KC Streetcar
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The KC Streetcar is a
streetcar A tram (called a streetcar or trolley in North America) is a rail vehicle that travels on tramway tracks on public urban streets; some include segments on segregated right-of-way. The tramlines or networks operated as public transport a ...
system in
Downtown Kansas City Downtown Kansas City is the central business district (CBD) of Kansas City, Missouri and the Kansas City metropolitan area. It is between the Missouri River in the north, to 31st Street in the south; and from the Kansas–Missouri state line east ...
,
Missouri Missouri is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking 21st in land area, it is bordered by eight states (tied for the most with Tennessee): Iowa to the north, Illinois, Kentucky and Tennessee to the east, Arkansas t ...
. Construction began in May 2014. The system opened for service on May 6, 2016. The KC Streetcar is free to ride, as it is funded by a transportation development district. , the streetcar has had 9.4 million riders since opening in 2016. Extensions north to the waterfront and south to
University of Missouri-Kansas City A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, ...
have been funded, with the southern extension under construction.


Route

The downtown streetcar runs along a route between the River Market and Union Station, running through the
central business district A central business district (CBD) is the commercial and business centre of a city. It contains commercial space and offices, and in larger cities will often be described as a financial district. Geographically, it often coincides with the "city ...
and the
Crossroads Crossroads, crossroad, cross road or similar may refer to: * Crossroads (junction), where four roads meet Film and television Films * ''Crossroads'' (1928 film), a 1928 Japanese film by Teinosuke Kinugasa * ''Cross Roads'' (film), a 1930 Brit ...
, mostly along Main Street. It makes stops about every two blocks. and has 10 designated stops along the route. It connects directly with
Amtrak The National Railroad Passenger Corporation, doing business as Amtrak () , is the national passenger railroad company of the United States. It operates inter-city rail service in 46 of the 48 contiguous U.S. States and nine cities in Canada. ...
, local and commuter RideKC bus services (including a direct route to
Kansas City International Airport Kansas City International Airport (originally Mid-Continent International Airport) is a public airport in Kansas City, Missouri located northwest of Downtown Kansas City in Platte County, Missouri., effective December 30, 2021. The airport ...
) and several RideKC bike-share kiosks. Proponents tout the initial segment as one of the simplest and straightest modern streetcar routes in the United States. All platforms offer level boarding and real-time arrival information.


History


Development

After earlier efforts to create a metro- or citywide rail transit system failed at the ballot box, voters in downtown Kansas City approved funding for a two-mile streetcar line in December 2012. In December 2012, the
city council A municipal council is the legislative body of a municipality or local government area. Depending on the location and classification of the municipality it may be known as a city council, town council, town board, community council, rural coun ...
awarded a contract to HDR, Inc. to complete a final design for the downtown streetcar line. HDR had previously performed preliminary engineering work. In October 2013, the mayor announced that the system will use 100% low-floor Urbos 3 streetcars made by the American subsidiary of
Construcciones y Auxiliar de Ferrocarriles Construcciones y Auxiliar de Ferrocarriles (Grupo CAF, literally "Construction and Other Railway Services") is a Spanish publicly listed company which manufactures railway vehicles and equipment and buses through its Solaris Bus & Coach subsidi ...
(CAF) in Elmira Heights, New York. Pre-construction work, utility-relocation work in preparation for the project, began in late 2013, and construction of the line began in May 2014. Construction was completed in late 2015 and testing was performed from December 2015 to May 2016. The projected cost of the Downtown streetcar was $102 million. The majority of funds came from Special Obligation Bonds of the City of Kansas City, Missouri totaling $64 million. Construction bonds and operating costs were repaid by a special assessment and 1%
sales tax A sales tax is a tax paid to a governing body for the sales of certain goods and services. Usually laws allow the seller to collect funds for the tax from the consumer at the point of purchase. When a tax on goods or services is paid to a gove ...
collected inside a transportation development district (TDD) approved by voters in 2012. Both levies are assessed only within the taxing district, which encompasses downtown neighborhoods along the streetcar route. Additional funding included a utility contribution and two federal grants totaling $17.1 million. The project received another $20 million federal grant, through the
TIGER The tiger (''Panthera tigris'') is the largest living Felidae, cat species and a member of the genus ''Panthera''. It is most recognisable for its dark vertical stripes on orange fur with a white underside. An apex predator, it primarily pr ...
program, in August 2013. Passengers ride free of charge, as operating costs are covered by the TDD. Total construction costs were $250,000 under budget and operations costs started out under budget. The streetcars are numbered 801–806, following the numbering set up by the original
Kansas City Public Service Company The Kansas City Public Service Company was the most well known name for a series of public transit operators in Kansas City, Missouri, USA, until being sold to the Kansas City Area Transportation Authority in 1969. Streetcar operations in Kansas ...
numbering system. Car 801 arrived in Kansas City on November 2, 2015. Testing began on November 6. Cars 802 through 804 later arrived between December and April.


