public transit

Kansas City and the Kansas City Area Transportation Authority finalized a contract last week after months of fraught negotiations, avoiding a possible shutdown of bus service. But the contract brings back fares for most riders.

Kansas City and the Kansas City Area Transportation Authority finalized a contract today, after months of fraught negotiations. The city’s bus service will continue without any cuts, but fares will be reinstated.

Much of south Kansas City, Missouri, and its neighborhoods north of the Missouri River are transit deserts. City council members who represent those areas are focused on improving transit. But without more regional funding, it’ll be a struggle just to keep the few bus lines that already exist.

Bridgette Williams, who represents Wyandotte County on the KCATA Board of Commissioners, remains hopeful that a deal will be made soon with Kansas City, Missouri. The transit agency needs a contract soon to secure funding and prevent bus service cuts.

Kansas City and the Kansas City Area Transportation Authority haven’t been able to agree on a contract since May. Unless they agree on one soon, the city’s bus service could be at risk.

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.

IRIS workers say they were misled about pay and aren't being treated fairly by their employer zTrip. Drivers demanded the right to unionize last year.

Final preparations are underway for the KC Streetcar's Main Street extension grand opening on Oct. 24. And the riverfront extension is expected to launch in early 2026.

Most Kansas City suburbs have stopped their transit funding in recent years, ending many of the Kansas City Area Transportation Authority’s suburban bus routes. Experts say that’s put the area into a transit death spiral.

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 governor's office cited some unexpected budget items, and a recently passed bill eliminating Missouri's capital gains tax, as reasons for reducing spending. His largest veto was over $1 billion for a road construction program.

Hotel rooms, buses, and liquor laws are just a few of the problems that Kansas City will need to figure out in the next year, before the first World Cup games kick off at Arrowhead Stadium next June.