The Hop will offer a new “Festivals Line” service during each of Summerfest’s nine days this summer.
The Milwaukee streetcar’s Festivals Line will be a combination of the existing M-Line and L-Line, with all vehicles serving the full route and making it easier for passengers along the entire route to reach the Lakefront stop and its access to the festival grounds without the need to transfer.
The Hop had previously operated with extended hours during the Summerfest, but 2024 is the first year the new L Line extension is open. The eastern terminus of the L Line, in the base of The Couture, is across N. Lincoln Memorial Drive from the North Gate at the festival grounds.
The Festivals Line is expected to reduce headways in reaching the Lakefront from the existing 20 minutes of the L-Line to approximately 15 minutes, according to a press release.
The merged line will replace The Hop’s existing operations during each of the nine days of Summerfest (June 20-22, June 27-29 and July 4-6), with service still beginning at 5 a.m. on weekdays and 7 a.m. on Saturdays and operations extended until 1 a.m. each night of the festival.
The Hop will use all four in-service vehicles, serving the entire route. Since all vehicles will serve all stations, passengers can board at any stop along the route and reach the Lakefront station without needing to transfer.
“While The Hop has always been a wonderful option for accessing events along the Lakefront, with our new Transit Concourse at the Couture making that connection even easier we are anticipating wonderful ridership during this year’s Summerfest,” Milwaukee Commissioner of Public Works Jerrel Kruschke said. “We are eager to pilot this new combined line, which will both simplify and enhance our service as residents and visitors make their way to the festival grounds this summer.”
Northbound vehicles will deviate from the traditional M-Line route to include the loop east on Michigan, through the Couture Transit Concourse and back west on Clybourn before resuming north towards Burns Commons, while southbound vehicles from Burns Commons will proceed along the regular M-Line route. Headways for all stations along the route will be approximately 15 minutes during peak hours, the release says.
With the Festivals Line, passengers boarding at the Intermodal Station will reach the Lakefront stop in approximately 12 minutes, a trip from the Historic Third Ward will take eight minutes and reaching the festival grounds from Burns Commons will take around 36 minutes. For riders not looking to access the festival grounds, southbound travel times will remain unchanged, while a northbound trip from Intermodal to Burns Commons will be approximately 10 minutes longer than the usual M-Line schedule.