Opening

Operations on KC Streetcar began on May 6, 2016, at approximately 11am. The total opening Friday and Saturday ridership was over 27,000 riders, with the trains traveling 650 miles. The weekend celebration for the streetcars opening included music, a free carnival, fireworks and coordinated specials at businesses.
Bus service Public transport bus services are generally based on regular operation of transit buses along a route calling at agreed bus stops according to a published public transport timetable. History of buses Origins While there are indications ...
and bike share service was free to correspond with the launch. Following the opening of the line, local officials stated the line had exceeded their expectations, with over 100,000 riders in the first two weeks, and a million riders after 5 months.


Ridership

The line was originally projected to have a daily average ridership of just 2,700. Average yearly ridership levels have been around double this figure. The streetcar is free to ride, and is funded by the local Transportation development district. Ridership is calculated by the use of automatic, anonymous passenger counters at each streetcar door - with manual checks to ensure accuracy. Following initial high ridership, two additional streetcars were ordered from CAF in June 2017 at a cost of $12 million. Car 805 arrived on May 13, 2019, and entered service on July 1, 2019. Car 806 arrived on August 26, 2019. The line celebrated 5 million riders in September 2018. On July 5, 2019, the streetcar had its busiest one day ridership, with 15,559 riders. The
COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identi ...
heavily impacted ridership, which dropped by two-thirds to just 2,148 daily riders in 2020. In 2021, ridership levels recovered, but to levels lower than before the pandemic. By May 2022, KC Streetcar reported that demand had recovered to 72% of pre-pandemic levels, with high demand in evenings and at weekends. The line celebrated 10 million riders in April 2022.


Expansion

Expansion planning began in 2014. Two studies covered one line north, crossing the Missouri River and eight lines heading east, west and south from downtown. A ballot proposition in August 2014 to add three new rail lines and an improved bus line failed 40%–60%. A grassroots effort to revisit expansion using the same legal structure as the starter line, is being funded by the private sector. Two extensions - one south to University of Missouri-Kansas City (UMKC) along Main Street, and one north to
Berkley Riverfront Park Richard L. Berkley (born Richard L. Berkowitz; June 29, 1931) is an American politician who served as the 50th mayor of Kansas City, Missouri from 1979 to 1991. Berkley received his undergraduate degree from Harvard University and a Master's deg ...
- were funded and are expected to open beginning in 2023. As with the original line, the extensions will be free to ride.


University of Missouri-Kansas City

In August 2017, voters approved the formation of a transportation development district (TDD) that would help to fund the extension of the streetcar south. The line will be extended for south from Union Station towards the University of Missouri-Kansas City (UMKC), along Main Street. In 2017 the extension was expected to cost around $227 million and open around 2023. In March 2019, the
Federal Transit Administration The Federal Transit Administration (FTA) is an agency within the United States Department of Transportation (DOT) that provides financial and technical assistance to local public transportation systems. The FTA is one of ten modal administratio ...
(FTA) rated the project a "medium high" in receiving $151.6 million in federal funding. In December 2020, the FTA announced it had awarded the KC Streetcar $174 million for the extension south to UMKC, with remaining funding for the extension coming from the expanded TDD. As part of the extension, 6 additional streetcars will be ordered from CAF, doubling the size of the fleet. , the extension to UMKC is scheduled to open in 2025. Groundbreaking occurred on April 6, 2022.


