RTA Annual Meeting panel discussion about light rail in KC a success
May 17, 2007
The RTA Annual Membership Meeting took place on Wednesday, May 16, 2007 with just under 200 people in attendance. The panel discussion on “Building Light Rail in Kansas City, ” which was moderated by Steve Kraske of The Kansas City Star and KCUR’s “Up to Date” radio show, featured Ed Ford, Kansas City, Mo., City Council and former KCATA Commissioner; Jim Graebner, Consultant with the Lomarado Group in Denver; Mark Huffer, General Manager of the KCATA; Joni Roeseler with the Federal Transit Administration, Region VII office and Tom Shrout, Executive Director of Citizens for Modern Transit in St. Louis.
The evening’s discussion began by showing a video presentation that was produced by the RTA and narrated by former RTA Board member Wendall Anschutz. This video revealed a lot about what the general voter was thinking, or not thinking, about when they voted on the light rail plan that was before them at the polls in November 2006. We interviewed people from throughout Kansas City and found that while many voted for the plan, they were unfamiliar with its content, and impact on the current bus service. One common theme that appeared amongst the voters, whether they voted for or against the plan, is that they all believe that having light rail in Kansas City would be a benefit to the community.
After watching the video presentation, each of the panelists shared their thoughts about the options and the challenges that they see Kansas City needing to deal with in making light rail transit a reality. The cost and financing for the plan, the potential for starting something on the local level prior to seeking federal funds and the role that a citizen advocacy group like the RTA needs to play in this matter were some of the issues that were discussed amongst the panelists.
The people in attendance, comprised equally of RTA members and non-members, were also able to make comments and ask questions. This segment of the meeting was so engaging that people stayed well beyond the scheduled time. One attendee, a non- RTA member, heard about the meeting and decided to come to see what she could learn. In an email note to a Board member the next day, she wrote “Thanks for the conversation last evening, and the opportunity to hear an interesting panel discussion regarding the difficulty of bringing light rail/alternative transit into KC region. One probably learned more in that single hour about the complexities of such an effort than six/ten hours of reading would have yielded.”