KC Streetcar

Route and stops

The downtown streetcar runs along a 2.2-mile-long (3.5 km) route between the River Market and Union Station, running through the central business district and the Crossroads, mostly along Main Street. It make stops about every two blocks. Along the way it connects directly with Amtrak, local and commuter bus services (including a direct route to Kansas City International Airport), and several B-cycle bike-share kiosks.

Proponents tout this initial linear segment as one of the simplest and straightest modern streetcar routes in the United States. All platforms offer level boarding and real-time arrival information.

Operating authority

The streetcar is operated by the Kansas City Streetcar Authority, a not-for-profit corporation. The authority was incorporated in August 2012 after voters approved creation of the Kansas City Downtown Transportation Development District, a special taxing district that will fund construction and operation of a two-mile streetcar route through downtown Kansas City. Legal claims against the district and its taxation power were dismissed in August 2013. The streetcar began construction in May 2014, was completed in fall 2015, and began carrying passengers in service on May 6, 2016.

The Streetcar Authority's 13 directors, a mix of public officials, business people, and transit advocates, were appointed in late 2012 and met for the first time as an officially sanctioned body in early 2013. The authority's oversight of the streetcar's operation and maintenance is modeled on that of the Portland Streetcar. The city council has the power to appoint some of the authority's directors and retains ownership over the system.

Day-to-day operations and maintenance of the system will be handled by Herzog Transit Services Inc., under joint contract to the Streetcar Authority and the City of Kansas City. The contract was signed in October 2015.

Planning and construction

After earlier efforts to create a metro- or city-wide rail transit system failed at the ballot box, voters in downtown Kansas City approved funding for a two-mile streetcar line in December 2012.

In December 2012, the city council awarded a contract to HDR, Inc. to complete a final design for the downtown streetcar line. HDR had previously performed preliminary engineering work. In October 2013, the mayor announced that the system will use 100% low-floor Urbos 3 streetcars made by the American subsidiary of Construcciones y Auxiliar de Ferrocarriles (CAF) in Elmira Heights, New York. Pre-construction work, utility-relocation work in preparation for the project, began in late 2013, and construction of the line began in May 2014. Construction was completed in late 2015 and testing was performed from December 2015 to May 2016.

The projected cost of the Downtown Streetcar is $102,000,000. The majority of funds will come from Special Obligation Bonds of the City of Kansas City, Missouri totaling $63,955,000. Construction bonds and operating costs will repaid by a special assessment and one-cent sales tax collected inside a transportation development district approved by voters in 2012. Both levies will be assessed only within the taxing district, which encompasses downtown neighborhoods along the streetcar route. Additional funding includes a utility contribution and two federal grants totaling $17.1 million. The project received another $20 million federal grant, through the TIGER program, in August 2013. Passengers will ride free of charge. Total construction costs were $250,000 under budget and operations costs are starting out under budget

The streetcars are numbered 801-804, following the numbering set up by the original Kansas City Public Service Company numbering system. Car 801 arrived in Kansas City on November 2, 2015. Testing began on November 6. Car 802 through 804 later arrived between December and April.

Expansion planning

Expansion planning began in 2014. Two studies covered one line north, crossing the Missouri River and eight lines heading east, west and south from downtown. A ballot item in August 2014 to add three new rail lines and an improved bus line failed at the ballot 40%–60%. A grassroots effort to revisit expansion using the same legal structure as the starter line, is being funded by the private sector. This new expansion would only extend the existing line south to the Country Club Plaza and the University of Missouri-Kansas City campus along Main Street.

Opening

Operations on KC Streetcar began on May 6, 2016 at approximately 11 AM. The total opening Friday and Saturday ridership was over 27,000 riders, with the trains traveling 650 miles. The weekend celebration for the streetcars opening included music, a free carnival, fireworks and coordinated specials at businesses. Bus service and bike share service was free to correspond with the launch.

As of August 6, 2016, the KC streetcar has a daily average ridership of 6,822.