Share this story
Published 4 hours ago
It may be hard to imagine today. But Kansas City was once home to the third largest cable car system in the United States behind only San Francisco and Chicago.
Once known for its expansive transit system before becoming extraordinarily dependent on the automobile Kansas City has a deep and ever-evolving history of public transportation and ridership.
The history of public transit can be simplified into several overlapping eras, according to local historian and retired Metropolitan Community College professor Bill Worley. The first four eras include the mule and horse car era, the cable car era, the streetcar era and the introduction of buses.
The story, however, ends with a back-to-the future twist in the fifth era the reintroduction of streetcars on Main Street in 2016.
The first streetcars in Kansas City were pulled by mules and horses starting in 1869. Locally, mules were more common, Worley said. The cable car era began in the early 1880s in San Francisco. Very soon after, Kansas City began using cable cars in the same decade.
From 1895 to 1912, ridership increased from 31 million fare-paying riders to nearly 120 million riders, according to data compiled in the book A Splendid Ride: The Streetcars of Kansas City, 1870-1957 by Monroe Dodd.
Kansas City became home to one of the most extensive cable car systems in the country, not seeing the last of the cable cars until 1912. After that, streetcars were electrified.
Ridership numbers broken down by type of transportation began in 1922, with 1922 to 1928 data documented in the 1928 Report on the Street Railway Situation published by the Kansas City Public Service Co.
In 1922, only railway revenue passengers were counted, with reports documenting over 136 million revenue passengers the peak of the railway. The number of railway revenue passengers would never be as large again.
Even overall ridership of public transit would not get that high again until 1942 during World War II when it reached nearly 153 million revenue passengers.
The arrival of the motor bus in 1924 introduced a new form of public transportation to Kansas City. In 1925, the first year motor bus data was documented, bus ridership made up only 1% of total revenue transit passengers.
In 1926, the Kansas City Public Service Co. took over running the citys public transportation, consolidating ownership of public transportation. The company began replacing streetcars with buses where it would save money, but the change didnt happen overnight.
From 1926 to 1937, data from Kansas City Public Service Co. reports showed a gradual migration from streetcar users to motor bus users. By 1937, the number of motor bus revenue passengers made up 20% of all ridership.
The introduction of motor buses was accompanied by automobiles, too, and Kansas City was no stranger to the Model T.
Many think of the Model T and think of Detroit, or the nearby suburb of Dearborn where the primary factory was built, Worley said.
And thats true, but they also produced it in 1908 in Kansas City, Worley said. Kansas City was the other Ford manufacturing plant the only other Ford manufacturing in the entire United States at that time.
Unlike the motor bus, automobiles were privately owned and not controlled by bigger companies, like the Kansas City Public Service Co., so only wealthy people could afford cars in the beginning.
The automobile takeover was a slow process, Worley said, since not many people could afford them early on. Initially, they didnt pose an immediate threat to public transit.
Still, it was estimated that the 80% of people using mass transit to enter downtown dwindled to 50% by 1939, according to A Splendid Ride.
In 1937, the trolley bus was introduced, which was a hybrid between the streetcar and motor bus. The first year data was available for trolley ridership was in 1940 with reports of 9,724,027 trolley bus revenue passengers carried, making up 15% of the total riders for the year.
Reports for 1938 and 1939 were not available, but it still only took three years for trolley bus ridership to reach 15%. In comparison, the motor bus did not reach at least 15% until its 11th year of service.
Overall ridership of public transportation was beginning to make a comeback following dips in ridership during the Great Depression.
Streetcar ridership rebounded slightly in the 1940s with World War II. Gasoline was rationed, so the electrified streetcars were unaffected. Meanwhile, both cars and buses required gasoline to run.
The comeback still wasnt enough to save the streetcars. A variety of factors including the growing prevalence of automobiles, construction of new highways and the migration of people to the suburbs ultimately brought an end of the streetcar.
In August 1955, the board members of the Kansas City Public Service Co. unanimously voted to sell all 144 street cars, according to an article from the Kansas City Times from Aug. 13, 1955.
The company was negotiating sales for streetcars to be used in a European city with a rail system of the same gauge as in Kansas City. All of the trolley wires and other equipment would also be sold.
At the time of the article, there were only six streetcar lines still in existence: Country Club, 31st Street, Troost Avenue, 12th Street, Dodson and the Rockhill.
While the decision would save money overall, not everyone agreed with the switch. Another article from the Kansas City Times reported on the City Council meeting when the streetcar decision was introduced. With about 40 people attending, seven spoke against the decision.
