KC Streetcar

A streetcar heading southbound on Main Street

After earlier efforts to create a metro- or citywide rail transit system failed at the ballot box, voters in downtown Kansas City approved funding for a two-mile streetcar line in December 2012.[14]

In December 2012, the city council awarded a contract to HDR, Inc. to complete a final design for the downtown streetcar line.[15] HDR had previously performed preliminary engineering work. In October 2013, the mayor announced that the system will use 100% low-floor Urbos 3 streetcars made by the American subsidiary of Construcciones y Auxiliar de Ferrocarriles (CAF) in Elmira Heights, New York.[16] Pre-construction work, utility-relocation work in preparation for the project, began in late 2013, and construction of the line began in May 2014.[8] Construction was completed in late 2015 and testing was performed from December 2015 to May 2016.[1][8]

The projected cost of the Downtown streetcar was $102 million.[17] The majority of funds came from Special Obligation Bonds of the City of Kansas City, Missouri totaling $64 million. Construction bonds and operating costs were repaid by a special assessment and 1% sales tax collected inside a transportation development district (TDD) approved by voters in 2012. Both levies are assessed only within the taxing district, which encompasses downtown neighborhoods along the streetcar route. Additional funding included a utility contribution and two federal grants totaling $17.1 million.[18] The project received another $20 million federal grant, through the TIGER program, in August 2013.[19] Passengers ride free of charge, as operating costs are covered by the TDD.[12] Total construction costs were $250,000 under budget[20] and operations costs started out under budget.[21]

The streetcars are numbered 801–806, following the numbering set up by the original Kansas City Public Service Company numbering system.[22] Car 801 arrived in Kansas City on November 2, 2015.[23] Testing began on November 6.[24] Cars 802 through 804 later arrived between December and April 2016.

Operations on KC Streetcar began on May 6, 2016, at approximately 11am. The total opening Friday and Saturday ridership was over 27,000 riders,[25] with the trains travelling 650 miles.[26] The weekend celebration for the streetcars opening included music, a free carnival, fireworks and coordinated specials at businesses. Bus service and bike share service was free to correspond with the launch. Following the opening of the line, local officials stated the line had exceeded their expectations, with over 100,000 riders in the first two weeks, and a million riders after 5 months.[27][28]

The KC Streetcar was decorated in June 2022 with an art wrap.

The line was originally projected to have a daily average ridership of just 2,700. Average yearly ridership levels have been around double this figure.[29][3] The streetcar is free to ride, and is funded by the local transportation development district. Ridership is calculated by the use of automatic, anonymous passenger counters at each streetcar door - with manual checks to ensure accuracy.[30]

Following initial high ridership, two additional streetcars were ordered from CAF in June 2017 at a cost of $12 million.[31] Car 805 arrived on May 13, 2019,[32] and entered service on July 1, 2019.[33] Car 806 arrived on August 26, 2019.[34][35] The line celebrated 5 million riders in September 2018.[36] On July 5, 2019, the streetcar had its busiest one day ridership, with 15,559 riders.[30]

The COVID-19 pandemic heavily impacted ridership, which dropped by two-thirds to just 2,148 daily riders in 2020.[37][38] In 2021, ridership levels recovered, but to levels lower than before the pandemic.[37] The line celebrated 10 million riders in April 2022.[39] By February 2023, KC Streetcar reported that demand had recovered to 100% of pre-pandemic levels, with high demand in evenings and at weekends.[10]

In August 2017, voters approved the formation of a transportation development district (TDD) that would help to fund the extension of the streetcar south.[48] The line will be extended for 3.48 miles (5.60 km) south from Union Station towards the University of Missouri-Kansas City (UMKC), along Main Street. In 2017 the extension was expected to cost around $227 million and open around 2023.[49] In March 2019, the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) rated the project a "medium high" in receiving $151.6 million in federal funding.[50] In December 2020, the FTA announced it had awarded the KC Streetcar $174 million for the extension south to UMKC, with remaining funding for the extension coming from the expanded TDD.[11][47]

Groundbreaking occurred on April 6, 2022.[51] As part of the extension, 6 additional streetcars will be ordered from CAF, doubling the size of the fleet.[52] As of April 2023, the extension to UMKC is scheduled to open in 2025.[47][53] In July 2023, Mayor of Kansas City Quinton Lucas called for transit-only lanes on Main Street as part of the work.[13][15]

In August 2017, the KC Port Authority announced plans to extend the line north from the River Market toward the Missouri River. This proposed extension would run for 3/4 mile north to Berkley Riverfront Park and a proposed Kansas City Current soccer stadium.[54][55] The extension would be funded by the KC Port Authority, as well as by federal TIGER funding.[56] One additional streetcar would be required for this additional service.[56] In December 2020, $14.2 million was awarded by the FTA towards the extension, with additional funding required from local sources such as Port KC.[57] In October 2021, the cost of the extension had risen by $5.5 million. Construction is expected to begin in 2023 with opening in 2025.[46][58]

In September 2021, the KC Streetcar Authority began studying the potential for a northern extension of the line over the Missouri River to North Kansas City.[59] In October 2021, the KC Streetcar Authority and Kansas City Area Transportation Authority began planning a future east–west transit line along 39th Street towards University of Kansas Medical Center and Kansas City, Kansas.[60][61] In January 2023, officials noted a northern extension to North Kansas City would cost around $222 million to construct, and that a TDD would not raise enough funding to pay the construction cost of the line.[62]