(The Center Square) – Milwaukee’s often-criticized streetcar will miss the city’s biggest downtown celebration in years.
Managers at The Hop, as the streetcar is known, said the streetcar will not run during today’s World Series parade and celebration for the Milwaukee Brewers.
“Even The Hop is calling a timeout to celebrate the Brewers! With all of Milwaukee preparing to celebrate our Milwaukee Brewers at Friday’s parade, streetcar service will be temporarily suspended to accommodate the festivities,” The Hop announced on Facebook.
The city launched The Hop in 2018 with the promise of making it much easier to get around Milwaukee’s downtown.
It cost about $140 million to build The Hop and costs about $7 million a year to keep it running.
It has never made a profit, however. Milwaukee continues to not charge a fare.
There have also been years of Hop operational challenges. The streetcar is frequently offline because of weather or track problems.
Hop managers said they are shutting down Friday service out of “safety” concerns.
“Streetcar service will conclude as scheduled at midnight [Thursday], and resume [today] once the parade has concluded and the route is cleared for safe operations,” The Hop said in its announcement.
The Hop is not saying what their safety concerns are, but some online worried that the massive Brewers parade crowd could flip The Hop on its side.
Milwaukee is expecting a massive crowd for the Brewers World Series parade. City leaders expect as many as 100,000 people to crowd the city for either the parade itself, or the celebration at the Summerfest grounds.
The Hop has a stop at the Summerfest grounds, but it will not be used.
Milwaukee won its first World Series in Brewers history Wednesday.