Transit from KCI > Downtown

[trailerkid]

Call me crazy but am I the only one who thinks it rather absurdly irresponsible that a teacher/chaperone would pack up a large load of high school students on a trip without putting in any research into how your airport transfer was going to work?  If I got saddled with that kind of responsibility I would want to have every little logistical detail researched and documented before I left - let alone something pretty major like how you are going to get from the airport to the hotel and back.  Sorry, I know that wasn't the point of your story but Christ that sounds stupid. 

totally agreed. she blamed a memo sent to her and i just shook my head. in what world do you not use Google Maps or the KCATA web site? the group seemed to know exactly where the bus stop was and the students could easily understand the schedule to let her know they missed the bus. she was a wack job, but the kids were very pleasant. she was kind of a bitch when I explained to her what had happened, but maybe she was just embarrassed.

the thought of leaving a large group of tourists at the airport with no public transit option makes my fucking blood boil. 

[droopy]

ribs are delicious is right.   You should have sent them to Famous Dave's. 

The teacher should have been better prepared, but I can't say I completely blame her for thinking there would be adequate transportation from the airport to the downtown Marriott in any city.  You should never take things for granted, or assume it will work, but that should be a relatively safe bet in any major metro across the country.

[heatherkay]

surprised they don't have a hotel courtesy shuttle

[trailerkid]

ribs are delicious is right.   You should have sent them to Famous Dave's. 

The teacher should have been better prepared, but I can't say I completely blame her for thinking there would be adequate transportation from the airport to the downtown Marriott in any city.  You should never take things for granted, or assume it will work, but that should be a relatively safe bet in any major metro across the country.

if you think people in KC sit around and eat ribs all day, why would you think we have adequate transportation from our deserted airport?

i think the 129 bus was extremely adequate for their purposes in this example. they lucked out with the MetroFlex, but we need to have dedicated hourly service nights/weekends. most tour groups would get a charter bus from the airport which i'm guessing would cost hundreds if not thousands of dollars depending on the size.

[LenexatoKCMO]

surprised they don't have a hotel courtesy shuttle

Wouldn't want to count on being able to fit 20 kids in a courtesy shuttle as your plan.  Are you going to leave half at the airport and send the van back?

The teacher should have been better prepared, but I can't say I completely blame her for thinking there would be adequate transportation from the airport to the downtown Marriott in any city.  You should never take things for granted, or assume it will work, but that should be a relatively safe bet in any major metro across the country.

There are a heck of a lot of cities around the world besides KC where just showing up with 20 kids and no idea how the routes, schedules, ticketing, etc. worked could be just as disasterous or worse.  

[trailerkid]

surprised they don't have a hotel courtesy shuttle

i doubt any downtown hotel has a courtesy shuttle to the airport. but i'm guessing all the airport hotels do.

[trailerkid]

Wouldn't want to count on being able to fit 20 kids in a courtesy shuttle as your plan.  Are you going to leave half at the airport and send the van back?

I had never ridden the MetroFlex before so I was concerned it might be a van or something. That's part of the reason I didn't interrupt the teacher when she was freaking about finding a way to get to the hotel before the bus arrived.

There are a heck of a lot of cities around the world besides KC where just showing up with 20 kids and no idea how the routes, schedules, ticketing, etc. worked could be just as disasterous or worse.  

I think she was actually lucky they were in a small, friendlier airport and city. The whole thing could've ended much worse in a larger, busier airport. The situation became very manageable because it was easy to find the stop, run after the bus, and have other people like me empathizing with their situation. I pretty much insisted the driver wait and stalled loading my fare as the group started running out of the terminal. The driver didn't want to wait for them which I find bizarre considering he is running the route on demand and doesn't have to make specific times at stops.

[KCPowercat]

Poor choice on the teacher's part and love the ego.....man these kids are everywhere down here.  That being said, we have poor transportation from the airport especially evenings.....wish we had more public transit funding but we don't and that's not a high density route.  It sucks but we aren't the only city with this problem.

[DaveKCMO]

more trips added! woo hoo!

http://www.kcata.org/rider_bulletins/12 ... top_trips/

The times for the trips are:

KCI Terminal C    10th & Main
5:11 p.m.          5:34 p.m.
5:41 p.m.           6:04 p.m.
6:53 p.m.           7:16 p.m.

this essentially just extends the weekday schedule a little less than a half hour, but any little bit helps. still no fixed route service on weekends (gotta call 24 hours in advance to arrange).

USE THIS BUS, DOWNTOWNERS!

[KCPowercat]

Why can't they get it to stop at each terminal?  Never understood that.

[enough]

^making the three loops would add time to each trip but probably not much. 

aviation won't let them take a layover on airport property, either.  they always hide behind homeland security concerns -- as if a transit bus represents a greater terrorism threat than a van.

as for the additional trips, buses on these trips now deadhead back to the garage so letting them be in-service for these return trips doesn't represent much (if any) additional cost.

[coreyo]

I've been meaning to try this, but even on personal travel, the times on this suck.

Also, this bus doesn't get any of the weekly business travelers who live downtown. Most people i know who live downtown and travel (often weekly) have flights between 6:00AM and 7:45AM on Mondays and arrive back in KC sometime between 7:00PM and 11:30PM on Thursdays.

[DaveKCMO]

making my first attempt at using metroflex #229 tuesday night. good to hear they service all terminals!

[DaveKCMO]

making my first attempt at using metroflex #229 tuesday night. good to hear they service all terminals!

worked like a charm. highly recommend this service if you have the ability to schedule 24 hrs in advance. i suspect that even if you don't remember to call 24 hours in advance there will still be a trip scheduled that you can call and confirm the departure time.

[smh]

I’d like to use this service but I’m concerned that my plane will be delayed on the way back and I’ll miss my bus back to the city. Can anyone speak to what happens if you miss your scheduled pickup on your return?

[DaveKCMO]

my flight was scheduled to arrive at 9:45p, so i scheduled the pickup for 10:30p. my backup plans are typically a] call a friend, b] call super shuttle ($17 one way), or c] catch a cab ($40?).

#229 technically runs until midnight, so it might be possible to call and ask if any later trips are scheduled already.

i should note that the short bus was practically full once i boarded, which i wasn't expecting. made me feel better about my carbon footprint. there were no pick-ups and only two drop-offs before we hit 10th & main so the trip was fast.

[DaveKCMO]

here's another interesting observation about #229: we scheduled a 7:30pm pick up at terminal B last night and while snacking at starbucks saw a bus come by at 6:30 (we were told there were no scheduled pick-ups between 6 and 7:30). when i called to inquire, it was a drop-off run. presumably you could wave the driver down from the center island and catch an earlier ride to 10th & main.

regardless, KCATA has proposed hourly service 7 days a week starting in 2012. please submit a comment in support of this change!

http://www.kcata.org/documents/uploads/129Proposal.pdf

[DaveKCMO]

HOORAY! 7-day-a-week fixed route service to all 3 terminals starts march 31!

http://www.kcata.org/rider_bulletins/th ... s_service/

if you claim to want rail to KCI, you'd better use (or encourage use of) this bus first.

[flyingember]

HOORAY! 7-day-a-week fixed route service to all 3 terminals starts march 31!

http://www.kcata.org/rider_bulletins/th ... s_service/

if you claim to want rail to KCI, you'd better use (or encourage use of) this bus first.

this is a smart change.

I can get family to do a dropoff almost anytime needed but it's good to have a reliable alternative.

I don't get how the train will get to the airport. This is a line I'd like to see the cost/plans.

[enough]

here's a short write-up about the new route 129 service to kci from transit action network.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/58867268@N03/8610626794/