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Planning ongoing for transit
By Mark Johnson
Planning is continuing for a regional transit system proposal, which could be presented to area residents next year. The system would potentially use multiple transportation modes, including buses, commuter rail and light rail, if Kansas City voters approve a light rail line this November.
Members of the steering committee for the group spearheading the effort, said area residents have made it clear that they are ready.
“They want something right now and they want flexibility in the system,” said Liberty Mayor Bob Steinkamp.
Riverside Mayor Kathy Rose agreed while noting that there wasn’t a strong sentiment at public forums this past summer for one mode of transportation over another.
“People just want to be moved,” she said.
Eastern Clay County Commissioner Craig Porter said at the forum in Liberty there was strong support for buses, which could be in place in a relatively short period of time if the proposal proceeds as planned.
“There is a need,” he said. “To meet that need, the least expensive and most effective way is with a good bus system.”
Porter also discussed other transportation modes.
“For commuter rail to be effective in Clay and Platte counties at this time, we’d have to move half the counties on a daily basis,” he said, citing usage figures from other cities. “We may be there in 20 or 30 years but we’re not there, yet.”
The group is exploring commuter rail, which could one day serve the Northland but also other more densely populated areas of the region.
Porter reported that a subcommittee had met with several of the railroads on whose lines commuter rail could possibly run.
He said Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway indicated there would need to be state legislation to provide the company sovereign immunity similar to what cities have and that the company would operate the line as it does in at least one other state.
Porter also said Kansas City Southern seemed open to the possibility of commuter rail on a line that runs along Interstate 70 in Jackson County.
Where light rail is concerned, the group’s leaders have repeatedly said that Kansas City’s proposal, if approved, would serve as a spine for a regional transit system.
The light rail line would cross the Missouri River and reach up to near Vivion Road and North Oak Trafficway.
For additional information about the regional transit planning effort, visit www.kcsmartmoves.org.
Senior writer Mark Johnson can be reached at 781-4941 or mjohnson@npgco.com.
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Members of the steering committee for the group spearheading the effort, said area residents have made it clear that they are ready.
“They want something right now and they want flexibility in the system,” said Liberty Mayor Bob Steinkamp.
Riverside Mayor Kathy Rose agreed while noting that there wasn’t a strong sentiment at public forums this past summer for one mode of transportation over another.
“People just want to be moved,” she said.
Eastern Clay County Commissioner Craig Porter said at the forum in Liberty there was strong support for buses, which could be in place in a relatively short period of time if the proposal proceeds as planned.
“There is a need,” he said. “To meet that need, the least expensive and most effective way is with a good bus system.”
Porter also discussed other transportation modes.
“For commuter rail to be effective in Clay and Platte counties at this time, we’d have to move half the counties on a daily basis,” he said, citing usage figures from other cities. “We may be there in 20 or 30 years but we’re not there, yet.”
The group is exploring commuter rail, which could one day serve the Northland but also other more densely populated areas of the region.
Porter reported that a subcommittee had met with several of the railroads on whose lines commuter rail could possibly run.
He said Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway indicated there would need to be state legislation to provide the company sovereign immunity similar to what cities have and that the company would operate the line as it does in at least one other state.
Porter also said Kansas City Southern seemed open to the possibility of commuter rail on a line that runs along Interstate 70 in Jackson County.
Where light rail is concerned, the group’s leaders have repeatedly said that Kansas City’s proposal, if approved, would serve as a spine for a regional transit system.
The light rail line would cross the Missouri River and reach up to near Vivion Road and North Oak Trafficway.
For additional information about the regional transit planning effort, visit www.kcsmartmoves.org.
Senior writer Mark Johnson can be reached at 781-4941 or mjohnson@npgco.com.