State Avenue BRT

[GRID]

Nevermind.  I found it.

http://www.wycokck.org/dept.aspx?id=986 ... u_0_link_2

It's still stupid though.  Looks like something you would have in Sedalia or something.  It is fixed route.  Must move like 18 people a day.

Seriously, a county like Wyandotte, especially now with village west, should have a pretty good transit system that moves at least 15k a day.

[enough]

Then what is "the bus", like OATS or something?  There is no website or anything.

This town needs one bus system.

Unified Government Transit contracts with the ATA to operate some of its routes (using 25- or 40-passenger ATA buses), and operates other routes with its own smaller buses.  Route schedules and maps for all KCK routes are on the ATA website -- whether operated by the ATA or UGT.

[enough]

current (early this year) weekday ridership on five kck routes operated by the ata:

106 quindaro - 1100
101 minnesota - 1000 
107 seventh st / parallel - 600
104 argentine - 400
102 central - 100 (ugt operates some additional trips on this route)

[DaveKCMO]

a precursor of sorts to this project will debut this sunday. KCATA will begin single-seat service between downtown KCMO and village west (to be known as #101, versus #101 and #114).

but before you plan your trip to dave & buster's, please note that saturday service ends at 6:30 (go on friday instead).

[DaveKCMO]

public meeting tomorrow:

You are invited to provide your input on the new State Ave. BRT route scheduled to open in 2012. State Ave. BRT will connect downtown Kansas City, Mo., downtown Kansas City, Ks., Indian Springs and Village West. It will include limited stops, dedicated lanes, substantial ?stations? that offer real-time arrival information and Traffic Signal Priority (TSP).

When: Thursday, Sept. 3, 2009, 4:30 ? 6 p.m.
Where: Hilton Garden Inn, 520 Minnesota Ave., Kansas City, Ks., Eisenhower Meeting Rooms A & B

Anyone with a mobility, sight or hearing disability who needs accommodations, or if Spanish translation is necessary, please contact Robert Bromberg, Olsson Associates, 816-361-1177.

4 ways to provide comment
? Attend the meeting
? Email mbernard@wycokck.org
? Phone 913-573-8311
? Written Comments to: Unified Gov. Transit, 5033 State Ave., Kansas City, KS 66102

[LenexatoKCMO]

That is a lot of ground to cover - I wonder how long a full length trip will take.  Does seem like it should help some of the early complaints about difficulty in getting workers out to VW on transit. 

[DaveKCMO]

That is a lot of ground to cover - I wonder how long a full length trip will take.  Does seem like it should help some of the early complaints about difficulty in getting workers out to VW on transit.

it's ~12 miles, compared to the main MAX's ~7 miles. they claim 30 minutes from downtown KCK to VW, down from a current 50. i don't see that happening without serious traffic signal priority and dedicated lanes (more than MAX has today). the biggest change for VW has already occurred: eliminating the transfer at indian springs for #101 riders. you can ride from downtown KCMO to VW right now.

hopefully they will order enough buses to make serious expansion possible (unlike main MAX).

[dangerboy]

Troost MAX is about the same distance.  The last thing I saw said they were shooting for a 20% reduction in the current 60 minute journey, i.e. 48 minutes.

I would say these are about the limit of a reasonable BRT distance. Even with fully dedicated lanes and lots of signal priority, BRT still can't travel faster than the 35-45 mph speed limits on the arterials where they are located.  Longer distances seem to require highway express bus more than BRT (or LRT or streetcar).

[trailerkid]

i really hope this happens for KCK. having an easy, direct and highly visible transit link with downtown KCMo can only help lure more interest in KCK. there is so much potential along Minnesota Ave to turn into something like W 39th or even the Loop in StL.

[dangerboy]

i really hope this happens for KCK. having an easy, direct and highly visible transit link with downtown KCMo can only help lure more interest in KCK. there is so much potential along Minnesota Ave to turn into something like W 39th or even the Loop in StL.

Hey for once we agree on something!  Unfortunately the BRT-light used in Kansas City hasn't been shown to generate any significant investment.  You have to get a Curitiba style BRT or rail before you see a transit system generating significant investment.  What we are doing here is all about the transit user - improving service for existing bus riders and encouraging new riders to switch to transit.

[Stockton]

The current route #101 travels 12th and James streets through the bottoms. Using the inter-city viaduct will help out the time. So would going straight up Minnesota rather than all the turns the current route makes in DT KCK, but Minnesota would have to be straightened out between 6th and 8th streets.

[DaveKCMO]

one problem with this corridor is that there are no connecting services that i'm aware of west of indian springs (main MAX has connecting routes at nearly all points between terminii... not that it's very pleasant since transfers aren't timed). there might be some "the bus" routes, but UG doesn't post those schedules online.

perhaps with a dedicated transit sales tax UG can add routes to serve those more than a mile from state/parallel. hopefully residents will be advised that it's an option if they want it.

there are a few routes that serve west bottoms, so hopefully we'll see the local routes maintained with reasonable frequency of at least 30 mins, 7 days/wk (or consolidate on one path through that area: 101/102 use 12th street, 106 uses woodswether... about a half-mile apart).

