It’s still dark when Neishia Kyle gets to the bus stop every morning. She doesn’t have to be at work until 7 a.m. But she lives in Independence, and the 24 bus that takes her into downtown Kansas City only comes once an hour. That means she’s up by 4:30 a.m. to ride the bus that comes at 5:19 a.m.
She rides the 24 for about an hour before she catches her second bus of the day, the Main Max. Sometimes, if the 24 is a few minutes delayed, Kyle misses her connection and has to wait another 20 minutes for the next bus. If there’s bad weather or another unforeseen issue, the 24 might not even come. On those days, Kyle pays about $20-$35 for an Uber.
“If you miss a bus, you have to literally wait a whole other hour,” Kyle said. “So that's putting me two hours behind, because it's an hour wait for the bus, and then there's an hour ride home. I pride myself on being at work on time. But if I can't, then that stresses me out, and it throws my whole day off.”
The Kansas City metro’s more than 2.3 million people are divided among two states, nine counties and many more municipalities. But there’s only one regional housing and labor market. When people can’t get from one place to another, it hurts the economy.
Experts say Kansas City’s transit system is in a death spiral. Without more regional cooperation and funding, it will only get worse and isolate people in both the city and suburban parts of the metro.
The Independence Transit Center used to house six different bus lines. But Independence ended its bus service at the beginning of the year. Now, only the 24 stops there.
Kyle moved to Independence six years ago for her daughter's education. She used buses to get around the suburb at first. But since the routes were reduced, she can’t take her kids shopping at the mall or out to lunch like they used to. Now, Kyle said she either has to take the bus into Kansas City to do her errands or “it’s just a bunch of Ubers” around Independence.
“When I first moved out here, it wasn't a trade-off, because we were still able to get around everywhere we wanted to go,” Kyle said. “We still had a bus service to do that, so I wasn't as confined to my house as I am now. But now it's kind of more confined, because we don't have the public transportation like we should have.”
Getting stuck in a ‘transit death spiral’
Kyle’s story isn’t unique. In the past few years, Independence, Blue Springs, Gladstone, Raytown, Grandview, Liberty, Parkville and Riverside have cut their transportation funding. That’s killed most of the suburban bus routes.
Kansas City’s suburbs are the fastest-growing part of the metro. But without reliable public transportation, those communities are getting more isolated from the city and each other.
Tracy Loh is a national transportation expert and fellow at the Brookings Institution. She said when people can’t use public transit across an entire metro area, they could lose their jobs, and poverty worsens. It also pushes those who can’t drive, because of age or mobility, to the margins of society.
“It's really disruptive to people's lives when you cut a bus line, because someone may have chosen where to live based on service they thought was going to be available,” Loh said. “In an ideal world, people wouldn't have to choose between living in a place that's familiar, where they have friends and family, and having access to opportunity.”
The cost of transportation has risen nationwide, and federal COVID relief money that helped pay has run out. As suburbs outside the city cut their funding to the Kansas City Area Transportation Authority, Kansas City has to cover more of the agency’s overhead costs. That means Kansas City’s paying more for less service.
Loh said that’s put the metro into what’s called the transit death spiral. Insufficient funding leads to service cuts that reduce ridership. That turns into revenue loss and even more service cuts. If nothing’s done, that could spell the end of bus service in Kansas City.
But she said there’s still hope.
“The key is for local leaders throughout the region to come together and create a solution,” Loh said. “And to do it because it has to be done. Because it's bad for the economy. Everybody loses if regional mobility and accessibility declines.”
Making transit better in the ‘streetcar suburb’
Overland Park is the largest suburb in the metro, but public transportation isn’t widely used. Only 0.4% of workers in Overland Park take transit to work, while more than 80% drive. Many of the existing bus lines have infrequent service times.
But the city council is working to make the buses faster and even add new lines.
In its comprehensive plan, Overland Park calls for an expansion of its transit network and making some high-demand lines, like along the Metcalf corridor, fast and frequent.
Drew Mitrisin is a city council member in Overland Park. He said the car-centric city is focusing on transit as an economic development tool.