One resident who spoke against the decision was Joe Gregg, a University of Kansas City student who brought a petition with 150 signatures all against banning streetcars.
The reasons cited streetcars being more comfortable, quieter and safer. Another resident in opposition, Robert B. Langworthy said of the people who spoke for the proposal, none spoke as a transit rider.
A petition against the removal of the final streetcars was even up to over 11,000 signatures by April 1957, according to coverage from the Kansas City Times. In the same year, the population was 854,000.
In 1957, the last streetcars in Kansas City were removed. Buses became the primary public transit option in the Kansas City area.
A quarter of a century ago, Kansas City had 800 street cars. For the rest of this week it will have 41. Next Sunday, all will be gone, read an article from the Kansas City Star in June 1957. This is the week to say good-by to Kansas Citys street cars.
In 1965 the Kansas City Area Transportation Authority took over transit operations and is still in charge today. From there, automobiles take over, Worley said.
In 1970, total ridership had decreased by over 64% from 1955. From there, data continued to trend down into the turn of the century.
The Kansas City public transportation system, in many ways, looks both different and similar to the way it did when ridership was at its highest.
The new streetcar debuted in May 2016 with nearly 1.4 million unlinked passenger trips for the partial year. Trips peaked in 2019, reaching over 2.2 million unlinked passenger trips.
Without paid fares, ridership is measured using automatic passenger counters placed above streetcar and bus doors counting passengers each time they enter a vehicle regardless of how many vehicles they take. These measure unlinked passenger trips, which are also used by the Federal Transit Administration as the national standard for measuring transportation use.
Free fares are a new part of public transportation, with the new streetcar running from Union Station to River Market being permanently free.
The COVID-19 pandemic reduced streetcar ridership, but it never stopped running.
Now, streetcar ridership is running at about 75% of pre-pandemic rates, according to Donna Mandelbaum, communications and marketing director for the Kansas City Streetcar Authority.
As of May 2022, ridership for the year totaled 529,752 unlinked passenger trips.
Buses also continued to run during the pandemic, even beginning a free-fare program in 2020 that had been planned to gradually take place beginning years prior. The program, according to Dick Jarrold, senior vice president of RideKC, helped keep both operators and passengers safe by limiting contact.
Cindy Baker, interim vice president of marketing and communications for the Kansas City Area Transportation Authority, said they plan to continue the free fare service through at least 2023.
You know, we hope to go beyond that, but we do have to look at a variety of revenue sources and partnerships to continue the program, Baker said.
Bus driver shortages have led to the sort of staffing issues many businesses have seen. Baker said pre-pandemic, there used to be an extra board, or 12 to 15 backup bus drivers. Now, the authority has none.
We are always taking applicants and really looking for folks to apply, go through training and get on there actually helping us deliver the service, Jarrold said. Recruiting has been ramped up significantly.
As for overall transit ridership, trends have continued to decrease over the past few decades, even before the pandemic. The most recent decrease began in 2013 and 2014. Ridership went from 16,166,950 passenger trips in 2012 to 12,044,179 in 2019, getting as low as 9,139,474 in 2021 during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Kansas City has become less dense as a community, which is one cause of the decrease in ridership, according to Jarrold. Many communities in the country follow the trend, too.
We are, as many communities are, autocentric, and invest significantly in roads, highways, etc., Jarrold said. So that, over the long haul, has had an impact on transit and transit ridership.
For now, Kansas Citys public transportation and ridership continue to evolve even through a pandemic.
The streetcar, I think, has changed a lot of peoples ideas about transit and what that means for the future, Jarrold said.
Annie Jennemann is a Dow Jones data journalism reporting intern. She is a graduate student at the University of Missouri.
Discover more unheard stories about Kansas City, every Thursday.
Check your inbox, you should see something from us.
