else for your pass, you aren't really free to go. So make it free. No fare. Just get on.
The marina connection
The marina could be the city's front door. Visitors come by water. People who live here come by bus, bike or on foot. Right now those barely meet.
The idea: frequent free shuttles between the marina, downtown and the lakefront, e-bikes at every stop, and a riverwalk that goes somewhere.
The marina lost $5.9 million from 2013 to 2023. Before a $77 million plan, it needs working docks, a staffed office, honest books, and a way for a family without a car to spend the day there.
Beyond downtown
Right now the bus serves Sheboygan, with Kohler and Sheboygan Falls as contract communities, mostly for work trips. I'd like a real three-town network: frequent, free and built for the trips people take. Work, school, the lake, the doctor, downtown.
The plain goal: rebuild the whole transit system. The Transit Commission already exists to do it.
See where things stand today: the Sheboygan baseline →
More ideas: the lake → · the park →