© 2025 Kansas City Public Radio
NPR in Kansas City
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

Can Kansas City's transportation death spiral be fixed?

In recent years, most Kansas City suburbs have cut transportation funding, which means fewer and slower buses. Local officials are racing to fix that. Plus: High school graduation rates in Kansas are higher than ever. But some people worry that the growth of credit recovery programs could be lowering standards for students.

Many suburbs in the Kansas City metro have fewer and slower buses because of cuts to transportation funding. Regional cooperation for transit programs also has been lacking. KCUR's Savannah Hawley-Bates reports on how Kansas City’s transit system is in a death spiral, and what can be done to fix it.

In Kansas, some educators and community members worry that the growth of credit recovery in high schools may be boosting graduation rates without ensuring that students actually learn the material and meet state standards. The Kansas News Service's Suzanne Perez reports.

Contact the show at news@kcur.org. Follow KCUR on Instagram and Facebook for the latest news.

Kansas City Today is hosted by Nomin Ujiyediin. It is produced by Carter Galloway and KCUR Studios, and edited by Madeline Fox, Emily Younker and Gabe Rosenberg.

You can support Kansas City Today by becoming a KCUR member: kcur.org/donate.

As a newscaster and a host of a daily news podcast, I want to deliver the most important and interesting news of the day in an engaging and easily understandable way. No matter where you live in the metro or what you’re interested in, I want you to learn something from each newscast or podcast – and maybe even give you something to talk about at the dinner table.
Carter Galloway is the summer 2025 intern for KCUR Studios. Email him at cgalloway@kcur.org
No matter what happens in Washington D.C., Kansas City needs KCUR. And KCUR needs you.

Our ability to report local news — accurate, independent and paywall-free — depends on you. Donate now to support fact-based news.