The line, credited by local officials with spurring billions of dollars in investment as it was being planned and constructed, is expected to serve tens of thousands of residents as well as visitors to the growing Midwestern city.
(left to right) KCATA President/CEO Robbie Makinen, FTA Acting Administrator Carolyn Flowers and St. Louis Metro President/CEO John Nations.
2 min to read
(left to right) KCATA President/CEO Robbie Makinen, FTA Acting Administrator Carolyn Flowers and St. Louis Metro President/CEO John Nations.
The Federal Transit Administration's (FTA) Acting Administrator Carolyn Flowers joined Kansas City Mayor Sylvester “Sly” James Jr. and other local officials to celebrate the opening of the two-mile KC Streetcar line, which runs through the city’s revitalized downtown area.
The line, credited by local officials with spurring billions of dollars in investment as it was being planned and constructed, is expected to serve tens of thousands of residents as well as visitors to the growing Midwestern city.
The U.S. Department of Transportation (U.S. DOT) helped fund the project with $20 million from a Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery (TIGER) grant and approximately $17 million in other DOT funds. Since 2009, DOT has awarded $562.7 million to 16 streetcar projects across the country, including starter lines in Dallas, Atlanta, Cincinnati and Tucson, Ariz., as well as extensions to systems in Portland and New Orleans.
“Streetcars are an increasingly popular transportation choice for cities seeking new ways to integrate reliable, convenient transit services that connect residents to jobs and other destinations,” said FTA Acting Administrator Flowers. “By supporting the Kansas City Streetcar, we are helping to create a strong transportation network that gives people options and helps build ladders of opportunity throughout the region.”
(Left to Right) KCATA President/CEO Robbie Makinen and his son Michael, City Councilman Jermaine Reed and KCATA Board Vice Chair Daniel Serda.
In Kansas City, more than $1 billion from private and public sources has stimulated economic growth and redevelopment, including new housing, retail and commercial projects. Since the streetcar project began in 2012, the city has recorded 40 projects along the streetcar route, including a $300 million, 800-room hotel and convention center under development, a $121 million project to convert a 30-story office building to apartments, and the $37 million renovation of a vacated theater that will house an 85,000-square-foot community center.
The streetcar service will also connect existing local bus services throughout the downtown corridor. The Downtown KC Streetcar line is part of a long-range plan to create a regional, integrated transit system to connect the Greater Kansas City area that includes several bus rapid transit routes.
Amtrak will open grant applications March 23 for community projects near the Frederick Douglass Tunnel alignment in Baltimore as part of a $50 million investment tied to the B&P Tunnel Replacement Program.
The Denmark Station $2.3 million construction investment project includes a new 280-foot concrete boarding platform, built eight inches above the top of rail, for improved accessibility for passengers with disabilities and families with small children and much more.
Caltrain and its partners have implemented safety improvements at specific locations in response to known risk conditions, operational needs, and available funding since the agency’s founding.
On a recent episode of METROspectives, METRO Magazine’s Executive Editor Alex Roman sat down with Ana-Maria Tomlinson, Director of Strategic & Cross-Sector Programs at the CSA Group, to explore a bold initiative aimed at addressing those challenges: the development of a National Code for Transit and Passenger Rail Systems in Canada.
Competitive FTA grants will support accessibility upgrades, family-friendly improvements, and cost-efficient capital projects at some of the nation’s oldest and busiest transit hubs.
The 3.92-mile addition will soon take riders west beyond its current Wilshire and Western station in Koreatown, continuing under Wilshire Boulevard through neighborhoods and communities including Hancock Park, Windsor Square, the Fairfax District, and Carthay Circle into Beverly Hills.
Under the plan, all long-distance routes will transition to a universal single-level fleet, replacing today’s mix of bi-level and single-level equipment.
