Welp, I figured it out. It's a bit cumbersome, and so I thought I should put it here in case anyone else has my idea or problem and can't get it to work.
Situation: M-Audio Keystation either maps it's transport functions properly, but not it's fader, or maps the fader but not it's transport.
Solution: I ended up using 2 ACT Control setups at the same time.
1. For general Transport functions I setup ACT control with the inputs/outputs being MIDII2 not Keystation 49. These you can use the normal click and learn function to get your regular transport (play, stop, record) buttons setup.
2. For the single fader on the keystation, I setup a Cakewalk generic surface control using Keystation 49 as the input/output on the controller setup page, and did the learn function afterward, moving my fader. IMPORTANT: make sure you pick different colors for the controllers so that you know which one is which. For the fader controller, I use red, that way I know which track I'm on at all times. The transport functions work even if I'm on the fader setup. To move the fader control to a different track, grab the color, left click it and pull to the track you want it on. Simple as that.
I hope this helps anyone that is in my same situation. I just wanted to control the daw without having to buy a mixer or a seperate fader when I had a perfectly fine fader on my keyboard. Now I can do fader rides and simple level adjustments with the actual feel of hardware, without having to use the mousewheel.