Generic ongoing KCATA thread

[normalthings]

I tried using the transit app in other city. All buses look the same and there is no clear way to “know” where you are going like there is with rail. I found myself on the wrong bus more than once. When you see a bus coming down a street with multiple lines you don’t know if it’s the one you want or not. Easy to get confused unless you are a regular user

[flyingember]

Is there a reverse ignore option in here? Like block people from seeing my posts? Asking for me.

There's a private message system if you want to ask specific people. I didn't try but it appears you can add multiple people to one.

[flyingember]

I tried using the transit app in other city. All buses look the same and there is no clear way to “know” where you are going like there is with rail. I found myself on the wrong bus more than once. When you see a bus coming down a street with multiple lines you don’t know if it’s the one you want or not. Easy to get confused unless you are a regular user

You don't route plan ahead of time in a strange city so you know which bus goes where you're going to?

I have the Portland streetcar map saved to my phone for an upcoming trip so I know where the lines go exactly. I don't need their bus for the trip but if I did, I would screenshot the relevant parts and save it too.

Apps aren't the only resource to utilize to be successful.

[smh]

Is there a reverse ignore option in here? Like block people from seeing my posts? Asking for me.

following

[DaveKCMO]

You can click through each route and see the full route map and schedule. Their user experience is the opposite of Google Maps (which wants to you plan a trip first) but if you know where you're going and you're leaving from where you're standing I find it easiest to use.

The data is the same in Google Maps and Apple Maps, so pick your favorite interface.

Here's the official RideKC "how to" video for the Transit app: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1qwz2lm8lJs

We get a lot fewer complaints about Transit app than we got from the white label RideKC app. Trust me, I fielded them all for two full years. We had thousands of Transit app users before we even made the official switch, but our last survey indicated people preferred Google Maps (but that was conducted just six months after the switch).

You can also contact Transit directly in the app if you're having problems (Settings gear icon > Transit icon > Help). They're very responsive.

We color code our routes here -- streetcar is/was light blue (for some reason it's showing RideKC blue for me right now -- will fix! -- but unique icon), local buses are "RideKC" blue, MAX is red, JoCo express routes are a peachy color, micro transit and flex (once they're integrated later this year) will be orange.

I can't help you with how other cities manage their data in Transit app. But, again, if Transit app is showing their routes they're probably available in Google Maps, too. Most US agencies publish their data on the internet in this format. IMO Google is way worse in this way as there is even less distinction between routes or what direction they're headed.

Complete side note that probably doesn't change your opinion, but it's taken five years to get all five RideKC providers -- streetcar, KCATA, Johnson County, Unified Government, and Independence -- all showing their routes and real-time arrival estimates in the same place. It's shockingly complicated, and most agencies don't have someone on their team with decades of app integration experience leading the charge.

[KCPowercat]

Yeah the "where to" is where it's failing and not showing the best / soonest bus, even right next to the station. I hit refresh a couple times and sometimes it fixes itself but not always. Nothing will be perfect just making sure I'm not missing a step. I know the routes well enough should probably just use the list of buses and pick where they are.

I agree it's better than the other apps although I sometimes just default to the itsabus.us interface as it's so clean if I know what bus I want.

Thx Dave.

[normalthings]

With the additional $500 million per year MODOT is getting, they have released a new priorities survey. Asks about congestion fixing (highway expansion), bridges, signage, snow removal, light rail, and bike lanes.

https://www.survio.com/survey/d/july?modotsurvey=1CNG

[flyingember]

With the additional $500 million per year MODOT is getting, they have released a new priorities survey. Asks about congestion fixing (highway expansion), bridges, signage, snow removal, light rail, and bike lanes.

https://www.survio.com/survey/d/july?modotsurvey=1CNG

They put money questions at the end. it's a survey to try and see if they have demand for more money and where to spend it.

Keep that in mind when answering.

[SilentSpades24]

Off topic a bit, but does it frustrate anyone else that ATA, KCK and even JoCo have put together a good skeleton for a route network over the past 10 years, but it never gets expanded upon far enough to truly become a useful asset?

[normalthings]

Off topic a bit, but does it frustrate anyone else that ATA, KCK and even JoCo have put together a good skeleton for a route network over the past 10 years, but it never gets expanded upon far enough to truly become a useful asset?

need more money

[DaveKCMO]

I hope you’ve told your elected officials that.

[SilentSpades24]

You can only write so many letters and emails .

[SilentSpades24]

Off topic a bit, but does it frustrate anyone else that ATA, KCK and even JoCo have put together a good skeleton for a route network over the past 10 years, but it never gets expanded upon far enough to truly become a useful asset?

need more money

Well aware of the money situation. Just more of a general gripe. I hear so much about how the system sucks, isn't designed well, etc, yet when it comes to getting money to improve it, no one does it.

Only on this tangent because I'm getting back into riding th3 bus to work, class, etc.

