KC Light Rail

You said it wouldn't happen. Surely, Jackson County & Friends would pick up the leftovers from the failed light rail vote and kick the regional conversation into high gear. Johnson County leaders won't play ball and "don't get it". Well, you were wrong. Today's Star notes that Johnson County will soon surpass what Kansas City is spending on transit. Yes, you read that right.

KCATA 2008 budget: ~$48 million
The JO budget in 5 years: $52 million

Planned improvements include bus rapid transit lines, expanded commuter routes, park-and-ride lots, and better links to regional transit services.

Of course, the cities in Johnson County — a completely urbanized patchwork of older first-ring suburbs and sprawling over-consumption — must match the investment with facilities to support transit. Most major thoroughfares lack contiguous sidewalks, an absolute prerequisite for bus riders. Good luck finding a bus shelter, too.

Our wish list for Johnson County — knowing the above prerequisite will not and probably cannot be met, ever — consists of expanded commuter services. The biggest successes in Johnson County use this model: notably the K-10 service and all downtown KCMO routes. While BRT would match well with a significantly reworked Metcalf Avenue, it's unlikely the current infrastructure would ever support any other local services beyond paratransit. Direct airport routes centered around the county's malls with spare parking capacity (Metcalf South, Town Center, Great Mall) would probably be runaway hit, too, since a good chunk of KCI's customers would never waste time taking an indirect route through downtown KC.