Generic ongoing KCATA thread

[DaveKCMO]

Any JoCo rail talks?

Yes. Metcalf has legs. It probably won't qualify for federal funds now, so it would have to be an all-local affair (like Omaha and OKC) until density and ridership improves. BRT makes sense in the short term.

All JoCo funding comes from the general fund. They need a dedicated tax. Maybe in 2026 or 27?

[horizons82]

Maybe in 2026 or 27?

For the tax vote or the improved transit service?

[langosta]

Any JoCo rail talks?

Yes. Metcalf has legs. It probably won't qualify for federal funds now, so it would have to be an all-local affair (like Omaha and OKC) until density and ridership improves. BRT makes sense in the short term.

All JoCo funding comes from the general fund. They need a dedicated tax. Maybe in 2026 or 27?

It’s a snooze for me without rail in the initial
Implementation.

[alejandro46]

The next step to actually improve is to get dedicated regional funding going in Johnson, Wyandotte, Platte, Clay, and Jackson counties. The counties will make different decisions than the cities -- as we've seen with how service is funded today (with general fund dollars) in Johnson and Wyandotte.

It's very likely Johnson will be first out of the gate since they've proven that there's a need and a willingness to expand (which they did last year with one-time federal funds that will run out soon).

Thanks Dave and thanks for your continued advocacy for this initiative and transit. I signed up for the Regional Transit Alliance email list but need to get time to actually attend a meeting despite all the family and work obligations.

I think most on the forum know that regional cooperation and funding are the answer and now we have the Feds shown clear interest in getting transit done with the Build America financing initiative. Now it's just a matter of how we decide what is a fair and reasonable tax and sell it to so many more skeptical, car-dependent suburban and rural voters. The last thing we want is to be lumped in with failed regional initiatives like Nashville or Atlanta, which had strong proposals but were still rejected for one reason or another.

Instead of just the immediate TDD, in a 5 county measure voters from all the way in Smithville, Kearney, and Excelsior Springs out to Gardner-Edgerton, De Soto and Jone Jack would vote and definitely would be less willing to do so if they didn't get any even reasonably direct service.

I would be curious if it would be legal or possible to instead have like a 'mega TDD.' IIRC, all KCMO has to vote on any future streetcar expansions. So have KCMO + voting in all precincts that are only within X distance from proposed transit- which would be a much wider swath than in the Main Street TDD. As much as I would love to rebuild connections to Excelsior Springs etc, it's probably not the best use of transit dollars for how little those smaller towns would contribute.

[FangKC]

After years of free bus fare, Kansas City is studying whether to charge for rides again

https://www.kcur.org/news/2023-11-10/a ... ides-again

[DaveKCMO]

After years of free bus fare, Kansas City is studying whether to charge for rides again

https://www.kcur.org/news/2023-11-10/a ... ides-again

If they reimpose a fare, the equipment will need to be replaced. It's 30+ years old and was failing frequently before the fares were suspended.

[SilentSpades24]

After years of free bus fare, Kansas City is studying whether to charge for rides again

https://www.kcur.org/news/2023-11-10/a ... ides-again

If they reimpose a fare, the equipment will need to be replaced. It's 30+ years old and was failing frequently before the fares were suspended.

I wonder how much of it would even be operational if they kept the current boxes, especially after being out of service for 4 years.

[FangKC]

Facing budget shortfall by $11 million, KCATA considers reintroduction of bus fares

https://www.kmbc.com/article/kansas-cit ... l/45842546

[GRID]

Facing budget shortfall by $11 million, KCATA considers reintroduction of bus fares

https://www.kmbc.com/article/kansas-cit ... l/45842546

They can sell all the buses they don't use anymore lol.

I swear KC barely has any buses anymore. When I'm in town, I don't hardly see any and half the ones I do see are not even full size buses.

The ATA used to have like over 300 full size buses. Are they just parked somewhere or have they been slowly getting rid of them?

Decades of "talking" about reginal funding for transit in KC and things are worse now than ever. I mean they don't even stop in Gladstone anymore lol and major streets like Main and Broadway have very low frequency of bus service. Even the max routes are low frequency I think.

[FangKC]

The multi-million dollar cost behind eliminating free bus fares in Kansas City

https://kcbeacon.org/stories/2024/01/17 ... are-boxes/

[DaveKCMO]

Star article touches on "city hall's accounting trick" and the redirection of COVID transit funds to LED streetlight program: https://www.kansascity.com/news/local/a ... 53434.html

The budget submitted on Feb. 13, 2020, set aside $4.8 million to pay for zero fare buses and paratransit service, with the idea that the KCATA’s private and public partners would pitch in an equal or greater amount.

But the pandemic upset those plans. The partnership dollars dried up. And while the city continues to assert that it has set aside $4.8 million annually for zero fare, it’s always been an accounting trick putting a new label on part of the city’s standing contribution to the transit authority, not additional money.

“The $4.8 million line item for zero-fare transit was not an increase in funding,” current KCATA board chairman Reginald Townsend said in a written statement. “It is included in the total transit investment annually taken from the ½-cent public mass transportation fund.”