[flyingember]

Off topic a bit, but does it frustrate anyone else that ATA, KCK and even JoCo have put together a good skeleton for a route network over the past 10 years, but it never gets expanded upon far enough to truly become a useful asset?

need more money

Well aware of the money situation. Just more of a general gripe. I hear so much about how the system sucks, isn't designed well, etc, yet when it comes to getting money to improve it, no one does it.

Only on this tangent because I'm getting back into riding th3 bus to work, class, etc.

The major problem is people would want to fund the bus if it could serve them, but lack of density makes it hard to be able to afford service to more places.
At the same time the critical riding population live in a part of down with declining numbers and expansion of the system.

The goal right now has been improved service for a tiny part of the city. it's not wrong but it's not going to grow ridership.


The big hole in the system isn't transit reach, it's walkability and bike lanes and coordination of improvements so people want to use transit. Transit riders are people who can walk places and there's current bus stops where there's nowhere to stand except in a ditch and no sidewalk back to your house 300 feet away. Sidewalks with poles in the middle are luxuries compared to some of the challenges of growing transit ridership.

[FangKC]

Add to that lack of shaded bus shelters, or even seating, where seniors might have to wait in the blazing 100 degree (heat index) sun, or pouring rain, waiting an hour for the next bus. Those glass-topped shelters really don't offer protection in the hot summer sun either.

[flyingember]

Add to that lack of shaded bus shelters, or even seating, where seniors might have to wait in the blazing 100 degree (heat index) sun, or pouring rain, waiting an hour for the next bus. Those glass-topped shelters really don't offer protection in the hot summer sun either.

This is a real bus stop serving a low income community (east side of the street) where every student qualifies for free school lunch.

https://www.google.com/maps/@39.1730334 ... 384!8i8192

Look at the placement, the quality of the existing sidewalk (lack of ADA corners is three steps ahead, there's no curb or connection to it!) the lack of a marked crossing accessible by a sidewalk, the quality of the paved shoulder, the lack of place to stand in the sun, the 40mph speed limit, no sidewalks into the neighborhood

this street just gained extended service until midnight
viewtopic.php?p=623275#p623275

[FangKC]

Prior to 2004, when I lived downtown without a car, this was the closest bus stop to the Northland Target on Chouteau -- on NE Winn Road behind the Target. This was before they finally put a bus stop on Chouteau in front on the store.

https://www.google.com/maps/@39.1734286 ... 384!8i8192

One stood on a grassy embankment waiting for the bus back downtown. To get the Target, one had to walk down the road and through the hedge behind the store buildings, and walk all the way around to the front of the store. Fun times.

https://www.google.com/maps/@39.1736127 ... a=!3m1!1e3

I had spent 10 years taking transit every day in New York City, so I thought I could get by using it in KCMO. After a few terrible experiences being caught out in pounding heat, the rain, and sleeting ice storms--at uncovered stops, I gave in a bought a used car. I couldn't fight the city's hostile indifference to transit riders.

[DaveKCMO]

Thanks for pointing out Kansas City's lack of pedestrian infrastructure -- shade coverage, sidewalks, and ADA-compliant curb cuts. There is a major backlog on all of these city-funded items. Here's info on the DOJ settlement on ADA access: https://www.ada.gov/Kansas_city_pca/kan ... pca_sa.htm

Please note that the KCATA is not party to that settlement and is not responsible for ADA access in the public right-of-way unless investing in a significant corridor project like Prospect MAX or the upcoming 7th Street project in KCK. There are federally-funded projects funded for 2023-24 along several corridors on both sides of the state line, but they will only be a drop in the bucket compared to the regional need.

The walkable part of Kansas City is relatively small compared to other cities. That is a result of major land use failures spanning decades, where something as simple as a sidewalk was optional unless the developer decided to install one. A glaring example is the relatively new Grand Viaduct, intentionally constructed without a sidewalk or ADA access in the 90s (different staff and electeds than today, of course).

KCATA's current bus stop guidelines would place a shelter with as few as 50 boardings/alightings per weekday. Shelters must meet minimum ADA guidelines, so that's the reason why some high ridership stops don't have them (not enough ROW for a shelter plus a minimum ADA path). KCATA often invests its own money in the right-of-way on routes with significant ridership or that are part of the long-range regional transit plan (SmartMoves).

Of course, KCMO is not the only community where sidewalk and ADA access are a problem. The good news is that most municipalities have realized the error of their ways and are investing -- incrementally, of course -- in filling gaps and requiring sidewalks and ADA access for new developments.

[WoodDraw]

There's a good reason I'm not in charge of local transit, but I've always wanted to read more about the tradeoffs between prioritizing transit around urban areas with zoning reform to encourage density vs. trying to reach everyone in a sprawled mess because everyone deserves a way to work.

[flyingember]

There's a good reason I'm not in charge of local transit, but I've always wanted to read more about the tradeoffs between prioritizing transit around urban areas with zoning reform to encourage density vs. trying to reach everyone in a sprawled mess because everyone deserves a way to work.

Look at service to the downtown KCK transit center at 7th and Minnesota

There's service 37 miles to Gardner
There isn't service 5.4 miles into Riverside where

Why wouldn't someone want to work 15 minutes from home?