Generic ongoing KCATA thread

Transportation topics in KC
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AlkaliAxel
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Re: Generic ongoing KCATA thread

Post by AlkaliAxel »

FangKC wrote: Sun Apr 24, 2022 6:53 pm Not everyone in Kansas City drives a car. This man has been riding the bus for 45 years

https://www.kcur.org/arts-life/2022-04- ... r-45-years
Are you that man, Fang? :P
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Re: Generic ongoing KCATA thread

Post by alejandro46 »

FangKC wrote: Sun Apr 24, 2022 6:53 pm Not everyone in Kansas City drives a car. This man has been riding the bus for 45 years

https://www.kcur.org/arts-life/2022-04- ... r-45-years
As someone who has struggled with serious vision issues, I sympathize with this man and salute his tenacity to maintain a gainful employment and live a 'normal' life for over four decades. We need to shift to a 'transit-first' mindset in this county putting movement of people before movement of cars.
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Re: Generic ongoing KCATA thread

Post by earthling »

Before becoming a 'digital nomad' bouncing around many cities while working (less time in KC) I regularly had a monthly bus pass and used it to get to work daily. Even in KC (city core) I consider owning a car more of a luxury than a necessity, though granted using car often more convenient for large shopping. Within the RCP to Waldo corridor bike/bus combo is very doable, the challenge is the rest of the metro but there's less reason to go outside the urban corridor as city improves and there's always Uber or bike to fill in gaps. I'd typically drive to Ward Parkway Center (mainly Trader Joe's) out of convenience but often took bus if up for the adventure. If buses ran more often, there'd be less reason to take car.

KC transit has a long way to go metro wide but in the city core it's pretty doable once you figure out the system and learn how to disconnect from car dependency. It's easier for those accustomed to urban roaming with a backpack like digital nomads (aka 'hobos with a laptop'), sort of a lifestyle to live out of a backpack throughout the day. Obviously the streetcar extensions will improve things even further, along with a bike to reach the rest of corridor.
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Re: Generic ongoing KCATA thread

Post by SilentSpades24 »

earthling wrote: Mon Apr 25, 2022 1:37 pm Before becoming a 'digital nomad' bouncing around many cities while working (less time in KC) I regularly had a monthly bus pass and used it to get to work daily. Even in KC (city core) I consider owning a car more of a luxury than a necessity, though granted using car often more convenient for large shopping. Within the RCP to Waldo corridor bike/bus combo is very doable, the challenge is the rest of the metro but there's less reason to go outside the urban corridor as city improves and there's always Uber or bike to fill in gaps. I'd typically drive to Ward Parkway Center (mainly Trader Joe's) out of convenience but often took bus if up for the adventure. If buses ran more often, there'd be less reason to take car.

KC transit has a long way to go metro wide but in the city core it's pretty doable once you figure out the system and learn how to disconnect from car dependency. It's easier for those accustomed to urban roaming with a backpack like digital nomads (aka 'hobos with a laptop'), sort of a lifestyle to live out of a backpack throughout the day. Obviously the streetcar extensions will improve things even further, along with a bike to reach the rest of corridor.
I keep saying this. Transit in the KCMO core is great, it's even functional in NKC (especially once the 238 changes happen). Granted it could be better, but it functions rather well. I wish KCK and Independence could have functional urban core transit like KCMO and NKC.
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Re: Generic ongoing KCATA thread

Post by daGOAT »

I grew up using the metro to go to school, go to my first real job, visit friends, go shopping, I even used it to get to the and from the airport. Being car free in KC is totally possible just not as convenient as it could be.
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Re: Generic ongoing KCATA thread

Post by FlippantCitizen »

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cmKiBcyodXk

KC at number 5 on a top 10 list of cities taking the smallest hit to transit ridership from the pandemic.
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Re: Generic ongoing KCATA thread

Post by FangKC »

If more Kansas Citians rode the bus by choice, it could shift the whole city's mindset
Stephen Juza is about to buy a car.

For the last few years, he’s taken the 519 from downtown — where he lives — to the Garmin headquarters in Olathe, where he works. He gets on the bus near Crown Center and doesn't have to get back off until reaching 151st street. He basically lands at the doorstep of his office. So, it’s a long bus ride, but not an inconvenient one. And Juza prefers it to driving.

“I don't wanna make that drive. I would much rather just take the bus and kind of zone out,” he tells me. “But they're stopping that route after next week.”

The 519, Juza explains, will soon end at 135th Street.
...
https://www.kcur.org/arts-life/2022-05- ... ys-mindset
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Re: Generic ongoing KCATA thread

Post by earthling »

As mentioned a few times, one way to encourage streetcar riders to expand to the bus system is to have an announcement as streetcar enters Union Station that there's a free 'streetcar extender bus' to get to the Plaza and have a colored walking path to the bus stop in front of US. Something along the lines of making it a natural transition from streetcar to bus, with a little message of encouragement.
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Re: Generic ongoing KCATA thread

Post by FangKC »

RideKC prepares to deploy transit-oriented development powers throughout metro area
...
KCATA leaders started the ball rolling to expand its role beyond that of a "bus company" in February 2018, with its incorporation of the RideKC Development Corp. as a 501(c)(3) organization focused on facilitating transit-oriented development throughout the metro.

"This is an ecosystem. What we found is, we had lots of islands of development but very little (interconnection)," RideKC President Brien Starner said in a recent interview. "When you look at 10 miles of Prospect (Avenue), there is no agency in the city ... that will go, 'What does this look like in 10 years or 20 years or 30 years or 50 years?' We do, because we're out there every day."

