From MARC's e-newsletter http://www.marc.org/transmat/fullstory.htm#story2:
The U.S. 71 Transit Study project team hosted a first round of open houses last month in Grandview and Kansas City, Mo., to discuss transit service improvements along the U.S. 71 Highway/Bruce R. Watkins Drive corridor. This corridor runs between downtown Kansas City and Grandview in Jackson County, Mo. The study kicked off in June and is expected to be completed by the end of the year.
Existing transit service within the area has strong ridership, particularly on the Prospect Avenue route, which logs more than 5,500 passenger trips per week. However, transit service on U.S. 71 is limited to peak hours only, and the geographic extent of the service has been scaled back over time due to funding availability. Transit service within the northern part of the study area is more robust than in the rest of the region. But there is a need for expanded services throughout the corridor to provide more travel options and spur economic development in growing local communities.
The U.S. Transit Study goal is to identify a locally preferred alternative, which includes the type of transit the community wants in the corridor, the route it should follow, and favored financial strategies to support construction and operations. Identification of a locally preferred alternative is a required step if the region decides to seek federal money to build the project in the future.
The study team has narrowed the possible transit options to the following three, which will be studied in greater detail and in various combinations:
- Bus rapid transit on U.S. 71 and Prospect — enhanced bus service operating in mixed traffic or its own guideway, with the purpose of being time-competitive and offering similar amenities to a rail-transit vehicle
- Enhanced streetcar — electric- or hybrid-powered rail transit vehicle that can be operated in mixed traffic or its own guideway; connecting to future phases of the Kansas City Downtown Streetcar
- Diesel multiple unit — diesel-powered rail-transit vehicle that can operate in active rail-freight corridors
The study team and consultants are finalizing criteria that will be used to reduce possible alignments and transit modes to several for which costs and benefits will be evaluated in detail. The team is also developing technical documents on design, ridership calculations and cost estimates, and it will consider an array of financing options.
The U.S. 71 Transit Study is being integrated with other commuter corridor alternatives analyses inJackson County (Interstate 70 and Rock Island) and the downtown streetcar in Kansas City, Mo. Transit improvements in all of these corridors support the region's Smart Moves vision for expanded and enhanced transit service.
Study partners include Jackson County, Mo.; Kansas City, Mo.; the Kansas City Area Transportation Authority; and the Mid-America Regional Council. The U.S. Transit Study is funded largely by a $652,200 competitive grant from the Federal Highway Administration.
For more information, contact Tom Gerend.