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Transportation at a glance

Wisconsin's transportation infrastructure has come a long way in a single generation. It has developed from a system of two-lane roads and highways, grass landing strips, wooden piers and locomotives, to a network of multi-lane divided highways, airports, modern water ports, efficient transit systems and rail lines linking the state with markets throughout the world.

Transportation touches the lives of nearly everyone every day. Whether traveling to work, school, or to a favorite vacation spot, Wisconsin's transportation network provides the means to get there.

Travel by the numbers

Highways and roads

• 11,783 miles of state and Interstate highways
• 102,358 miles of locally-owned county, town and municipal streets
• 13,589 bridges spanning the state's roadways
• 103 lightly traveled rural roads designated as part of the Rustic Road System
• Annual vehicle miles of travel (VMT) on Wisconsin roads is just over 60 billion miles
• At the end of 2005, Wisconsin had approximately 4 million licensed drivers and 5.3 million registered vehicles

Transit systems

• 71 public bus and shared-ride taxi systems
• About 73 million revenue transit rides per year

Airports

• 134 public use airports
• About 5,400 active registered aircraft
• About 5.5 million people boarded commercial flights in Wisconsin in 2005
• Wisconsin airports handle over 118,000 tons of cargo and mail each year

Railroads

• 3,400 miles of track
• Freight railroads carry more than 136 million tons of cargo each year
• Two Amtrak passenger train routes (Hiawatha between Milwaukee and Chicago and Empire Builder between Chicago and the Pacific Northwest) carry about 624,000 passengers annually

Harbors

• 15 commercial ports handle over 44 million tons of cargo annually

Bicycle and pedestrian facilities

• Just over 8% of all work trips in Wisconsin are made by walking or bicycling

Questions about the content of this page:
Contact: Office of Public Affairs, opa.exec@dot.state.wi.us 
Last modified: February 1, 2007