OFFICIAL: Troost MAX

[DaveKCMO]

a few tidbits from the open house:

- 10th/main and three trails transit centers are the terminii
- troost is the street, from 25th to bannister
- from 25th to 12th/13th will run on holmes/charlotte pair
- east/west route through downtown is silly (12th/13th to oak, then 11th/12th to main, then around the block on 10th to hit the transit center)
- buses will all use blue/gray MAX livery, but the line will be displayed on the LED screens
- all MAX lines will use a 300 series number and color to differentiate from non-MAX routes (main=yellow, troost=green, prospect=purple)
- 10 minute headways for MAX (to GSA), 30 minute headways from GSA to three trails (like waldo on main street MAX)
- shelter designs still being decided, but have the same look as main street MAX (but maybe a different configuration)
- not sure about weekend or evening headways

shared stations with main street MAX:
- 11th/grand
- 11th/oak
- 12th/oak
- 12th/main
- 12th/grand

[GRID]

I've taken the 25 to work a number of times, and I have never gotten the impression that people on it are going more than a couple blocks. The most popular spots to get on and off that I noticed were away from downtown: 63rd, 47th, 39th, and 25th. It seems to be more of a local route than a through route. Most of the people I've seen get off within ten or fifteen blocks of where they got on.

I'm not opposed to having an express bus, but I don't think it'd need to be as full-blown as the MAX.

This line is purely political.  The Troost line is about as "local" as you can get for a bus line.  People will be watching the MAX go by to wait for a local, the opposite of Main St Max.  But they have to do it before they can do the North Oak line or all hell will break loose.  The eastside is not happy with the ATA and it has shown in previous light rail votes.  When I was on the buses in the eastside pushing people to vote for light rail, I heard nothing but "fix the current buses first".

It's one of the advantages to having a half ass "BRT" system I guess.  A real BRT down Troost would cost a lot more.

Overall, I think it's a good investment, but you have to look at the big picture to really understand the Troost BRT route including other BRT routes so people can use the Troost MAX and connect up with the N Oak or State Ave MAX to get to jobs etc.  Just another reason we are wasting our time by throwing all this money at one small line when we have got to find a way to build an entire system that actually moves people around the metro.

[voltopt]

Troost BRT will capture the Rockhill/Longfellow/Hyde Park/Gillham Park/UMKC transit user who may have been intimidated by the 25 local service.
Also, Troost BRT will terminate in a retail center, instead of the middle of a quaint neighborhood with local shops (waldo).  Both have their merits - but I need a good, frequent, express connection to a shopping center with a Best Buy and other national retail chains.  I already have bus access to many quaint, neighborhood areas with local shops.  If I lived east of gillham/oak, I could see myself using the Troost BRT quite regularly to get downtown and "out south"

[GRID]

Troost BRT will capture the Rockhill/Longfellow/Hyde Park/Gillham Park/UMKC transit user who may have been intimidated by the 25 local service.
Also, Troost BRT will terminate in a retail center, instead of the middle of a quaint neighborhood with local shops (waldo).  Both have their merits - but I need a good, frequent, express connection to a shopping center with a Best Buy and other national retail chains.   I already have bus access to many quaint, neighborhood areas with local shops.  If I lived east of gillham/oak, I could see myself using the Troost BRT quite regularly to get downtown and "out south"

Let's hope you get a best buy out south.  Things are moving slow at bannister mall.

[voltopt]

Let's hope you get a best buy out south.  Things are moving slow at bannister mall.

I hear a rumour we may get even better at the old Bannister site!

[enough]

the new buses to be purchased for troost brt will include three diesel electric hybrids from gillig, manufacturer of all the full-size buses the ata has purchased since 2002.  the ata board approved purchase of the three buses today at a cost of $1.615 million -- $538k each.  the other troost brt buses will be more or less like the current max buses.  the hybrids are expected to be 10-20 percent more fuel-efficient than conventional diesels.

[KCMax]

KC Area Transportation Authority will get $6M for bus rapid transit

The U.S. Department of Transportation will give more than $6 million to the Kansas City Area Transportation Authority for the Troost Corridor Bus Rapid Transit project.

The project will replace more than 100 KCATA buses with more fuel-efficient ones in the next five years, according to a release Wednesday from U.S. Sen. Christopher "Kit" Bond, R-Mo., and U.S. Rep. Emanuel Cleaver, R-Mo.

