Courtesy KCATA.
For whatever reasons, bus ridership is down in Kansas City this year.
The Kansas City Area Transportation Authority had 4.4 percent fewer riders through June, officials reported Monday to the mayor and city manager.
Joe Reardon, CEO of the KCATA, said he believed downtown construction related to the streetcar line is one major reason.
But cheap gas also is a factor, he said, and bus ridership nationwide is down 2.5 percent this year.
He thinks ridership will go way up when the streetcars start running and people riding them want to connect with buses.
The KCATA is also taking other steps, like coordinating bus operations and planning with Johnson County and Independence bus systems.
They are also rebranding the buses to unify area transportation, working on linked fares and expect to have wifi on all the buses next year.
A planned Prospect MAX route is also moving toward federal approval and would increase ridership, he said.
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