UWM RESEARCH

AN EQUITABLE APPROACH TO JOB ACCESS

UWM researchers in the Department of Urban Planning are partners in a regional transportation initiative aimed at filling a longstanding need: helping residents in segregated city neighborhoods reach suburban areas with more jobs.

UWM’s Robert Schneider, Lingquian “Ivy” Hu and Yaidi Cancel Martinez helped launch the FlexRide Milwaukee project in February 2022. FlexRide is testing a new way to connect workers from Milwaukee, particularly neighborhoods on the city’s north or northwest sides, to employers in the far western Milwaukee suburbs of Butler and Menomonee Falls. This, in turn, could give those employers a new way to attract and retain workers while fostering long-term job growth within underserved neighborhoods.

“FlexRide complements the Milwaukee County Transit System by filling key gaps between existing bus lines and employment centers in Waukesha County,” Schneider says.

FlexRide uses a microtransit model to provide service, relying on smaller vehicles and allowing for changes to the route and service schedule to meet riders’ needs. Users are encouraged to use a smartphone app to schedule a ride or find a pickup or dropoff location, though rides can also be scheduled by phone.

FlexRide is designed to be accessible to all riders – including those with disabilities, those without a smartphone and those without a credit or debit card.

The pilot project is funded by a $1 million grant from the National Science Foundation to UWM and the Southeastern Wisconsin Regional Planning Commission. UWM’s team helped implement the project and is tracking its progression. There are signs that the initiative is making an impact.

As of mid-March, more than half of those who had signed up for the service lived in high poverty situations (less than $1,500 per month in income), and about 80% of riders said they did not have working vehicles. On the employer side, more than 15 companies had signed up.

“Like shelter, clean water and healthy food, access to jobs is an essential human right. It’s a prerequisite for social justice and economic development,” Hu says. “We hope that community partners and local leaders will join forces to help sustain this project.”

The NSF grant funds FlexRide through October. – Genaro C. Armas

FROM LILY PADS TO A LOVE PAD

Studying the mating behaviors of eastern gray tree frogs is difficult in the wild. But with the help of a homemade frog arena and recorded sounds, UWM researchers can get clear information about which calls female frogs find most attractive. “Female frogs hopping though the arena toward a ‘male hiding in a speaker’ is super cute,” says Gerlinde Höbel, an associate professor of biological sciences. Her students, like Luke Nicol (above), caught frogs at UWM’s Field Station in Saukville, Wisconsin, and used them to run more than 1,000 trials in the lab’s frog arena. The female preferences in males affect sexual selection – and that influences the species’ evolution. – Laura L. Otto