Zero Fare Transit - coming to Kansas City MO

[dado potato]

The city council has mandated that the next city budget will reflect zero fares on all city bus routes within the city limits of Kansas City.

The city will forego between $8 million and $9 million in transit revenues. City Councilors expressed confidence that the city will be able to "find the money somewhere".

I understand that the single fare is $1.50, so for a worker riding the bus to and from the job, this will mean an immediate saving of $3 per day.

[iris lilies]

I think we have this, or at least had it at one time, in St. Louis.I remember reading about it. It is nice for tourists.

It is really great though because the taxpayers have endless coffers from which to reimburse Bi-state Transport for bus service. I mean, we are rollin’ in it.

And if you think you all arent paying for it, think again. Our bus service is subsidized by the feds.

[razz]

Will this mean fewer cars on the road, greater ease in finding employees, less road maintenance, speedier delivery of supplies to business, fewer police? Trying to find all the benefits to this decision.

[iris lilies]

Will this mean fewer cars on the road, greater ease in finding employees, less road maintenance, speedier delivery of supplies to business, fewer police? Trying to find all the benefits to this decision.
It will mean little to none of that. The number of riders going only within the city core is few.

But Like I said, it is nice for tourists here because they can visit downtown sites like the Arch, City Museum, the Old Courthouse using bus service for free.

I live close to downtown but would porbably have to walk 10 minutes to get to the free zone. By then, I might as well walk the remaining 20 minutes to work. I never took bus servcie to and from work because waiting for a bus and then transit time took longer than my 30 minute walk to and from.

edited to add:

sorry, I was weong, this KAnsas City initiative is bigger than our st louis downtown-free zone. So yeah, it is a bigger deal. And KC’s city limit is, i believe, quite a bit bigger than STL, so many people will benefit from it.

[Teacher Terry]

Really makes you wonder how they can afford the revenue loss. Why not offer a monthly pass that is cheaper than paying daily? That’s what we do.

[KayLR]

I am really curious to see how this works out.

I take the MAX into downtown PDX every once in a while and always buy an all day pass. I have NEVER had it checked ONCE. I'm sure there are many who use the system who never buy one in the first place. Why, when no one checks?

[razz]

Because if it is free, people will use it, especially if the goal is to get traffic out of the city and let deliveries come in a timely fashion. It will also be a major incentive for bring good manpower and attracting other investments. Other cities give huge tax incentives to businesses that benefit a limited number of people and the shareholders.

This effort will be watched by many cities trying to find a solution to downtown pollution, congestion, accidents ...

[Yppej]

I wonder what the impact on the road maintenance budget will be. Buses are heavier, but if they remove enough cars it could save some money to offset the lost fares.

[ToomuchStuff]

I understand that the single fare is $1.50, so for a worker riding the bus to and from the job, this will mean an immediate saving of $3 per day.
Nope. Monthly pass would be the cheaper method that is used.

1.Will this mean fewer cars on the road, greater ease in finding employees,2. less road maintenance,3. speedier delivery of supplies to business,4. fewer police? Trying to find all the benefits to this decision.
1. Maybe, in the downtown area.
2. We would certainly hope not. Why would a bus like a pothole more?
3. What? Our buses don't deliver like UPS/FEDEX, etc.
4. No, certainly not. I remember the police being against the free riding of the street cars downtown. Free in winter means the homeless step on, ride to the end, step off and back on, and are legal to be there.


Really makes you wonder how they can afford the revenue loss. Why not offer a monthly pass that is cheaper than paying daily? That’s what we do.KC has a monthly pass. The problem is while KC pretty much stayed on the routes the cable cars of old ran (one a block from my house), both the locations of the jobs, their requirements, and where people live, changed.
NPR did a story about this some time back. The revenue they are giving up was under 8% of their total revenue (and my memory is saying 1-3%).
However, maybe someone else can find the story link, but here is one of their stories:
https://www.kcur.org/post/kansas-city-council-unanimously-votes-get-rid-bus-fares

[Teacher Terry]

Years ago when my sister and I would meet up in KC we would ride the cable car to everywhere we wanted to go. A cheap way to get around.

[rosarugosa]

Speaking as a former public transit rider in Boston, I would have preferred better quality public transit to cheaper or free. Boston is a prosperous city in a prosperous state, yet we have the transit system of a third-world country. Rush hour traffic is so bad that people should want to take public transit, but it sucks badly enough that everyone would probably drive into the city if parking wasn't so expensive.

[Teacher Terry]

Rosa, I think it’s a matter of perspective because we find Boston public transport to be awesome.

[rosarugosa]

TT: I think it is a different experience if you are taking it every day at rush hour and you are consistently dealing with long delays, overcrowded trains and buses, lack of shelter at bus stops in the winter, etc.

[Yppej]

When I commuted into Boston I found the commuter rail good, the subway system so-so.

[Teacher Terry]

Rosa, that makes sense and we didn’t take it at rush hour.

[gimmethesimplelife]

I read about this online and I believe it's wonderful. We have a lot of lower income exclusively transit riders in the 85006 and free transit for the legitimately working poor? Might mean the right to actually eat healthier food once in awhile instead of survival junk at the dollar store mixed with loss leaders at Hispanic grocery stores. Since I'm doing better I believe I should be paying and subsidizing those less fortunate, much like the taxes of many here subsidized medical issues I had while I was on Medicaid. Rob