Link:
Hitching a Ride Through History: The Evolution of Kansas City Public Transportation - Flatland
- Days of our Lives' Suzanne Rogers on the Evolution of Maggie: "She Knows Who She Is Now, and She's Not Relying ... - Michael Fairman TV - March 14th, 2024 [March 14th, 2024]
- Kylie Jenner Talks About Her Style Evolution - The Cut - March 14th, 2024 [March 14th, 2024]
- Equator Coffees Unveils New Packaging Design, Reflecting Brand Evolution & Vision For The Future - Sprudge - March 14th, 2024 [March 14th, 2024]
- Rosewood Hotel Group Accelerates Growth And Evolution Across Its Four Distinctive Brands - Hospitality Net - March 14th, 2024 [March 14th, 2024]
- Thomson Reuters Unveils New Brand Evolution - Adweek - March 14th, 2024 [March 14th, 2024]
- Is It Becoming Acceptable to Speak of Design? - Discovery Institute - March 14th, 2024 [March 14th, 2024]
- Did Charles Darwin Convert to Christianity and Discredit Evolution on His Deathbed? - Snopes.com - March 14th, 2024 [March 14th, 2024]
- Milk, it's not just for mammals: An amphibian makes it too - NPR - March 14th, 2024 [March 14th, 2024]
- Discover Puerto Rico Debuts Evolution of Its Successful 'Live Boricua' Brand Campaign Aimed at Engaging Visitors ... - Yahoo Finance - March 14th, 2024 [March 14th, 2024]
- A Journey Through Time: The Evolution of Ras Al Khaimah Art - Business Wire - March 14th, 2024 [March 14th, 2024]
- Empowering Women: The Evolution and Innovation of coto Social Platform - CXOToday.com - March 14th, 2024 [March 14th, 2024]
- The Evolution of Da'Vine Joy Randolph - The Root - March 14th, 2024 [March 14th, 2024]
- Study on mating behaviors offers clues into the evolution of attraction - Phys.org - March 14th, 2024 [March 14th, 2024]
- Dragonball Evolutions live-action Goku says goodbye to Toriyama: Sorry we messed up - AS USA - March 14th, 2024 [March 14th, 2024]
- Investec, evolution of SMEs in the materials handling sector - Leasing Life - March 14th, 2024 [March 14th, 2024]
- Pride & Prejudice and the evolution of the female gaze on screen - Yahoo News UK - March 6th, 2024 [March 6th, 2024]
- Joe Wong's Musical Evolution - Shepherd Express - March 6th, 2024 [March 6th, 2024]
- A global survey of prokaryotic genomes reveals the eco-evolutionary pressures driving horizontal gene transfer - Nature.com - March 6th, 2024 [March 6th, 2024]
- Redefining Intelligence: Chimpanzees Break Through the Cultural Evolution Barrier - Medriva - March 6th, 2024 [March 6th, 2024]
- Mollusk Eyes Reveal How Future Evolution Depends on the Past - Quanta Magazine - March 6th, 2024 [March 6th, 2024]
- Levy Delves Into the Evolution of ADCs in NSCLC - OncLive - March 6th, 2024 [March 6th, 2024]
- The Snake Is The Spearhead of Reptile Evolution, But Why? - ScienceAlert - March 6th, 2024 [March 6th, 2024]
- 'A very special day: Birds linked to Darwins theory of evolution reintroduced to Galapagos Islands - Euronews - March 6th, 2024 [March 6th, 2024]
- Why the Powerhouses of Cells Evolve Differently in Plants - College of Natural Sciences - March 6th, 2024 [March 6th, 2024]
- Driving the DevOps Evolution: ArgoCD, Tekton and Seamless Migrations - DevOps.com - March 6th, 2024 [March 6th, 2024]
- Finding the Balance: The Evolution of Public Health Guidance Amidst Controversy - Medriva - March 6th, 2024 [March 6th, 2024]
- Insider Podcast: Paolini dishes on her Polish roots and hard-court evolution - WTA Tennis - March 6th, 2024 [March 6th, 2024]
- Interview: Sara Gruen and Rick Elice Talk About the Inspiration and Evolution of the New Musical Water for Elephants - TheaterMania.com - March 6th, 2024 [March 6th, 2024]
- The Evolution of the Laravel Welcome Page - Laravel News - March 6th, 2024 [March 6th, 2024]
- A Serpentine 'Explosion' 125 Million Years Ago Primed Snakes for Rapid, Diverse Evolution - Smithsonian Magazine - March 6th, 2024 [March 6th, 2024]
- The Evolution of Modern Technologies in Car Development - FinSMEs - March 6th, 2024 [March 6th, 2024]
- Milwaukee Transformed: From Bronzeville to Veterans Park, Aerial Timelapses Reveal City's Evolution - BNN Breaking - March 6th, 2024 [March 6th, 2024]
