KC Light Rail

BlogKC posted a recap this week about some obvious problems with the way the city of Independence ranks transit in relation to other "city services". Instead of carving a measly $100,000 (about 10% of the total transit cost for the city) from some other non-critical program (such as a municipal election, as one resident suggests) or by increasing fares, Indepedence chose to simply cut service on two of the six routes operated by the KCATA.

We propose this item be considered as part of a larger topic: regional transit funding. Until voters in adjacent cities or counties individually agree to dedicated transit funding, there is obviously no leadership from elected officials on finding money to keep services running effectively. It's not just Independence and KCK; we posted previously that The JO's recent 5-year strategic plan noted that the key to improving ridership and service was a dedicated funding mechanism, which does not exist and has not been proposed.

And then — again — we have the highway lobby pushing mega-highway projects on the Kansas side that will continue contributing to southern and western sprawl.