Since RideKC's creation, its officials have advanced several individual projects on legacy KCATA-owned infill sites. But during the past year, the organization has honed a playbook for helping developers pursue proposals that meet specific policy goals in a more overarching capacity.
...
To be eligible for START incentives, a proposal must hit several criteria — among them, "reasonable" proximity to existing or planned transit; inclusion of a "material" transportation component that will enhance ridership or generate new transit revenue; and provision or improvement upon access to employment, health care, education and housing.
...
One of the first projects expected to make use of START is the roughly 20-story high-rise that Live and Ride Partners KC LLC looks to build at the KCATA's former transit center site at 10th and Main streets.
...
https://www.bizjournals.com/kansascity/ ... 2022-05-03
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Re: Generic ongoing KCATA thread

Post by SilentSpades24 »

I'd hope we could see these funds used in places where we normally don't get development, like east of 71 hwy or KCK's urban core.

That or along JoCo transit corridors.
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Re: Generic ongoing KCATA thread

Post by SilentSpades24 »

https://www.kansascity.com/news/local/a ... 02582.html

Great (by KC Star standards) about bus service in Kansas City and the various issues transit in our city faces.
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Re: Generic ongoing KCATA thread

Post by DaveKCMO »

SilentSpades24 wrote: Wed Jun 15, 2022 12:51 pm https://www.kansascity.com/news/local/a ... 02582.html

Great (by KC Star standards) about bus service in Kansas City and the various issues transit in our city faces.
I just posted this on my LinkedIn page:

"I like to think I can claim at least one thing that I know really well, and that's the public transit landscape in Kansas City: how it started, how it built the city and its suburbs you love, how it transitioned from the private to public sector, how it's only regional provider works inside and out, what it's like to be transit dependent here (one-car household since 2008), what it's like to build the stuff locally, and exactly what role ten of our hundred-or-so local governments play in funding and operating the fragmented system we call #RideKC today.

This is 100% a political problem and don't let anyone tell you the issues identified in this article are solely an "agency problem". Anyone can Google and quickly confirm that workforce shortages -- which are the root cause of current reliability issues -- are a nationwide crisis. We need to bury the toxicity that passes for local leadership these days and get serious about regional funding of a regional transit system to make our region economically competitive. The plans are already on paper.

Are you ready to join me in that quest?"

My friend Josh also posted this in response to the Mayor's comments: https://twitter.com/JoshBoehm/status/15 ... 4221884419

Image
SilentSpades24
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Re: Generic ongoing KCATA thread

Post by SilentSpades24 »

I agree wholeheartedly with that sentiment. While I think there's things ATA could certainly do better, nothing will improve until we can get everyone at the table and have some true and honest conversations about getting a regional funding mechanism (as well get everyone under a regional system, rather than the fragmented system we have now).

I truly want to see things get better, this metro and the people deserve a good transit system that works for them.
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Re: Generic ongoing KCATA thread

Post by normalthings »

CEO to be fired. Star touches on why but arguements over service during COVID, city redirecting kcata funds for street lights, and the new incentives vehicle are the three leading causes
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Re: Generic ongoing KCATA thread

Post by KCPowercat »

That story seems crazy. I don't like the city using funds for really non transit needs but there is obviously something going on management wise at ata so maybe this was just the push to get a good change?
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Re: Generic ongoing KCATA thread

Post by normalthings »

KCPowercat wrote: Thu Jun 30, 2022 8:13 am That story seems crazy. I don't like the city using funds for really non transit needs but there is obviously something going on management wise at ata so maybe this was just the push to get a good change?
Hard to hire more when real revenues are on the decline for over a decade. Other cities having similar issues but not sure how bad. Interestingly this probably wouldn’t happen if there was a regional transit tax
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Re: Generic ongoing KCATA thread

Post by DaveKCMO »

Article: https://www.kansascity.com/news/politic ... 35863.html
Even before this project, the city has rarely provided the KCATA with all the sales tax money it collects for mass transit. While the the proceeds of the 3/8-cent tax go directly to KCATA, the original half-cent tax imposed 50 years ago goes to the city, which then passes most but not all of those dollars to KCATA.
This diversion goes back several administrations. Same thing happens in St. Louis City, which also has a sales tax approved by the legislature that goes to the city first, then the city pays Bi-State for service. It's a moral failure to divert funds for non-transit uses and assert that the agency run more service than the city pays for. Lots of history here: https://transactionkc.com/2016/03/04/kc ... ers-again/

I feel for the 650 employees -- the vast majority of them KCMO residents -- who are at risk now because the city hasn't paid KCATA for months due to this dispute.
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Re: Generic ongoing KCATA thread

Post by SilentSpades24 »

So essentially KCMO tried to extort KCATA and make them pay for city infrastructure improvements and are mad that ATA went to the FTA and the state to try to stop it?

I mean, KCATA has it's problems but the city's direction and overall tone towards the KCATA has been absolutely nuts lately, I suppose this explains some of it.
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Re: Generic ongoing KCATA thread

Post by Cratedigger »

Will this impact the START incentives they've indicated they will grant to a couple projects and 10th & Main?
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normalthings
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Re: Generic ongoing KCATA thread

Post by normalthings »

freedog wrote: Thu Jun 30, 2022 10:28 am Will this impact the START incentives they've indicated they will grant to a couple projects and 10th & Main?
It is very possible.
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