KC area Transit master plan LIGHT RAIL OR BUST!

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GRID
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Re: KC area Transit master plan LIGHT RAIL OR BUST!

Post by GRID »

rxlexi wrote: Wed Jan 04, 2023 11:01 am I appreciate the amount of thought going into planning like this, but count me among the group that believe KC should focus transit planning and funding primarily on the urban core. We don't need a lot of additional rail, we're hitting the low hanging fruit with the initial streetcar line + plaza extension.

An E/W line, or NKC, or maybe spur to Waldo would be awesome but that's realistically where I'd draw the line about "needing" additional rail. It's just so cost and time intensive, and if we are playing our cards right with the streetcar and a robust bus network we will have a very usable, walkable urban core transit system within the part of the city that could really benefit from such a network.

If anything the bus network needs major help. Big frequency increases, regular express routes to MCI and sports complex. For a fraction of the cost of Denver-style LRT in highway lanes I would think we could layer a pretty effective bus (maybe fancy electric or BRT style buses to up the wow factor) system over the existing or lightly-expanded streetcar spine and make a decent urban core based system that would enable the type of walkability we want in the area that it would realistically occur.
This.

It's good to plan for regional stuff and it's fun. But KC basically doesn't have a transit system outside the tram line. It's just so bare bones it's basically unusable. If the city is going to spend another several hundred million on rail, it should be for another tram line on Troost because surface trams are so much more scalable to actually creating urban development than even LRT is.

But you have find a way to fund a build a decent bus system to compliment the streetcar lines which could include nice suburban routes to KCI etc.

If KC builds a LRT line before fixing its urban transit problem, it will be a waste of money.
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Cratedigger
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Re: KC area Transit master plan LIGHT RAIL OR BUST!

Post by Cratedigger »

If you have strong opinions on this topic, a draft of the Public Transit objectives in the city's new comprehensive plan was just released. Might be worth providing feedback on their proposed ideas or what is missing.

https://playbook.kcmo.gov/public-transit
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