Less than 10 percent of UWM's student population lives in residence halls on campus. UWM's students are also less traditional and made up more of part-time older adults with significant work, household, and family responsibilities competing for their time. For these people, travel time and convenience are very important in choosing their mode for any trip, including trips to UW-Milwaukee. Past studies conducted by the Southeastern Wisconsin Regional Planning Commission have determined that in the entire Southeastern Wisconsin Region, UWM is second only to the Milwaukee central business district in the number of daily trips it is responsible for generating.
People make their trips to campus by a variety of modes.
The primary mode of travel has been and remains the automobile. However, UWM has developed and implemented major programs at considerable annual expense which are intended to encourage and promote the use of mass transit as an alternative to the automobile. Over the past 25 years, UWM has also worked in partnership with MCTS to expand and improve public transit service to the campus. There are now eleven MCTS bus routes providing direct bus service to the campus from throughout Milwaukee County. In March 1997, a twelfth bus route was established in cooperation with WisDOT, Waukesha County, and another transit service provider, Wisconsin Coach Lines.