Johnson County Transit (The JO)

[tompendergast]

i think i may finally be giving this a try next week. my route is as follows:

8:15A - route "A" from 19th/main to JCCC student center
10:30A - route "K" from JCCC carlsen center to 19th/naismith

once in lawrence:
- route "8" from KU to downtown (or walk)
- route "2" from downtown to haskell to reconnect with "K" back to KC (no walking... it's a hike)

Gosh, DaveKCMO, that's an incredibly long way!  You live at 19th and Main in Downtown KCMO, yet you're going all the way out to southern Overland Park, taking K-10 to Lawrence, and then coming back the same way??  I understand that this is an exercise in bus riding, but I can't fathom the time it will take, let alone doing so on a regular basis.  If you don't know, I-70 also goes to Lawrence, and is a far shorter distance.  From my home on Quality Hill, it takes only between 30-45 minutes to get to Downtown Lawrence on I-70 (I'd say my average is 35 minutes).  It's a straight shot from Downtown KCMO.  K-10 definitely is the longest way to get to Lawrence from anywhere north of the Country Club District (and I-70 is a much better highway, especially once it becomes the Kansas Turnpike in Leavenworth County).

Alternatively, looking at Amtrak timetables, there actually is a train which might be fun to try taking at some point for an all-night Lawrence "drink in".  Depart Union Station at 10:55 PM, get to Lawrence around midnight (train station is on 7th Street only a few blocks from Massachusetts), party until the bars close at 2:00 AM, go to an after-party until the wee hours, and then take the train back to Union Station at 5:45 AM to arrive around 7:00 AM.  Total price is about $20.  Coming from Downtown KCMO, that sounds like fun. 

Lastly, one could take Greyhound (which uses I-70), departing KCMO from 11th and Troost at 7:45 PM, arriving at 6th and Iowa at 8:40 PM, then departing Lawrence the next morning at 9:30 AM and returning to KCMO at 10:25 AM.  The cost is about $25.  Still, I think the train idea is cooler (and since it's the Southwest Chief, a cross-country train, one can drink on the train).

[DaveKCMO]

Gosh, DaveKCMO, that's an incredibly long way!

i'm unemployed, so i've got the time. i just spent 27 days riding trains. well aware that it would be easier to drive. if it rains that day, i'll be driving.

[KCMax]

Lawrence-OP bus ridership has good start

A new Lawrence-Overland Park bus route attracted an average of 250 riders a day for its first semester, setting it well on its way to mature route expectations, said Alice Amrein, transportation director for Johnson County Transit.

Area officials on Monday celebrated completion of the first semester of the route, which connects Haskell Indian Nations University and the University of Kansas in Lawrence with the KU Edwards and Johnson County Community College campuses in Overland Park.

Total ridership from the opening day, Jan. 17, through April 30 was 16,316 people, ranging from 137 to 292 riders a day, Amrein said.

Transit routes typically take three years to reach full ridership, but after one semester ridership is more than halfway to the 350 to 500 daily passengers expected, she said.

[DaveKCMO]

i think i may finally be giving this a try next week.

well, i had to skip the adventure today in lieu of something more convenient (my car). my lunch date, who works at KU, was well aware of the service and echoed how popular it has become. in honor of bike week, i drank a cyclist at free state.

[DaveKCMO]

Bus service expanded in Johnson County

In Olathe, the city and the Mr. Goodcents Foundation are sponsoring two new Olathe Route K loops, as well as changes to several existing Route K loops.

One new service, the Blue Loop, provides buses from downtown Olathe to businesses, stores and restaurants along 119th Street. A second new route, the Purple Loop, services the Cedar Lake Village, Olathe Medical Center and Great Mall of the Great Plains area.

Changes also have been made to pickup points on existing loops.

Also, Johnson County Transit has entered partnerships with Merriam, Mission, Roeland Park and Fairway to offer new and expanded EasyRide services. EasyRide picks up riders at home and takes them to stores and offices. It previously was limited to riders 50 and older. As of July 2, the service was extended to all riders 12 and older.

[DaveKCMO]

Riders give K-10 bus route a thumbs-up

A little more than a year old, the route — known as the K-10 Connector — is the hottest in the metro area. Ridership has more than doubled in a year. Only the downtown rapid bus line known as MAX comes close to such a high-profile explosion in ridership.

An ironic outgrowth of a highway study, the K-10 Connector is tapping a demand for transit that has been eyed for years. And it could be a lesson for building bus ridership in other parts of the metro area.

It demonstrates what can happen when you identify popular destination centers and where the people are who want to get there, transportation planners say.

Then, if it’s fast and convenient, people will ride.

