Does Kansas City need more east-west transit options? Weigh in at these public meetings
KCATA will host three public meetings in the next week for residents who are interested in sharing their input on future east to west route options offered by the public transportation authority.
The public meetings will be a chance for community members to weigh in on the routes, check out an interactive map and share recommendations for a high capacity east to west route.
The first meeting will be from 5 to 8 p.m. on Tuesday, Oct. 4 at Drexel Hall at 3301 Baltimore Ave. The next meeting will be on Thursday Oct. 6 from 5 until 8 p.m. at the Linwood YMCA/James B. Nutter, Sr. Community Center at 3800 Linwood Blvd.
There will also be a virtual meeting on Oct. 11 at 12 p.m. Attendees can register here.
The public meetings are a part of a larger year-long study to create a transit route that connects the University of Kansas Health System campus to the Truman Sports Complex, including Kauffman and Arrowhead stadiums.
In addition to the meetings, the area transit authority will look at data related to the eight-mile corridor and work with an advisory committee with some key leaders in the area.
The study should conclude in 2023.
“We’re making sure that we’re putting the community first, we’re not building a project and then coming to the community and saying, ‘Hey, here’s a project we designed for you.’” said Alex Miller, who is helping lead KCATA’s community engagement on the project.
The area transit authority is still trying to find its stride and encourage more people to use the bus system after ridership dropped during the pandemic. Despite the free fares, less than 3% of works in Kansas City, and 1% in the metro use the bus to commute.
The Star surveyed bus riders in June and found riders who responded would like to see more routes running east to west, more routes on the East Side, more routes in south Kansas City and more connections between Kansas City and Johnson and Wyandotte counties.
Right now, all three MAX routes, which are popular routes intended to be “rapid transit,” and the streetcar run north to south. In June, KCATA vice president of regional planning and development Richard Jarrold told The Star that the choice to add routes typically depends on funding and demand.
“The last thing we want to do is run empty buses,” Jarrold said. “We try to right-size the service level to the demand.”
If you have any other questions or concerns about access to public transportation or other routes that don’t have to do with this east-west transit study, feel free to reach out to KCATA to share your concerns.
Riders can call the agency at (816) 221-0660, email wehearyou@kcata.org or fill out a contact form.
Riders should also take their concerns to their city council representative. You can look up the city council member that represents you by entering your address on the city’s Resource Look-Up engine.
This story was originally published October 3, 2022 at 6:00 AM.
