RTA Position on Light Rail in Kansas City, Mo.
April 2007
Kansas Citians want light rail, and the RTA supports light rail as part of an improved regional transit system.
The Clay Chastain initiative approved by the voters simply will not work. We must overhaul it. Otherwise, Kansas City will likely find itself with no light rail and no viable bus system.
We must fund both a light rail starter line and our bus system at the same time.
Any substantial light rail plan depends upon federal funding. The Federal Transit Administration will not fund light rail for any city that does not maintain its bus system. The present Chastain funding plan takes away 40% of all bus funding on April 1, 2009. We cannot allow this to happen.
The first phase of light rail should run from the Plaza to the Northland. At present, distance and lack of density appear to preclude a KCI connection. Someday, we hope. An initial line of 8-11 miles is most feasible. As other cities have shown, successful starter lines will spur additional lines and funding.
The Kansas City Area Transportation Authority is moving forward on light rail by undertaking the federally mandated planning process. Without this process, which can take up to two and a half years, there is no possibility of federally funded light rail in Kansas City.
There needs to be a vigorous debate on light rail in Kansas City, one that does not wait on the outcome of the federally-mandated planning process, but rather informs it. Kansas City needs to adopt a revised, feasible public transit plan that integrates both light rail and buses by August, 2008 at the very latest. The sooner we have this debate and reach consensus, the better. Time is of the essence.