(Kansas City, Mo. – Sept. 26, 2012)
On Sunday, Sept. 30, the Kansas City Area Transportation Authority (KCATA)
rolls out significant changes to several Metro routes. The changes are part of
the Metro2012 package of changes. The first and second rounds of changes
occurred in April and July 2012. These changes are creating a more efficient
network of transit routes, while providing a public transportation system that
is easier for customers to use.
Several routes are being streamlined
to provide more direct service and reduce the need for customers to transfer.
Some of the biggest changes coming
this Sunday include:
- 142-North
Oak will add service to Zona Rosa via Congress Ave. The route will also run on
Sundays and later in the evenings. - 30-Northeast
will extend to the Northeast Industrial District to replace the 126-E. 5th
Street, which is being discontinued. This change adds weeknight and weekend
transit service to the area, as well as offer more frequent service to the
area. - The
Metro makes transit on 12th Street and Truman Road more intuitive
and easier to use. The 12th-Street route, which alternated trips on
Truman or 12th Street, will be split into two routes: the NEW
15-Truman Road will serve Truman Road and downtown. The 12-12th
Street will use 12th Street on all trips, and will extend to 31st
& Van Brunt for more transfer connections. - 47-Roanoke
and 51-Broadway will have new routes to better match the demand for service in
downtown, midtown, the Plaza and the East Side. Both routes are being renamed.
47 will become the 47-Broadway with service along Main, Broadway, 47th
St. and Blue Parkway. The route will add Sunday service. 51 will become the
51-Ward Parkway, serving Southwest Trafficway, KU Medical Center, West Plaza,
Ward Parkway and the Linden Hills area.
"These changes will provide
better service to the large majority of existing riders, attract new riders to
the system, and improve system productivity, without increasing our
budget," General Manager Mark Huffer said. “We are already seeing
increased ridership on the routes we improved in July.”
The 24 routes that were changed in
July have resulted in a 1.9% increase in ridership on these routes, comparing
June to August.
New schedules and detailed bulletins
are available online at www.kcata.org. Metro ambassadors have been on the
street for the last several days making sure customers are aware of the
upcoming changes.
The Metro’s Regional Call Center –
816-221-0660- will be open extra hours this weekend and next weekend from 8
a.m. to 5 p.m. to help customers plan their trips. The Call Center
regular hours are weekdays, 6 a.m. to 7 p.m.
Routes that are changing this Sunday include:
12-12th
Street
15-Truman
Road (New Route)
30-Northeast
47-Broadway
51-Ward
Parkway
55-Rockhill
(Discontinued)
71-Prospect
109-9th
Street
121-Cleveland-Antioch
123-23rd
Street
126-East
5th St. (Discontinued)
142-North
Oak
155-55th
Street
163-63rd
Street
247-Westside
MetroFlex (Discontinued)
298-South
Kansas City MetroFlex
About the Comprehensive Service
Analysis
The changes are the result of a
Comprehensive Service Analysis, or CSA, which examined all the bus routes in
Kansas City, Mo. Starting in the summer of 2010, the CSA included a market
analysis that assessed the demand for transit service throughout Kansas City,
Mo.; a detailed evaluation of the performance of all Kansas City, Mo., routes;
and the development and evaluation of alternative service scenarios.
"Cities are dynamic places that
are always changing, and this is the case in Kansas City," Huffer said.
"Throughout the city, population and employment have shifted. The places
that residents, workers and visitors travel to and from have changed, as well
as the number of people who travel between these areas. We need to make sure
our service keeps up with the changes in the City.”
The CSA started in 2010 and included
broad-based public input received through public forums; meetings with the City
Council and staff; customer surveys; and customer comments submitted through
email and phone line comments.
Based on more than 700 comments from
the public, many initial recommendations were modified. The final package is
truly reflective of the community’s preferences.
“We received excellent feedback from customers and stakeholders,”
Planning Director Danny O’Connor said. “Hundreds of people looked closely at
our proposed changes and told us how the new service would affect them.”
In addition to specific route changes, the overall way that KCATA
plans and provides service is being refined. Service is focused on a network of
key corridors, with improvements in reliability and directness. Duplicative
services are being consolidated and service is expanded to new areas where
needed. Schedules are being revised to be more consistent and easier for
customers to remember, and MetroFlex will incorporate scheduled connections.
Service is being expanded to the following areas: Hickman Mills, Ruskin
Heights, Westside, Airport, New Mark, and Zona Rosa.
A total of 54 routes will
be affected by the changes. Three routes were affected by minor changes in
April 2012. The rest of the changes, affecting additional routes in the
Northland, will be made in April 2013. Over the course of a year, changes are being made to most
Metro routes in Kansas City, Mo.