Major Service Changes Coming to MAX and Metro Routes

Posted on: Jun 29, 2012

(Kansas City, Mo. – June 29, 2012) On Sunday, July 1, the Kansas City Area Transportation Authority (KCATA) rolls out significant changes to more than 20 Metro and MAX routes. The changes will create a more efficient network of transit routes, while providing a public transportation system that is easier for customers to use. Over the course of a year, changes are being made to most Metro routes in Kansas City, Mo. Several routes are being streamlined to provide more direct service and reduce the need for customers to transfer. Some of the biggest changes coming this Sunday include:

• Main Street MAX increases daytime and weeknight service.
• Troost MAX will offer more frequent weeknight service and will provide weekend service to Bannister & Drury.
• The 31st St. route increases service to provide more trips between Blue Ridge Crossing/Walmart, the East Side, Midtown and Penn Valley Community College.
• 108-Indiana will offer service along Swope Parkway and to the Kansas City Zoo, in addition to its existing service to Downtown and 18th & Vine. This replaces the 53-Armour-Swope Park route.
• 54-Armour-Paseo will add service in south Kansas City along 85th St., offering connections to Ward Parkway Shopping Center.
• 27-27th Street will add service to the West Side and Downtown.

"These changes will provide better service to the large majority of existing riders, attract new riders to the system, and improve system productivity, without increasing our budget," General Manager Mark Huffer said. Details about the changes are available online at [url=http://www.kcata.org]http://www.kcata.org[/url]. Resources include new schedules, detailed bulletins, and video summaries. Metro ambassadors have been on the street for the last several days making sure customers are aware of the upcoming changes. The Metro’s Regional Call Center – 816-221-0660- will be open extra hours this weekend and next weekend from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. to help customers plan their trips. The Call Center regular hours are weekdays, 6 a.m. to 7 p.m. Routes that are changing in July include: Main Street MAX Orange Line Troost MAX Green Line 24-Indepependence 24X-Independence Express (Becoming the 15X-Truman Road Express) 25-Troost 27-27th St. 28-Blue Ridge 28X-Blue Ridge Express 32-Linwood Link (New route) 31-31st St. 35-35th St. 39-39th St. 53-Armour/Swope Park (Merging with 54 and 108) 54-Armour/Paseo 57-South Oak 71-Prospect 108-Indiana 110-Woodland/Brooklyn 156-Red Bridge (Merging with 57) 175-75th Street 237-Gladstone-Antioch MetroFlex 251-TMC Connector 471-71 Highway Express About the Comprehensive Service Analysis The changes are the result of a Comprehensive Service Analysis, or CSA, which examined all the bus routes in Kansas City, Mo. Starting in the summer of 2010, the CSA included a market analysis that assessed the demand for transit service throughout Kansas City, Mo.; a detailed evaluation of the performance of all Kansas City, Mo., routes; and the development and evaluation of alternative service scenarios. "Cities are dynamic places that are always changing, and this is the case in Kansas City," Huffer said. "Throughout the city, population and employment have shifted. The places that residents, workers and visitors travel to and from have changed, as well as the number of people who travel between these areas. We need to make sure our service keeps up with the changes in the City.” The CSA started in 2010 and included broad-based public input received through public forums; meetings with the City Council and staff; customer surveys; and customer comments submitted through email and phone line comments. Based on more than 700 comments from the public, many initial recommendations were modified. The final package is truly reflective of the community’s preferences. “We received excellent feedback from customers and stakeholders,” Planning Director Danny O’Connor said. “Hundreds of people looked closely at our proposed changes and told us how the new service would affect them.” In addition to specific route changes, the overall way that KCATA plans and provides service is being refined. Service is focused on a network of key corridors, with improvements in reliability and directness. Duplicative services are being consolidated and service is expanded to new areas where needed. Schedules are being revised to be more consistent and easier for customers to remember, and MetroFlex will incorporate scheduled connections. Service will be expanded to the following areas: Hickman Mills, Ruskin Heights, Westside, Airport, New Mark, and Zona Rosa. A total of 54 routes will be affected by the changes. Three routes were affected by minor changes in April 2012. The rest of the changes will be made in October 2012 and January 2013.