[skim82]

I live off K-10 and the K-7, and see this bus on K-10 alot.  I always catch up or slow down to take a peek inside, and I must say most of the time it's over 1/2 full.  Sometimes it seems like there is head in every window.

This is a great service, and the buses seem to be clean and modern.  Also, I know students who take classes both at KU and JCCC, or have a class at the Edwards campus... so this has got to be a win win so far. 

[enough]

there have been some recent posts in the max thread about johnson county transit:

GRID
« Reply #982 on: March 28, 2008, 02:15:12 am »
>>Why doesn't the kcata site have info on the JO?  It's not like it's a competitor.  You should be able to go to one website and get info on transit in the entire area.

dangerboy (replying to GRID)
« Reply #983 on: March 28, 2008, 08:05:58 am » 
>>It's right there under the "maps and schedules" dropdown at the top of the page.  Also has Wyco bus.  Do you want the ATA to duplicate The JO's maps and schedules on its own web site?  Good luck.  They can't even get the JO to provide that information for a regional trip planner.

Coquette (replying to dangerboy)
« Reply #989 on: May 08, 2008, 02:05:14 am »   
>>I'm sorry, but can you make heads or tails of the JO maps and schedules? I can't even find info for the bus I SEE venture into my neighborhood. There are JO bus stops a mere stone's throw from my house, and I couldn't catch one if my livelihood depended on it.
>>When I recently visited KU Med Center, I grabbed several paper schedules, but those were mostly KCK, so if necessary, I could likely, after several transfers, find a dope house, but I would be hard pressed to visit a cultural or commercial center of my choice...
>>I'm whining, but my beef is with the JO, not any person on this board (unless they have influence with them, and they aren't doing anything!  )

enough
« Reply #990 on: May 11, 2008, 06:52:47 pm » 
>>a johnson county transit official said recently that they'd be in google transit by july 1st. 
>>do we have a separate topic for johnson county transit?  if not we need one. 

bahua (replying to enough)
« Reply #991 on: May 12, 2008, 10:11:21 am »
>>Go right ahead.

kard (replying to Coquette)
« Reply #992 on: May 12, 2008, 10:44:15 am » 
>>email or call them.  tell them it's hard to read and what you're after.  you shouldn't have to do this, but tell them it's bad and maybe it will get better.  

at bahua's invitation, here's a new thread.  sorry about the provocative subject line, but the jo needs a lot of work.  they have a highly successful new route in the k-10 corridor (it accounts for a third of their daily ridership) but there are lots of other issues that the above posts only hint at.

let's talk about 'em.

[midtown]

I'm wondering how best to convince more people at my company to take the bus.  The Jo added a route pretty much for us, and of a 2200 employee company, we usually have 6-8 riders.  it's pretty pathetic.

I don't really think it's that hard to read the jo's schedules... but apparently that's not the common wisdom?

[GRID]

I'm wondering how best to convince more people at my company to take the bus.  The Jo added a route pretty much for us, and of a 2200 employee company, we usually have 6-8 riders.  it's pretty pathetic.

I don't really think it's that hard to read the jo's schedules... but apparently that's not the common wisdom?

I got transit started in our downtown (crown center) firm and now we have to be the highest per capita transit ridership company in all of KC.  I know we are the highest private firm, but I would say that we now even beat out public companies like the downtown federal and city buildings.

It's still not as high as many places in Boston or Denver, but we have 15-20 people out of 150 that purchase monthly bus passes for the Metro and the JO.

Now, we did get our company to pay anything above ten dollars for the passes so employees only pay 10 bucks.  But our company also pays for garage parking under our building.  If we can get this many people to ride the bus when they have free parking then people that are now paying to park shouldn't be hard to convince to ride the bus I would think.

Anyway, once a year, we have a transit fair where reps from the ATA and the JO come into our office with schedules, maps, and other goodies and answer any questions.  I think that has been key to getting people to take a look at transit.

So, the first thing I would do is see if you company is willing to play a role in transit, see if they would subsidize bus passes, even if only for the first few months.

Then call the ATA and the JO and set up an open house at your office.  I would think a company that size should have a least 100 people taking the bus.

People will do it, most just have no idea how.

[enough]

I'm wondering how best to convince more people at my company to take the bus.  The Jo added a route pretty much for us, and of a 2200 employee company, we usually have 6-8 riders.  it's pretty pathetic.

where is your company located?  downtown?  college boulevard?  and where do employees live?  and a lot depends on the level of transit service available -- where can you get to/from, how often do buses run, and when does the last one leave for home? 

downtown and crown center are both served by about a dozen jo routes, with over two dozen morning and over two dozen evening trips.  unfortunately, the jo has no on-street presence in missouri -- no bus stop signs or posted route maps / schedules -- except when their buses are right there.

the jo's system map is also a problem.  it's hard to find on their website -- you have to first click on "route schedules" -- and it's not very user friendly:  http://www.thejo.com/pdf/JCTSystemMap.pdf

grid, how many people at your company ride the jo vs ata?