“Initially, we were built as a streetcar suburb. So transit was part of our kind of foundation,” Mitrisin said. “People have a thirst for improved transit. I think if we do a good job of building out that system and providing better, faster service, there will be plenty of users.”
Johnson County is also studying how to improve its transportation system. Its transit strategic plan emphasized better fixed-route bus lines with more frequent stops. The county is considering fast and frequent bus service along the Metcalf corridor — from Quivira Boulevard in Overland Park to Volker Boulevard in Kansas City, Missouri.
Mitrisin said if those changes are successful, the city can better serve its bus riders and convince skeptics that it’s worthwhile to use.
“If we can demonstrate to the residents of Overland Park and Johnson County that we can deliver fast and frequent transit service from College to downtown Overland Park along Metcalf, and ridership follows, I think that will allow us to unlock some new economic development along that corridor,” Mitrisin said.
The road ahead
Loh said a dedicated regional funding source for public transit is crucial to stop the transit death spiral. That would help ensure everyone has access to opportunity in the metro, attract workers and employers, and help the area reach its climate goals, she said.
“Frequent, high-quality transit is like a literal engine of inclusive opportunity,” Loh said. “It's good for workers and it's good for the economy. It's very rare to find things that work that way.”
Kansas City, Missouri, is the only city in the metro that already has a dedicated source of funding for public transit. Most of the suburbs pay for transit out of their general revenue, which is more unstable and doesn’t provide as much money.
The MidAmerica Regional Council’s Connected KC 2050 plan calls for more regional funding. It’s identified increased state revenue, a regional sales tax, road user charges, motor fuel tax and internet tax as possible ways to accomplish that.
Getting more money from Missouri will be difficult. Gov. Mike Kehoe reduced the state’s funding for transit operations by 42% from the 2026 fiscal year’s budget. That means about $1 million less for the KCATA. Missouri pays about $1 per capita on transit, while Kansas spends more than $4.
The council is also updating its Smart Moves plan. The plan, first published in 2017, aims to expand mobility options and add more fast and frequent transit services on key corridors. The updated version, expected as early as December, will include cost estimates and benefits of the transit proposals.
Ron Achelpohl is the director of transportation and environment for MARC. He said the metro barely has enough revenues to keep current levels of bus service. He said funding transit is central to achieving economic growth and better public health and safety outcomes.
“I think for the first time in my career, there are multiple local elected officials that are interested in and concerned about transit,” Achelpohl said. “I think there's an opportunity we've got now that we haven't really had before.”
But many public officials still see a lack of transparency from the KCATA. Kansas City elected leaders frequently allege that the KCATA’s service issues stem from financial mismanagement and that the agency does not provide accurate information on service costs. Many suburban leaders said they were shocked by the rise in costs for buses.
Frank White III, CEO of the KCATA, said the agency has worked to be transparent since he took over three years ago. He said fluctuations in costs represent different adjustments in service.
White said the KCATA is trying to repair relationships and ease tensions with local leaders, and hopes that they will also approach the agency with “good faith on both sides.”
There are signs it’s working — Raytown signed a contract with the transportation authority for a new route in the fall.
MARC has been getting local leaders together to discuss how to improve and fund public transportation. KCATA is planning a summit in August to get input about what transit access people want to see around the metro and how to get there.
White acknowledged that the current state of suburban transit is disjointed. He said he hopes this summit will be the start of changing that.
“I know it's a heavy lift, I know it's not going to happen overnight,” White said. “But you have to start somewhere. If we're going to be a world-class city, we got to have world-class transit. So it's a start.”
“Whatever we do for any of these municipalities, it's where people want to go, and not just traditionally,” he added. “We think that makes the most sense. No, it's really got to be designed for that community for it to be relevant. So that's where we are.”
Kyle, the Independence bus rider, wants that to happen soon so she can have access to multiple fast and frequent buses, not just one line. Until then, she’ll keep relying on one bus — and begrudgingly using rideshares to fill in the gaps.
“Make it more accessible for people like me that don't drive, or people that can't drive, or people that this is the only means for them to be able to even get out and enjoy Independence without having a hassle behind it,” Kyle said.
