The Hop returns to its normal M-Line and L-Line service beginning Sunday, Aug. 11.
The streetcar system had been running a combined Festivals Line, which merged the routes, during the summer months to make it easier to get folks to and from the many events taking place along the lakefront, including Summerfest and the ethnic festivals.
When the normal routes return, The Hop will run the two lines separately. During peak hours, there will be three cars operating on the M-Line and one on the lakefront L-Line, which opened fully in April after a limited start last autumn.
The regular hours of operation for The Hop are from 5 a.m. to midnight Monday-Friday, 7 a.m. to midnight Saturday and 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. Sunday.
“The combined Festivals Line was a wonderful pilot program that brought a number of benefits to our riders, particularly with so many new riders looking to access the Lakefront and not being familiar with the newer L-Line and need to transfer,” said Milwaukee Commissioner of Public Works Jerrel Kruschke.
“We’ve learned a lot over the last few months and will continue to evaluate how we can best serve our riders during peak times, whether they are looking to access the Lakefront or not.”
For more info on The Hop visit thehopmke.com.
Born in Brooklyn, N.Y., where he lived until he was 17, Bobby received his BA-Mass Communications from UWM in 1989 and has lived in Walker's Point, Bay View, Enderis Park, South Milwaukee and on the East Side.
He has published three non-fiction books in Italy – including one about an event in Milwaukee history, which was published in the U.S. in autumn 2010. Four more books, all about Milwaukee, have been published by The History Press.
With his most recent band, The Yell Leaders, Bobby released four LPs and had a songs featured in episodes of TV's "Party of Five" and "Dawson's Creek," and films in Japan, South America and the U.S. The Yell Leaders were named the best unsigned band in their region by VH-1 as part of its Rock Across America 1998 Tour. Most recently, the band contributed tracks to a UK vinyl/CD tribute to the Redskins and collaborated on a track with Italian novelist Enrico Remmert.
He's produced three installments of the "OMCD" series of local music compilations for OnMilwaukee.com and in 2007 produced a CD of Italian music and poetry.
In 2005, he was awarded the City of Asti's (Italy) Journalism Prize for his work focusing on that area. He has also won awards from the Milwaukee Press Club.
He has be heard on 88Nine Radio Milwaukee talking about his "Urban Spelunking" series of stories, in that station's most popular podcast.