Townsend’s characterization is reflected in the city’s budget documents. The city has been collecting a 1/2-cent sales tax for mass transportation since the early 1970s, when the Missouri General Assembly gave the City Council the authority to levy it. Voters approved a separate 3/8th-cent tax 20 years ago specifically to benefit the KCATA. Those two sales taxes make up Kansas City’s yearly contribution to the regional transit system.

In the year before zero fare took effect, the city budget set aside $57.6 million in combined sales tax revenue for KCATA. This year’s budget set aside $55.5 million, which was minus the first of two $11 million installments diverted from the 1/2-cent sales tax fund to pay for streetlights.

The annual $4.8 million set aside for zero fare? That’s where the accounting trick comes in. The budget deducts that from the total tax revenue that the KCATA would normally get and then adds it in as a separate line item.

[dnweava]

Star article touches on "city hall's accounting trick" and the redirection of COVID transit funds to LED streetlight program: https://www.kansascity.com/news/local/a ... 53434.html

The budget submitted on Feb. 13, 2020, set aside $4.8 million to pay for zero fare buses and paratransit service, with the idea that the KCATA’s private and public partners would pitch in an equal or greater amount.

But the pandemic upset those plans. The partnership dollars dried up. And while the city continues to assert that it has set aside $4.8 million annually for zero fare, it’s always been an accounting trick putting a new label on part of the city’s standing contribution to the transit authority, not additional money.

“The $4.8 million line item for zero-fare transit was not an increase in funding,” current KCATA board chairman Reginald Townsend said in a written statement. “It is included in the total transit investment annually taken from the ½-cent public mass transportation fund.”

Townsend’s characterization is reflected in the city’s budget documents. The city has been collecting a 1/2-cent sales tax for mass transportation since the early 1970s, when the Missouri General Assembly gave the City Council the authority to levy it. Voters approved a separate 3/8th-cent tax 20 years ago specifically to benefit the KCATA. Those two sales taxes make up Kansas City’s yearly contribution to the regional transit system.

In the year before zero fare took effect, the city budget set aside $57.6 million in combined sales tax revenue for KCATA. This year’s budget set aside $55.5 million, which was minus the first of two $11 million installments diverted from the 1/2-cent sales tax fund to pay for streetlights.

The annual $4.8 million set aside for zero fare? That’s where the accounting trick comes in. The budget deducts that from the total tax revenue that the KCATA would normally get and then adds it in as a separate line item.

are these accounting tricks to keep 25% of that revenue from going to the Police dept?

[bspecht]

Draft of KCATA's new "inFOCUS" 5-year plan: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1QLvjJo ... sp=sharing

Timelines in the Implementation Plan section, 3/4ths down, are probably the quickest way to consume the info.

[Cratedigger]

Explore new fixed-route service in 2026…

Guessing that’s the E/W streetcar?

[Cratedigger]

Has the agency updated their month by month performance dashboard?

https://ridekc.org/planning/dashboard

Looks like it hasn't been updated since December 2023

[DaveKCMO]

Has the agency updated their month by month performance dashboard?

https://ridekc.org/planning/dashboard

Looks like it hasn't been updated since December 2023

I'm sure they have. Look in the last board packet.

https://www.kcata.org/about_kcata/entri ... rs_agendas

[Cratedigger]

Has the agency updated their month by month performance dashboard?

https://ridekc.org/planning/dashboard

Looks like it hasn't been updated since December 2023

I'm sure they have. Look in the last board packet.

https://www.kcata.org/about_kcata/entri ... rs_agendas

Ah - well. That might explain it. Appears KCATA was the victim of a cyberattack

TO: Operations and Planning Committee Chair and Committee Members
FROM: AJ Farris – Planning and Scheduling Manager
DATE: March 19, 2024

Background: Monthly Performance Metrics for February 2024

Discussion: Due to the cyberattack, we are still working to restore monthly data from
January and February. Fixed and Flex Ridership, On-Time Performance, and
Completed Trips are not available at this time. These metrics will be included in
next month’s briefing.

Paratransit saw 19,962 passengers in January and 21,151 passengers in
February. IRIS saw 21,385 passengers in January and 22,737 passengers in
February.

In January we had 18 collisions and 13 road calls. In February there were 12
collisions and 50 road calls.

[DaveKCMO]

Indeed, the attack took down their main operations system that collects ridership data from the sensors above the doors. Buses are able to run in this case because the operators do have printed schedules they can use, but that same system tells them whether they're on time or not. Interested to see if they will be able to salvage ridership data from this period.

They did make their first announcement about the attack on Jan. 23, followed by more detail the next day:

https://twitter.com/RideKCTransit/statu ... 8260772078
https://www.kcata.org/news/cyber-attack ... s-affected

[SilentSpades24]

Worth noting, KCMO did not fully cover the KCATA budget. Either deep cuts inbound or fares will be returning.

Also, KCK getting a reworked transit network, but they too are facing cuts.

[Anthony_Hugo98]

Worth noting, KCMO did not fully cover the KCATA budget. Either deep cuts inbound or fares will be returning.

Also, KCK getting a reworked transit network, but they too are facing cuts.

Fares making a comeback then? Fare free transit doesn’t really remove any barriers to entry if routes are cut and headways remain what they are or increase.