KC Light Rail

Kansas City Mayor Mark Funkhouser is holding a press conference at 4 p.m. today at Raytown City Hall to announce a May 30 meeting of regional Missouri leaders to discuss light rail. According to Prime Buzz, "he’ll address specifics regarding governance, financing and service. The results of a poll that’s being conducted to assess voter support will also be available." It will not be carried on Channel 2, so unfortunately we'll all have to rely on traditional media outlets for coverage.

The "We'll pick you up!" people just launched their WeCar car sharing service at nine locations in downtown St. Louis. It's a nice public-private partnership that serves transit users well. You can even get a Prius. Once these services start spreading further, private car ownership will seem even more silly and wasteful. Light rail isn't even a prerequisite, as Albuquerque, Columbus, Gainesville, and Milwaukee have proven (check this nationwide list). National car-sharing competitors FlexCar and ZipCar merged last year.

Take heed, Downtown Council! Maybe WeCar parent Enterprise Rent-A-Car will forgive us for tarring and feathering them during the downtown arena vote — which boosted rental car taxes — and consider KC for it's next WeCar location.

Lee's Summit, Roeland Park, downtown and midtown KCMO are all hosting One KC Transit meetings this week. These are the last sessions to be held. Here's the rundown:

7 p.m., Monday, Oct. 15
Lee's Summit City Hall
220 S.E. Green Street [map]

6 p.m., Tuesday, Oct. 16
KCMO Central Library
14 W. 10th Street [map]

6 p.m., Wednesday, Oct. 17
Roeland Park City Hall
4600 W. 51st Street [map]

11:30 a.m., Thursday, Oct. 18
MainCor
3215 Main Street, Suite 200 [map]

The Missouri Department of Transportation will help St. Louis weather the I-64/US-40 rebuild by paying Metro $1 per additional rider during the two-year construction period (capped at $3 million). Why is this important for people in Kansas City? First, it's a complete 180 for MoDOT and their approach to transportation spending (Before you go there, the Amtrak subsidy is mandated by the Legislature). Second, it's a sign that there may be hope for Northland commuters once the Paseo Bridge project begins (95,000 vehicles/day). Currently, MoDOT pays 1% of KCATA's insanely-lean budget. It may also point to another potential funding source for light rail.

St. Louis' Metro and MoDOT have entered the final planning stages for a new north/south expansion corridor study, which may end up being a light rail line running in or along city streets. The existing light rail line runs east and west in abandoned railroad right-of-way, with a new spur to Clayton and I-44 that opened up late last year. Kansas City's HNTB is the project manager for the study. Funding is "made possible from the sale of Transportation Development Tax Credits from the State of Missouri" which "can only be applied to transportation improvements in areas defined as Distressed Communities under Missouri law."