Oh look, it's a bus!

Milwaukee philanthropist Michael Cudahy recently whisked Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett and Milwaukee County Executive Scott Walker on his private jet to Portland, Oregon and Denver to take a look at those cities’ transit systems. That’s nice, but how many times do these guys have to travel elsewhere to see what a bus, streetcar, or light-rail car looks like? How will seeing yet another bus or streetcar help them make a decision on whether to use or give back the $91 million in federal money that Milwaukee has been dithering about for the past 10 years?

I can just hear the deep, thought-provoking conversation during this latest junket: “Hey Scott, I think I see an electric streetcar coming now.” “Really Tom, where? Are you sure that’s not a bus?” “Wow, that really would be fun to ride in Milwaukee.”

Here’s a thought: Instead of traveling to other cities, why don’t these two stay in Milwaukee and actually do something here. On second thought, maybe it might help them to see how real cities do things.