Catching a free ride
Double-decker buses ran downtown in 1974
When it’s up and running, the new Milwaukee Streetcar will join a long list of mass transit services in downtown Milwaukee.
But only one of them came supersize — and free.
In March 1974, Midland National Bank announced plans to run free downtown shuttle buses. Not just any buses, either.
“Four double-deck London buses, built in 1956 to 1958, are being reconditioned and repainted red to provide daytime service every five to seven minutes,” The Milwaukee Journal reported on March 19, 1974.
The buses would run along Wisconsin Ave. between 6th and Jackson streets, stopping at every block. At a news conference announcing the new shuttles, Midland senior vice president Donald Mengedoth said the buses would cost $30,000 to $35,000 a month, plus operating costs. “It fits well within our advertising budget,” Mengedoth said.
Founded in 1965, Midland had a reputation for aggressive marketing. It opened its headquarters bank at 201 W. Wisconsin Ave. on Saturdays and three nights a week to tap into downtown’s retail traffic. By 1970, the upstart institution had grown to become the city’s fourth-largest bank, according to a July 25, 1977, Milwaukee Journal story.
The idea of free downtown bus service wasn’t new. The Downtown Association had pitched the idea as recently as 1968, The Journal reported when announcing Midland’s plan.
“The idea always failed when it came to the point of paying for it,” The Journal noted.
But even with someone paying for it, free bus service didn’t come easily. On March 27, 1974, The Transport Co., which ran the bus service in the city, asked the state Public Service Commission to decide whether the state agency should regulate the free buses, claiming the free service would cost the company $100,000 in lost revenue.
When the PSC ruled a month later that Midland’s free shuttles didn’t fall under regulatory control, The Transport Co. took their case to court, filing a lawsuit in Dane County Circuit Court.
Originally planned to hit the road on May 8, the bank’s ninth birthday, the double-decker buses finally arrived in Milwaukee from London on June 14, with service starting July 15.
Mayor Henry Maier, aldermen and bank officials were along for the inaugural ride.
“Maier called the three buses parked outside the bank indescribably creative,” The Journal’s Jean Carney Cress reported in a Page 1 story on July 15, 1974.
The shuttles were a hit. In September, the Metropolitan Milwaukee Association of Commerce released a survey showing that 99% of those interviewed said it should be continued. A Journal story on the survey published Sept. 16, 1974, reported that 52% of those surveyed said they came into downtown more because of the free shuttles.
Despite the positive feedback, Midland announced on Dec. 14, 1974, that it wanted out. Mengedoth told The Journal’s Jerry Wilkerson in a Dec. 15 story that the bank was looking to hand off the service to another operator for a variety of reasons, “topping his list with the high costs of free shuttle service.”
While Milwaukee County, led by then-Supervisor William F. O’Donnell, made a push for state funding and contributions from the MMAC for a replacement downtown shuttle, Midland went ahead with plans to park its double-decker buses for good. Meanwhile, The Transport Co. quietly withdrew its lawsuit.
“We’re pleased that there appears to be an interest by public officials in providing a permanent service as a result of our efforts,” John Kelly, president of Midland, told the Milwaukee Sentinel’s H. Carl Mueller in a Jan. 13, 1975, story.
The double-decker buses cruised down Wisconsin Ave. for the last time on Jan. 14, 1975. In March, one bus was bought by an Eau Claire shopping center called London Square Mall for $10,000; the other three were sold that month at an auction in Milwaukee — one of them bought by Suburpia Sandwich Shoppes founder William J. Foley — netting more than $15,000, according to a March 23, 1975, Journal story.
The county did revive a downtown shuttle service that summer, but it wasn’t free: The fare was 10 cents.
In 1977, Midland was acquired by First Bank System Inc., which merged with and took the name of U.S. Bancorp, the parent company of U.S. Bank, in 1997.