Milwaukee County Supervisor Patricia Jursik has formed a new partnership to protest Southridge Mall’s decision to move a county bus stop 1,000 feet from its doors, forcing patron who use the bus to naviage through the parking area and deal with oncoming traffic.
The coalition is named “B.U.S.S”, which stands for “Bus User Safety at Southridge.”
The movement comes after Simon Property Group, which owns Southridge Mall in Greendale, chose to move Milwaukee County buses from a mall entrance to a new bus stop 1,000 feet from the doors.
“It is flat out wrong to unnecessarily put users in harm’s way,” Jursik said, “Particularly the elderly, physically impaired and disabled veterans. Not only is this move dangerous, but it’s a huge inconvenience for shoppers and mall employees.”
Simon Properties’ decision is opposed by several groups, including the Milwaukee County Department of Aging, Aging and Disability Resources Board and disability rights organizations, including IndependenceFirst, which has been documenting problems with the new bus stop. The groups say they have tried to contact Simon company officials asking to discuss these problems, but they have not received a response.
The B.U.S.S. Coalition will hold a special event to showcase passenger danger. They will ride the bus from the Kelly Senior Center in Cudahy to Southridge on Wednesday, Dec. 11, at 11 a.m., filming their journey.
