The Bus: Bad for Whitewater Now, Far Worse for Whitewater Later

As I write – these last eighteen months now offering ample evidence – Janesville Transit’s bus to Whitewater has been a failure.  It’s been used too seldom, at considerable public expense, mostly for a vast corporation that could easily pay its own way.   And yet, and yet, conditions might be even worse were the bus to achieve the goals of its out-of-town backers:

Under the very marketing plan that Janesville Transit’s director has repeatedly praised, and now proudly declares he is implementing, the bus is designed to entice Whitewater residents to shop and dine in Janesville.  The stated long-range plan for the bus – as one can see in the marketing study that Janesville Transit commissioned – expressly calls for taking customers out of Whitewater  and delivering them to merchants and restaurateurs in Janesville or other cities outside our city. 

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The Marketing Strategy Behind the Bus.  Janesville Transit commissioned a marketing study about the bus, entitled an Integrated Marketing Communications Plan, from April 2013.  Janesville Transit’s director unreservedly supports the plan he received, having  formed a ‘partnership with university last spring’ that ‘produced a marketing plan which we have started to implement this fall’ ‘with direct marketing on campus’ as ‘some of you may see the advertisements in the local newspaper,’ or ‘heard some of the radio spots,’  and that ‘there’s more that needs to be done.’ Video: http://vimeo.com/78821732  @ 2:36:14.

The Integrated Marketing Plan concedes the common-sense problem the bus presents to local merchants:

The larger community as a whole has concerns with public transportation, such as the JMW Bus, because the bus system could take potential business to other cities.  This is a huge concern when it comes to the livelihood of Whitewater.

The plan plays on the false notion that people are ‘stuck’ in Whitewater:

The most prominent opportunity to [sic] the JMW bus is the large number of students who do not own cars.  Without cars, these students are generally stuck in Whitewater (or so they feel) because they do not have a vehicle of their own.

The plan is designed to take residents out of the city to shop elsewhere:

Sarah is a 19-year-old sophomore who lives at UW-Whitewater, She lives in the dorms and does not own a car.  On the weekends she stays in Whitewater, and often wishes there was more to do.

A proposed radio spot for the Janesville bus directly encourages residents to ‘leave town’ for visits that supposedly ‘open the door to new possibilities’ out of Whitewater, including a ‘huge selection of events and activities’:

The JMW Bus opens a new world of possibilities…

SFX [Sound effects]: Bus STOPPING AND DOORS OPENING.

MALE 1: Some people think that just because we live in Whitewater, public transportation isn’t an option,.

MALE 2: What they don’t know is that public transportation is an excellent option!  The JMW Bus picks up all over Whitewater and Milton.

MALE 1: And it goes to Janesville, which has a huge selection of events and activities….

ANNCR [Announcer]: The JMW bus is the most cost-friendly, convenient was to get around.  Next time you plan on leaving town, think JMW bus and open the door to new possibilities.

Every member of our local government who supports this project should honestly tell Whitewater’s merchants that it’s a plan designed to take customers to Janesville.  We talk about what it means to BUY LOCAL, but this is a plan to SHOP JANESVILLE.  Whitewater should support an emerging business culture of local shops and restaurants – this transportation scheme directly undermines our own efforts.

What good does it do to place a city manager or council member on a local business board or at the Community Development Authority if the marketing for the bus boosts out-of-town businesses and development in other cities?

It’s much better to be in Whitewater – this is the place that appointed and elected officials should be supporting.  Our city, our merchants, building Whitewater together.

The Bus Mostly Benefits (Now) One Big Company.  By proponents’ own admission, this bus still benefits Generac more than anyone else.

Generac Pays a Tiny Fraction of the Cost.  The projected cost for 2014 would be $394,646, but Generac would pay $47,830, or only 12.1%.  In 2013, Generac paid $46,000 toward the bus, and in 2014 it would be just slightly more at $47,830.  By contrast, Whitewater’s share would rise by 80%, from $10,000 to $18,000.

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Generac Has Vast Wealth.  They’ve a market cap of $3.45 billion dollars, and over the past year have invested in plants in Mexico ($46.5 million in cash), Europe, and now Oshkosh.  Generac spent a thousand times as much for a plant in Mexico as she did for the bus they mostly use in Whitewater. 

Wasted Gas – It’s Not Green, It’s Brown.  Janesville Transit admits that they cannot right-size the bus based on ridership, and that full or empty the bus travels 300 miles a day in total miles.  It will cost – mostly in public money – $1,287 per weekday to operate, $773 per Saturday, and $515 per Sunday (operating whether full or empty).

Ridership Numbers Are Admittedly Confusing and Inflated.  Passenger boarding figures count riders twice: If one boards in Janesville, gets off at Generac,  he’s counted two times – for Janesville and Generac, yet still one person was riding.  See, Council Session of 11.5.13 Video Link: http://vimeo.com/78821732 at 2:27:16.

Advertising Has Been Misleading.  All that print advertising around town and yet it relies on bold claims of riders that actually double-count passengers.

Policy.  Watching how this started, under a former municipal administration, one sees that there was little foresight and understanding about the deal.  That’s been a huge problem for our city in the past, and getting beyond short-term or contradictory thinking is essential to our success.  It’s patently false to contend – as Milton’s mayor has done – that this is a forward-thinking project.  No, it’s yesterday’s crony-capitalism, wrapped up in today’s empty jargon about being forward-thinking.  There’s nothing progressive about this plan – it’s a regression to bad ideas and a lack of good planning,

Politics.  Opposition to this deal is non-partisan, neither Left nor Right, Republican nor Democratic. It’s a plan that undermines our city; the only reason it survives is because powerful corporate interests and out-of-town politicians pressure and cajole to keep it going.

I’d guess there’s no one – no one – in the municipal government who would sign onto this program if it were first proposed today.

The political and policy problems from this idea will, however, only grow worse for Whitewater as it goes forward.  If it fails totally Whitewater’s saddled with a wasted cost; if it grows Whitewater still bears that cost, but also a loss of local, independent business.

It’s an utter mess with which we’ve been saddled.

I truly hope that our current municipal administration  and our city manager are a success – we could very much use good years after so many disappointing ones.  Turning away from this very bad idea is prudent, and also will help preserve the many emerging good ideas within, and for, Whitewater.