Berkley Riverfront Park

In August 2017, the KC Port Authority announced plans to extend the line north from the River Market toward the Missouri River. This proposed extension would run for 3/4 mile north to
Berkley Riverfront Park Richard L. Berkley (born Richard L. Berkowitz; June 29, 1931) is an American politician who served as the 50th mayor of Kansas City, Missouri from 1979 to 1991. Berkley received his undergraduate degree from Harvard University and a Master's deg ...
and a proposed Kansas City Current stadium. The extension would be funded by the KC Port Authority, as well as by federal
TIGER The tiger (''Panthera tigris'') is the largest living Felidae, cat species and a member of the genus ''Panthera''. It is most recognisable for its dark vertical stripes on orange fur with a white underside. An apex predator, it primarily pr ...
funding. One additional streetcar would be required for this additional service. In December 2020, $14.2 million was awarded by the FTA towards the extension, with additional funding required from local sources such as Port KC. In October 2021, the cost of the extension had risen by $5.5 million. Construction is expected to begin in 2023 with opening in 2025.


Future

In September 2021, the KC Streetcar Authority began studying the potential for a northern extension of the line over the Missouri River to North Kansas City. In October 2021, the KC Streetcar Authority and Kansas City Area Transportation Authority began planning a future east–west transit line along 39th Street towards
University of Kansas Medical Center The University of Kansas Medical Center, commonly referred to as KU Med or KUMC, is a medical campus for the University of Kansas. KU Med houses the university's schools of medicine, nursing, and health professions, with the primary health science ...
and
Kansas City, Kansas Kansas City, abbreviated as "KCK", is the third-largest city in the U.S. state of Kansas, and the county seat of Wyandotte County. It is an inner suburb of the older and more populous Kansas City, Missouri, after which it is named. As of ...
.


Operating authority

The streetcar is operated by the Kansas City Streetcar Authority, a
not-for-profit A nonprofit organization (NPO) or non-profit organisation, also known as a non-business entity, not-for-profit organization, or nonprofit institution, is a legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public or social benefit, in co ...
corporation A corporation is an organization—usually a group of people or a company—authorized by the state to act as a single entity (a legal entity recognized by private and public law "born out of statute"; a legal person in legal context) and ...
that is funded by local taxes. The authority was incorporated in August 2012 after voters approved creation of the Kansas City Downtown Transportation Development District, a special taxing district that funds construction and operation of a two-mile route through
downtown Kansas City Downtown Kansas City is the central business district (CBD) of Kansas City, Missouri and the Kansas City metropolitan area. It is between the Missouri River in the north, to 31st Street in the south; and from the Kansas–Missouri state line east ...
. Legal claims against the district and its taxation power were dismissed in August 2013. The streetcar began construction in May 2014, was completed in fall 2015, and began carrying passengers in service on May 6, 2016. The Streetcar Authority's 13 directors, a mix of public officials, business people, and transit advocates, were appointed by the City Council and Port Authority in late 2012 and met for the first time as an officially sanctioned body in early 2013. The authority's oversight of the streetcar's operation and maintenance is modeled on that of the Portland Streetcar. The city council has the power to appoint some of the authority's directors and retains ownership over the system. Day-to-day operations and maintenance of the system is handled by Herzog Transit Services, under joint contract to the Streetcar Authority and the City of Kansas City. The contract was signed in October 2015.


Economic development

Even prior to the opening of the line in 2016, new development was occurring along the route. Analysis by HDR, Inc. stated that the downtown area along the route received $1.8 billion of development between 2013 and 2018, with a quarter of the investment publicly credited to the creation of the streetcar. The streetcar has also been praised by political leaders and venue operators for making Kansas City more attractive for events, such as the
2021 Big 12 men's basketball tournament The 2021 Phillips 66 Big 12 men's basketball tournament was a postseason men's basketball tournament for the Big 12 Conference. It was played from March 10 to 13, in Kansas City, Missouri at the T-Mobile Center. The winner received the conferenc ...
and the
2023 NFL Draft The 2023 NFL Draft will be the 88th annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible players. The draft is scheduled to be held in the plaza outside of Union Station in Kansas City, Missouri, on April 27–29, ...
. In 2021, local businesses stated the extension of the line south to UMKC has also spurred development in the area, with of private investment. Some residents have been concerned that development along the route will lead to gentrification.


See also

* Light rail in the United States * List of streetcar systems in the United States (historical) *
Streetcars in Kansas City During the late 19th and early 20th centuries, Kansas City, Missouri, like most North American cities, operated streetcars in Kansas City as their primary public transit mode. Kansas City once had one of the most extensive streetcar systems in ...
(historical) * Streetcars in North America


References


Notes


External links

* {{Modern Streetcars 750 V DC railway electrification Electric railways in Missouri Public transportation in Kansas City, Missouri Streetcars in Missouri Transit agencies in Missouri Zero-fare transport services 2016 establishments in Missouri