March 17, 2026
VERNON COUNTY, Wis. – The Scenic Mississippi Regional Transit bus system (SMRT Bus) could be reaching the end of the road in Vernon County.
Following a temporary reprieve late last year regional partners are now facing a funding shortfall for 2027 and the Vernon County Economic Development Committee voted March 5 to advance a recommendation to the full county board to formally end support for the program after 2026.
Administrative Coordinator Cassandra Hanan first broke the news to the General Government Committee on March 4. She explained she recently with stakeholders in the system in La Crosse and La Crosse County, which administers the program asked partner counties to drastically increase their contributions.
“They are looking at an increased contribution for Vernon County of $100,000 dollars more than our current contribution,” said Hanan. “I do not know how that is going to be sustainable for us.”
Vernon County currently contributes $15,000 to the system.
The next day Hanan brought numbers to the Economic Development Committee. She noted that La Crosse County is currently subsidizing the program by over $250,000 dollars and regional partner support appears to be w aning. Hanan said Monroe County representatives did not attend the meeting and a major hospital system have already indicated they will drop out of the funding agreement entirely.
“What lacrosse is proposing should this continue is that Vernon County contribution goes to $113,977 dollars,” said Hanan. “I do not have an additional $100,000 dollars in the county budget to support a program that supports 11 riders a day.”
Hanan shared that ridership on the Vernon County route dropped from an average of 13 riders a day in 2024 to just 11 in 2025. She reminded the committee that strict state levy limits restrict the county from simply raising property taxes to cover the massive increase in operating costs.
We reached out to Running Inc. that has the contract for the SMRT bus to see if those numbers were accurate but we have not received a comment from them.
“If we were to move forward with this we would have to find somewhere else in the county that we are cutting by $100,000 dollars,” said Hanan. “And realistically that is not possible.”
Citizen committee member Karen Dahl pushed back against the cuts arguing that the bus is a vital lifeline for rural residents. She noted that the program was originally funded to help low income individuals access jobs and medical care outside the county.
“Not everybody has a car and it takes senior citizens from up to the hospital clinics and dentists,” said Dahl. “If we stopped funding this or paying our part anyway they are going to be stranded here.”
Hanan countered that the county already funds the Aging and Disability Resource Center to provide medical transportation and a minibus for seniors. She argued it is financially irresponsible to spend nearly $10,000 dollars per rider annually on the SMRT bus when other local options exist.
“We are talking about subsidizing essentially $10,000 dollars a person when we have programs that are already available for those people,” said Hanan. “And what county services then are we willing to cut in order to provide convenience for someone who does not want to drive to La Crosse?”
Committee Chair John Pedretti agreed that the financial model simply does not work. He pointed out that for the proposed subsidy amount the county could practically buy a car for every regular rider.
“I think it is important that we let everybody be clear that in 2027 there is not going to be the money for it,” said Pedretti. “So people have a year to a year and 10 months to figure out their next steps.”
Supervisor Patrick Sullivan echoed the need for clear communication so residents are not caught off guard by the cancellation.
“Look at better things maybe moving forward having those conversations about maybe ride share programs something to help those people,” said Sullivan. “But I do not think this is a viable option.”
Dahl asked if the committee should invite Justin Running of Running Inc. to attend a committee meeting get more details about ridership and options to save the program.
“How about Justin coming and talking to us?” asked Dahl.
Committee Chair John Pedretti immediately responded to her suggestion by saying, “I think it’s already done past that”.
Supervisor Nathaniel Slack supported advancing the recommendation to end the program but urged the county to handle the public announcement delicately. The push to end the program follows an intense budget battle in November 2025 where dozens of residents packed county meetings to plead for the service and the Vernon County Board ultimately voted to restore $15,000 dollars to keep the bus running through 2026.
“I do think if we could include coming up with a thoughtful public information release on it kind of explaining what happened where it is going,” said Slack. “Because there was some fairly upset people at the board when you were discussing.”
The committee unanimously approved a motion to send the recommendation to the full Vernon County Board of Supervisors. The board is scheduled to vote on a formal resolution to discontinue SMRT bus support after 2026 during its March 19 meeting.
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