[GRID]

grid, how many people at your company ride the jo vs ata?

I would say around half, maybe a third. 

A question I get all the time is "if I buy a JO pass, can I ride the MAX" or the other way around.

I know a lot of people that ride the JO that would use the MAX to go the P&L, downtown meetings etc.

This has to be fixed.

[enough]

the jo and the ata honor each others' transfers, but not passes.

my understanding is that jo monthly passes are available only thru employers, but they aren't good on ata buses.  ata passes can be purchased by anybody, but they aren't good on jo buses.

i'm told the ata is willing to sign a reciprocity agreement with the jo on passes, but the jo is dragging its feet.

i agree -- this has to be fixed.  johnson county voters need to lean on their elected officials.

[midtown]

Our office is at 151st and Ridgeview in Olathe.  I think most people working there live either in Olathe, or Overland Park, but I know lots of people commute from the city as well.  The issue with our bus route for these people (at least those in OP) is that it starts at the hub at 6000 Lamar and doesn't make any stops before getting to the office, so it doesn't make sense for someone living, e.g. on 95th street to drive all the way up to 6000 lamar to catch a bus south again.

[enough]

aha.  that would be route f to garmin:  http://www.thejo.com/main.aspx?page=schedule-f  one morning trip and one evening trip.

missouri employees could connect to route f at 6000 lamar using jo route h (from 47th and troost via the plaza).  jo drivers stay in radio contact with each other to assure that connection.  with pass reciprocity, missouri employees could use ata routes (including max) to get to route h.  (again, the pass reciprocity issue.  again, lean on your elected officals.)

instead of making route f non-stop from 6000 lamar, it might make sense for the jo to stop at the oak park mall and strang line park-and-ride lots.  that would add just a few minutes to the trip, but would make transit viable for more johnson county employees. 

it would also facilitate another connection from missouri on ata route 175 (75th street), which makes three morning and three evening trips into johnson county via oak park mall.  http://www.kcata.org/documents/routes/s ... 175swk.pdf

[midtown]

Yep, proud garminite here.  I do indeed catch the H from the plaza.  Works like a charm every time.

These all sound like good changes.  Who can I contact to suggest them?

[enough]

contact jo director alice amrein , and marketing director chuck ferguson .

i'd approach them from the standpoint of your concern about low ridership and what might be done to improve it -- rather than just, "i've got an idea."  if you have any data on number of employees from the missouri side (and kck) that would help, too.  they might want to look at running the service from a point farther south, rather than 6000 lamar -- though that would make for an extra transfer for you and people who get there from kck via ata route 260.

btw, earlier i mis-spoke.  ata route 175 goes (to sprint campus) via metcalf south, not oak park mall.

let's handle any further discussion of this specific issue via pm.

[dangerboy]

Johnson County Transit will never be much more than it is now without dedicated funding.  Even though Kansas chose not to participate in a regional funding system, Johnson County could certainly institute its own transit funding.  But the County Commissioners need to hear from voters that they want to be taxed in order to pay for better transit.

[bahua]

There was a good op/ed piece in Friday's Star about the Jo. Let me see if I can find it.

//EDIT//

Turns out it was Thursday.

http://www.kansascity.com/news/columnis ... 41882.html

JoCo has a bus system, but that’s like saying the Royals have an offense.

And the prospect of either getting much better anytime soon seems hopeless.

“The reason is money,” County Commissioner John Segale said.

But that’s not entirely true. It’s not just for want of cash that Johnson County has a third-rate bus system. It’s the political establishment that won’t demand better.

Roads? Highway interchanges? Somehow, the politicians always find money for more concrete and asphalt out in Sprawlville.

[enough]

^ i like this quote in the hendricks column:

“As a Johnson County resident, you have to work really, really hard to ride the JO,” says the system’s deputy director, Chuck Ferguson.

there's one bus linking johnson county with the rest of the world between about 8:30 am and 3:30 pm on weekdays.  it's route m - midday.  (yeah, "midday.")  no hint as to where it goes.  and yes, you have to work really, really hard to find out where it goes.  it stops at 10th and main and union station / crown center before heading back to johnson county, but there's no evidence of that on the street.

maybe they are short of money to add buses, but how much would it cost to post half a dozen bus stop signs and schedules in downtown, crown center, and the plaza?

ps - i wonder what it cost the jo put that clever animated ad at the top right corner of the star's webpage?