Kansas City Area Transportation Authority

About 75% of Kansas City bus stops don't have anywhere to sit while you wait, and the Kansas City Area Transportation Authority keeps removing benches despite complaints from riders. Sunrise Movement KC is taking things into their own hands, but their makeshift seats may be removed as quickly as they're assembled.

"Free buses" is one of the big ideas that helped Zohran Mamdani win the Democratic mayoral primary in New York City. But in Kansas City, the bus system is going the opposite direction after years of free fares — mostly because of a lack of transit funding.

The Kansas City transit agency has installed narrow "leaning benches" at busy bus stops downtown and touted them as an accessible amenity. But riders and experts disagree and say they’re made to make people uncomfortable.

Kansas City's options for dazzling, and free, fireworks shows on July 4 include the Stars and Stripes Picnic at the National World War I Museum and Memorial. But you'll find even more festivities throughout the metro, and across the whole holiday weekend.

The Kansas City Royals need to get moving if the team wants a new stadium by 2031. Decision makers in Jackson County, Clay County and North Kansas City do not want to repeat the mistake of working out details after it’s been placed on a ballot.

The group planning Kansas City’s matches hopes to build a regional transit network that gets residents and hundreds of thousands of visitors across the metro quickly and easily. They’ll need more money and regional cooperation to do so.

The ordinance passed by Kansas City Council this week, meant to prevent drastic service cuts and increase oversight, would bring back fares and could end the city’s rideshare service. But KCATA said service reductions are still necessary.

The Kansas City Area Transportation Authority plans to cut nearly half its bus routes, drastically reduce weekend service, and lay off 171 workers, according to documents obtained by KCUR. What will this mean for the Kansas Citians who rely on public transit to get around?

Monday marked the third protest in just one week from Kansas City-area climate activists, who demand that Jackson County step up to fund the KCATA. One protester was detained and more than 50 activists were removed from the legislature's chambers.

The Kansas-Missouri border splits Kansas City, and divides the metro region more evenly, and sometimes problematically, than any American metro region cut in two by a state line. It affects how public transit and emergency services work — and puts the metro in the middle of a tug-of-war for business.

A patchwork of counties and cities huddled around the confluence of the Kansas and Missouri rivers makes it harder to develop affordable, efficient public transit in the Kansas City region. Transit funding decisions get handled within each jurisdiction, with little or no coordination between them, and the KCATA has no power to levy taxes.

The Kansas-Missouri border splits Kansas City, and divides the metro region more evenly, and sometimes problematically, than any American metro region cut in two by a state line.