KC buses need your help
April 18, 2009
We need your help! We know you value our bus service in Kansas City. Please consider helping the Kansas City Area Transportation Authority (KCATA), which has submitted to the Missouri legislature a formal request for a one-time appropriation of $14 million in order to avoid critical bus service reductions.
This important request at this point has not been included in the proposed budget, while the St. Louis METRO’s request has been included. However, there are still opportunities for the legislature to include Kansas City’s one-time funding request. We need the Missouri House and Senate to hear from us about this important issue. St. Louis has been very vocal, and it’s time that Kansas City residents also show our support for transit in Kansas City.
Please use the sample message below, and the background information to call or e-mail key elected officials asking them to support transit and the KCATA’s one-time funding request. Please personalize the message as much as possible.
Sample Message to Key Elected Officials
Dear [title/name],
Please support the Kansas City Area Transportation Authority’s one-time funding request of $14 million, so that we can avoid critical bus service reductions in Kansas City. This request would allow the KCATA to put off cuts until 2011, giving them time to find a long-term solution. Our community values public transit. Our citizens have voted twice in five years to pay for transit. And our elected officials are studying the feasibility of bringing even more transit options to regional citizens.
Our bus system is the only way for many residents to reach jobs, school and medical care. These cuts will hurt working families, low-wage workers, and elderly and disabled residents the most. It is both ironic and tragic that at a time when public transit ridership has been soaring, and at a time when working families are seeking cost-effective alternatives to automobile ownership, the state’s two largest metropolitan areas are facing a financial crisis resulting in less public transit access to those who need it the most.
This appropriations request is critical to avoiding devastating service reductions and to keep the positive momentum established the past few years. We are not seeking a hand-out, but rather an investment in mobility options as we plan for our regional transportation future.
Please support the KCATA’s one-time funding request of $14 million so we can maintain bus service for those who need it most!
Sincerely,
[Name]
[Address]
Please send your message to the following key contacts. You can copy and paste each e-mail address:
Honorable Allen Icet
Missouri House Budget Chairman
Allen.Icet@house.mo.gov
573-751-1247
Honorable Ron Richard
Speaker, Missouri House of Representatives
Ronald.Richard@house.mo.gov
573-751-2173
Honorable Bryan Pratt
Speaker Pro Tem, Missouri House of Representatives
Bryan.Pratt@house.mo.gov
573-751-8636
Honorable Paul LeVota
Minority Floor Leader
Paul.Levota@house.mo.gov
573-751-9759
Shalonn Curls
State Representative, Member of the House Budget Committee
Shalonn.Curls@house.mo.gov
573-751-3158
Leonard Hughes IV
State Representative, Member of the House Budget Committee
leonard.hughes@house.mo.gov
573-751-1501
Jason Kander
State Representative, Member of the House Budget Committee
Jason.Kander@house.mo.gov
573-751-2437
Ryan Silvey
State Representative, Member of the House Budget Committee
Ryan.Silvey@house.mo.gov
573-751-5282
Senator Charlie Shields
President Pro-Tem, Missouri Senate
charlie_shields@senate.mo.gov
(573) 751-9476
Senator Gary Nodler
Senate Appropriations Chair
Gary_Nodler@senate.mo.gov
(573) 751-2306
Senator Yvonne Wilson
State Senator, Member of Appropriations Committee
Yvonne.Wilson@senate.mo.gov
(573) 751-9758
Honorable Jay Nixon
Governor, State of Missouri
http://governor.mo.gov/contact/
(573) 751-3222
It would be great to also send e-mails and letters to the House Budget and Senate Appropriations Committee members, if your schedule allows. Please make sure you copy your individual senators and representatives. You can find your representatives by visiting the e-mail address below and entering your zip code here.
House Budget Committee members
Senate Appropriation Committee members
Background
- Like transit systems across the country, the Kansas City Area Transportation Authority (KCATA) is facing a $9.3 million shortfall beginning May 1, 2009, as a result of lowered sales tax allocations from Kansas City. KCATA estimates that this shortfall could be as much as $10 million beginning in May 2010.
- KCATA held four public meetings to describe how approximately 10% of the already limited public transit services available to Kansas City residents will be reduced. Much like St. Louis, these cuts will hurt working families, low-wage workers, and elderly and disabled residents the most. Over 60% of trips are for work purposes. Cuts in transportation will further exacerbate a weak employment picture and adversely affect employees and employers.
- St. Louis METRO requested a one-time appropriation of $35 million from the Missouri legislature. METRO has stated that the funding would be used to restore service cuts already made, and bide time until a local election could be held again in 2010. (A local referendum was defeated in 2008).
- KCATA has also submitted a formal request for a one-time appropriation to KCATA of $14 million in order to avoid critical bus service reductions.
- As a result of drastically weakening local sales taxes, KCATA is planning service reductions of approximately 10% of our service effective June 28, 2009. While KCATA's service cuts are not yet as severe as those faced at METRO, they are very real and very significant for those most directly impacted. These reductions will hurt working families, low wage earners and elderly and disabled citizens the hardest.
- If the one-time appropriation is granted, it will stave off service reductions until at least 2011 and provide value time to seek longer term financial solutions for this critical service. It will provide some time for the economy to recover and sales tax collections to return back to a manageable level.
- Public transit is important to the Kansas City region. We saw our highest ridership in almost 20 years in 2008. Our citizens have voted twice in five years to pay for transit. And our elected officials are studying the feasibility of bringing even more transit options to regional citizens.