[Stockton]

Dave, "The Bus" route schedules are on the KCATA's website. They're indistinguishable from the rest of the Metro routes. Currently there are 2 connecting routes west of Indian Springs, West Parallel and Leavenworth Road, which connect at Providence Medical Center. I assume the route map you posted will see changes, so who knows if the BRT will serve Providence.

[dangerboy]

they need some north/south shuttles on the numbered streets to get people from the neighborhoods to State Avenue.

[DaveKCMO]

anyone interested in spearheading a push for transit as the sales tax option for november's ballot in KCK? you'll get a sales tax question regardless, so it might as well be dedicated to transit (freeing up as much as $5 million in general fund revenue that is currently paid to KCATA).

[DaveKCMO]

recap of the public meeting:

http://kclightrail.com/2009/09/04/state ... brt-recap/

take the wyco sales tax survey here. there's an option for those residing outside of KCK.

[KCMax]

Looks very promising.

[enough]

i took route 101 from 10th and main to village west on labor day.  the round trip was 80 minutes of travel time, and that doesn't count layover time (at village west and at 10th & main) or the time spent deviating into kck community college and bethany hospital.  even after you take off another 8 minutes for the time spent in the west bottoms, and add back in some time for boarding more passengers than rode yesterday, it's hard to imagine the state max trip much shorter than 45 minutes each way. 

[justin8216]

Just announced that Kansas City, KS will share a $20 million federal grant with johnson county for transit. I think this fully funds the construction of the proposed State Ave BRT.

[DaveKCMO]

it was announced wednesday. it will not cover the entire capital cost. UG has not identified a funding source for operations, and unfortunately they did not include transit funding in the sales tax election scheduled for april. the money being used to offer increased service on existing routes is from CMAQ and will run out in a few years.

http://www.marc.org/Recovery/assets/tig ... ridors.pdf

iii. State Avenue Corridor

An alternatives analysis has been completed for the State Avenue route, and BRT was selected as the locally
preferred alternative. Currently, State Avenue BRT is in the project development phase where specific alignments,
station locations, and operational characteristics are being defined. The State Avenue route alignment connects the
Kansas City, Mo., Central Business District to downtown Kansas City, Kan., and the employment concentrations at
the Village West Shopping center in Wyandotte County, Kan. After exiting downtown Kansas City, Mo., onto I-70, this
alignment primarily uses Minnesota Avenue and State Avenue until it reaches the Village West area. The State
 
Avenue BRT will incorporate traffic-signal priority, real-time bus information, enhanced branding, and a limited
number of stops. 

The State Avenue corridor is ready for investments that will support existing transit service and allow for the near-
term implementation of a BRT route. Construction on the identified capital projects can begin immediately. Figure 16
(Attachment B-1) displays the alignment and planned improvements. Two transit center projects will require
additional environmental clearance and the approval process is underway with no environmental mitigation issues
expected. 

7th Street and Minnesota Avenue Transit Center $3,000,000
47th Street and State Avenue Transit Center  $3,000,000
BRT Transit Stations    $4,267,500
Pedestrian Improvements        $69,191

Corridor Total                $10,336,691

The following project descriptions are outcomes of State Avenue Corridor Transit Planning Study Alternatives
Analysis and the State Avenue Corridor Transit Project Development Study. 

7th Street and Minnesota Avenue Transit Center

$3,000,000 is requested for a transit center at 7th Street and Minnesota Avenue in Kansas City, Kan. This facility
will bring a dedicated transit and transfer center to downtown Kansas City, Kan., and facilitate transit
connections between the planned State Avenue BRT route and existing local transit service. The transit center
would allow local transit vehicles to dwell off-street, while having BRT vehicles use bus pull-outs to maintain
rapid travel times. The transit center will bring activity to a downtown area that is struggling with blight, while
replacing urban-renewal era street features with updated transit facilities. Conceptual design work has been
completed. Figure 12 (Attachment B-1) displays a conceptual schematic of the proposed transit center. 

47th Street and State Avenue Transit Center 

$3,000,000 is requested for a transit center at 47th Street and State Avenue in Kansas City, Kan. This facility
would act as a dedicated transit and transfer center with a park-and-ride to facilitate connections between off-
street local transit service and on-street BRT vehicles. The transit center would replace the current transit center
at the site of the former Indian Springs Mall. This site is planned for redevelopment but is blighted with few
tenants. The transit center is far from the few remaining non- retail operations at the site and transit passengers
have to walk across a nearly empty, mall-sized parking lot to access the transit center at the northern-most end
of a nearly vacant building. Basic design and engineering will duplicate transit improvements already constructed
elsewhere in the urban corridor system. Figure 13 (Attachment B-1) displays a conceptual schematic of the
proposed transit center.

BRT Transit Stations

$4,267,500 is requested for 30 stations throughout the corridor. The transit stations will be similar to the Main
Street MAX BRT transit stations shown in Figure 14 (Attachment B-1) with high-quality finishes, enhanced
lighting, unique branding to distinguish BRT from local service, and real-time, next-bus arrival information kiosks.
In addition to being a major component of the planned BRT system, the transit stations will support existing
transit service. Specific locations are being defined and evaluated.