The money also will enable KCATA to expand the Metro Area Express (MAX) system.

[DaveKCMO]

i would like to point out what looks like a factual error in the way that article reads. the $6m for the troost BRT project will NOT be paying to replace all 100 buses. here's bond's press release:

Bond and Cleaver secured the $6.134 million in federal funds in the fiscal year 2007 Omnibus spending bill signed into law by President Bush in December 2007.  In five years, over 100 KCATA buses will be in need of replacement. The federal funds will allow KCATA to replace these buses and deploy new fuel-efficient vehicles which will reduce overall operating and maintenance costs. These funds underscore Bond and Cleaver’s ongoing commitment to public transportation and real energy-saving solutions in Kansas City.

replacing 100 buses would cost more than the price tag of the entire $51m troost BRT price tag.

[DaveKCMO]

Public Art Opportunity - Kansas City, MO

Kansas City Area Transportation Authority
Arts in Transit
Request For Qualifications 08-7032-29
Troost Avenue Bus Rapid Transit (Brt) Corridor

Total Estimated Public Art Budget: $ 270,000
Deadline For Submittals: August 28, 2008

For a full prospectus, available 7/25/08:  www.kcata.org

____________________________________
This information is being forwarded as a free service by the Kansas City Municipal Art Commission.

For information related to the above-mentioned opportunities, please contact the organization
listed in the announcements rather than the Kansas City Municipal Art Commission.
____________________________________
This email Forwarded by:
Kansas City Municipal Art Commission
Capital Improvements Management Office (CIMO)
City Hall, 17th Floor
414 E. 12th Street
Kansas City, MO  64106
porter_arneill@kcmo.org
www.kcmo.org/cimo.nsf/web/Opportunities?opendocument

[DaveKCMO]

this tidbit was buried in an article about the regional transit plan:

The lag time can be seen locally, where the ATA ordered 11 vehicles for the Troost Avenue bus rapid transit line in June, but will not get them until November 2009.

[enough]

start-up of troost brt service was originally scheduled for the fourth quarter of 2009.  it's been pushed back until early 2010, following completion of a new troost avenue bridge over brush creek. 

[rxlexi]

^^^ wow that's a long wait.  Are there any conceptual renderings of what the new Troost Avenue bridge will look like?  Is it intended to finally link Brush Creek from east to west (god I hope so)? 

Troost BRT will be a boon for an area that I see slowly returning to it's midtown roots, rather than a major 'east side' dividing line.  Connections with the proposed LRT line at 47th will make for a hell of a transit hub.

[DaveKCMO]

map and station stops are here.

i think this might end up being represented on maps as the "red line" (vs. "blue line" for main street?). just an assumption. anyone?

and what's with the park and ride at 31st street? um... the point?

the ordinance to fund the public works improvements was introduced on 12/11. thanks, dangerboy!

[shinatoo]

what is an "Enhanced Max Station"?

[DaveKCMO]

what is an "Enhanced Max Station"?

perhaps the inclusion of public art? i don't think the MAX stations incorporated art at all (decorative concrete?), but the troost line will definitely have some.

[dangerboy]

FYI... Contracts are currently out for bid for traffic signals, fiber optics, CCTV, and paving.  Bids are due in January, so it looks like they are on the way towards construction in 2009.

[enough]

they've been talking about starting operation in early 2010.  they'd like to wait until after the troost bridge over brush creek is finished so they don't have to start under detour conditions, but the way that project is (not) moving i think they'll start troost max early in 2010.

[dangerboy]

Found this presentation dated Oct. 2008: http://www.go-rts.com/pdf/KCATA%20MAX.pdf

*Includes a route schematic with both lines
*Identifies Main Street as the Orange Line and Troost as the Green Line.
*Shows modified shelter design for Troost, along with more streetscaping
*Lessons learned from Main Street: More buses, fewer stations, more signal priority, more exclusive lanes
*Troost operations scheduled for early 2010.

[DaveKCMO]

yes, more signal "priority" please. only 3 hybrids? is that fancy "75th street turnaround" for the buses that won't go all the way to bannister? i'm assuming we're NOT getting better service on #175, but at least there'd be a decent-looking place to layover (unlike 74th and wornall).

my god this town is transit starved.

[voltopt]

A funny thing about our Bus "Rapid" Transit - neither the existing line nor the proposed line have anything to do with the central bus transit center at 10th and Main.