Let’s Go KC

Today’s Star has a front page report on the huge success of Johnson County Transit’s K-10 Connector, a new bus route that connects Lawrence, KS with Johnson County.  In its first year the service has seen explosive growth as students and commuters take advantage of the only car-free option to travel between the two cities.

The success of a bus route in such a suburban area show that there is a huge unmet need for better transit service between suburbs, not just suburb-to-downtown commutes. Unfortunately the K-10 Connector is funded with a two-year federal grant. Johnson County will have come up with its own money to keep the service going. It ought to be a no-brainer to include this route in the Smart Moves plan and make it part of a regional transit system. Sadly the Kansas side of the metro doesn’t seem ready to join a regional system any time soon.

• KC Star: Bus riders give K-10 route a thumbs up
• K-10 schedule and route map

Continue reading ‘KC Star reports on success of Lawrence-JoCo bus’ »

Plans are progressing to expand the popular MAX bus rapid transit system to a new line on Troost Avenue. There are two open houses this week.  Stop by either one at your convenience to learn more and provide your feedback.

More on the April open houses.

The popular Google Transit service now includes Kansas City in the list of cities where you can get door-to-door directions for public transit.  Just put in your starting and ending address, and the service tells which bus to catch and when/where to catch it. This new partnership with Google and the KCATA covers Metro bus routes in KCMO, KCK, and the Missouri suburbs.  If you would like to see Johnson County’s bus service join the system, then contact The Jo and ask them.

The new service officially debuts on Tuesday, Earth Day, with an event at the offices of the Downtown Council. While the regular Google Maps does not yet have the transit option available, you can still try it now going directly the Google Transit web site: www.google.com/transit

Today’s KC Star has a story about how the city of KCMO is going to spend $47 million of taxpayers’ money to build a 1,000-space parking garage for the new performing arts center under construction at 16th and Broadway. For comparison, the city spends $48 million a year on the bus system.

So the city is essentially spending an entire year’s worth of bus service to build a single parking garage. It’s a massive amount of money that works out to $47,000 for each parking space, more than twice the average for typical parking garages. For the cost of this one parking garage, we could double bus service for an entire year.

Building parking garages is OK when and where they are needed.  The interesting issue here is that the city is spending this money at the same that it is cutting other city services to balance the budget, as well as struggling to find enough money to keep the bus system running and pay for a promised light rail system.

To be fair, the contract to build this garage was signed by the last mayor and city council, so most of the current politicians are trying to deal with that legacy. However, the situation still a very bad message.

Despite all kinds of talk about climate protection, the environment, mass transit, green solutions, re-urbanizing the urban core - city leaders are not putting their money where their mouth is.  When push comes to shove the city is still putting the automobile first, even the most urban of environments.

• KC Star: City, Kaufman Center for Performing Arts near deal on parking garage.
• KCATA funding information.
• International Parking Institute: parking parking garage costs.

Continue reading ‘City to spend as much on parking garage as transit’ »

The long process of studying and formulating an official light rail plan is moving into a second phase of public meetings.  The next opportunity for you to lean more and voice your own opinions is Wednesday, February 27 from 5:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. at the Mohart Community Center.  Formal presentations will be given at 5:30 and 7:30. The location is at 3200 Wayne Avenue, on Linwood Boulevard between The Paseo and 71 Hwy.

Sixteen additional public meetings will be held during March and April, at locations throughout the city.

For more information on light rail in Kansas City, see the KCATA’s light rail site and check out the KC Light Rail blog for daily news and updates.

Last week we mentioned the surge in transit ridership in the Missouri suburbs.  Today the Star reports that transit use has risen everywhere across the metro, including KCMO, KCK, and the Kansas suburbs.

In addition, KC Light Rail mentions news that North Kansas City is looking at the possibility of extending the MAX Bus Rapid Transit line across the river into their city.

It is clear that the demand for more transportation choice is increasing in every corner of our region.  When will our leaders step up to the plate and provide those options?

The Star has an article talking about big increases in ridership for commuter express service from Missouri suburbs in Eastern Jackson County into Downtown KCMO. In 2007 the blue Springs route saw an 8% increase, while the Lee’s Summit and Raytown routes were up by a whopping 22%. Independence also operates regular bus service inside the city, which has seen ridership gains of 50% in the last four years. Independence bus ridership has almost doubled since 2000.

Unfortunately these good numbers are masking some serious issues. Rising costs and the lack of dedicated transit funding have forced service cutbacks just as demand has risen, with more cutbacks on the way. Kansas City, MO is the only city in the region with a dedicated transit tax. All of the suburbs rely on federal grants and year-to-year allocations from their general funds. So every year, cities like Independence and Blue Springs struggle to find enough money to run the buses, not mention expand service to meet rising demand.

But there is a solution. The Missouri General Assembly has authorized the four Missouri-side counties in the KC metro area to create a regional transportation district funded by a modest sales tax. It’s called SmartMoves, and it would real transit system connecting suburbs to the city and suburbs to other suburbs. It could even include the Kansas side if those counties ever decide to join in.

All we need now is for people to start demanding that the leaders of Jackson, Clay, Platte, and Cass Counties put SmartMoves on the ballot and let the voters decide if they want to provide more transportation choices to the Kansas City region.

Continue reading ‘Bus ridership surges in the Missouri suburbs’ »