Wyandotte County is taking a big step toward starting a high-tech, express bus service between downtown Kansas City and the Village West entertainment complex.
The county has about $12 million in federal stimulus money to put toward a State Avenue line that would be 30 percent faster than existing bus service.
The goal is to take riders from downtown to Village West in 42 minutes. Now it takes 58 minutes.
The new bus rapid transit line on State Avenue would be comparable to the MAX service that runs on Main Street on the Missouri side.
And like the MAX, the Wyandotte County service would have sleek bus shelters with iconic markers and real-time message boards. Buses also would be able to hold traffic signals green to help ensure timely service.
“We’re going a long way,” said Dick Jarrold, the chief engineer for the Kansas City Area Transportation Authority, which is helping to plan the new service.
The money gets Wyandotte County halfway to what it needs to build the rapid bus line. It would go from 10th and Main streets in Kansas City through downtown Kansas City, Kan., and to Village West.
The construction should run $25 million, but $3 million more will be needed each year to operate the system. Construction on some components, such as enhanced bus shelters and new transit centers, will probably start next year.
State Avenue fits into a regional vision of high-end bus service that could one day serve Metcalf Avenue and Shawnee Mission Parkway in Johnson County plus North Oak Trafficway and the U.S. 24/Truman Road corridor in Missouri.
The State Avenue line would run through areas where buses are vital for getting around.
In some places near downtown Kansas City, Kan., about 1 in 5 households are below the poverty level and don’t have cars.
“The key here is getting people to jobs,” Jarrold said. “It’s about connecting people in the eastern part of the corridor to jobs in the western part of the corridor.”
Wyandotte County is still confronted with significant funding challenges, including finding money for finishing construction, plus the money to operate buses 10 minutes apart at certain times of the day. Service on State Avenue now runs every 30 minutes.
Unified Government Mayor Joe Reardon said the bus line won’t be built overnight.
“I am not here to tell you that next year we’re going to have a brand new source of revenue that is going to allow us to solve all the transit problems,” Reardon said in a recent interview.
“But I do believe that we can thoughtfully start to move this as a priority, which is what I’ll advocate for during our budget session.”
Reardon said that regional funding for transit would make the most sense in the long run.
Public transit, he said, “is something that truly ought to tie us all together and it is something that we truly ought to find a way to regionally fund.”
To reach Brad Cooper call 816-234-7724 or send e-mail to bcooper@kcstar.com
Read more: http://www.kansascity.com/2010/04/20/1891802/wyandotte-county-putting-stimulus.html#ixzz0lm521Co9
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