- The eyes are a gateway to evolution of daddy longlegs at least. - University of Wisconsin-Madison - March 6th, 2024 [March 6th, 2024]
- Adrian Newey: RB20 is the next step in Red Bull's design evolution - PlanetSport - March 6th, 2024 [March 6th, 2024]
- LiveScore releases its 'Evolution of Fan' report - Gambling Insider - March 6th, 2024 [March 6th, 2024]
- The loyalty program evolution makes its way to the full-service restaurant category - Nation's Restaurant News - March 6th, 2024 [March 6th, 2024]
- Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Last Ronin II - Re-Evolution #1 spoiler-free review: goes hard on the action, but ... - Gamesradar - March 6th, 2024 [March 6th, 2024]
- Exploring U.S. Financial Evolution: DAR Hosts Talk on Federal Reserve History in Thomasville - BNN Breaking - March 6th, 2024 [March 6th, 2024]
- Why cloud evolution needs a cohesive approach to succeed - CIO - March 6th, 2024 [March 6th, 2024]
- Gilead Sciences CEO on Company's Evolution and Commitment to the Bay Area - BioSpace - March 6th, 2024 [March 6th, 2024]
- Navigating the AI Quandary: Human Supremacy vs Machine Intelligence Evolution - BNN Breaking - March 6th, 2024 [March 6th, 2024]
- Denis Villeneuve breaks down the evolution of sandworms in 'Dune: Part Two' - Mashable - March 6th, 2024 [March 6th, 2024]
- Continued evolution of law improves governing capacity - Chinadaily.com.cn - China Daily - March 6th, 2024 [March 6th, 2024]
- The Evolution of the DEX Space with dYdX's CEO Antonio Juliano - Blockster - March 6th, 2024 [March 6th, 2024]
- Quick Commerce Evolution: 3PL Firms Aim for Same Day Delivery, Chasing Blinkit and Zepto's Lead - BNN Breaking - March 6th, 2024 [March 6th, 2024]
- What If...? Star Jeffrey Wright Addreses the Watcher's Evolution and 'Epic' Season 2 Finale - CBR - Comic Book Resources - December 31st, 2023 [December 31st, 2023]
- Evolution of the Connected Autonomous Vehicle - Ward's Auto - December 31st, 2023 [December 31st, 2023]
- A project to capture the evolution of human culture. - Psychology Today - December 31st, 2023 [December 31st, 2023]
- The Evolution of a Digital Soul. Beyond Code: A Journey of Heart and | by Mark Randall Havens | Dec, 2023 - Medium - December 31st, 2023 [December 31st, 2023]
- 4 Clues That Reid Is Finally Returning In Criminal Minds: Evolution Season 2 - Screen Rant - December 31st, 2023 [December 31st, 2023]
- Evolution of Samoyed and Kitten's Friendship Delights Internet: 'Wholesome' - Newsweek - December 31st, 2023 [December 31st, 2023]
- Crypto Evolution: Pullix (PLX) vs OKB (OKB) & KuCoin (KCS) - Crypto Reporter - December 31st, 2023 [December 31st, 2023]
- Alfa Romeos mediocre F1 season heralded its era of evolution: Prime Tire - The Athletic - December 31st, 2023 [December 31st, 2023]
- Beyond The Uniform: 10 Years of Evolution in SYNC Performance's Custom Program - SkiRacing.com - December 31st, 2023 [December 31st, 2023]
- Why SZA's evolution into a popstar has earned her recognition as artist of the year - Salon - December 31st, 2023 [December 31st, 2023]
- AI in 2023 Rises, Falls and Evolution - Finance Magnates - December 31st, 2023 [December 31st, 2023]
- Indonesia's Indosat pursues evolution from telecom to tech company - Nikkei Asia - December 31st, 2023 [December 31st, 2023]
- EdTech Evolution: 3 Stocks Educating the Next Generation - InvestorPlace - December 31st, 2023 [December 31st, 2023]
- Informa Tech Interview with Huawei about voice evolution and innovations at 5G Core Summit 2023 - Informa Tech ... - Light Reading - December 31st, 2023 [December 31st, 2023]
- Looking ahead: What will the DeFi evolution look like in 2024? - Ledger Insights - Ledger Insights - December 31st, 2023 [December 31st, 2023]
- Why Cat Bohannon wrote 'Eve, How the Female Body Drove 200 Million Years of Human Evolution' | India News ... - IndiaTimes - December 31st, 2023 [December 31st, 2023]
- The smart-design evolution of the laboratory space - pharmaphorum - December 31st, 2023 [December 31st, 2023]
- The WILD Evolution of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles TMNT (VIDEO) - FandomWire - December 31st, 2023 [December 31st, 2023]
- The supernatural invades American museums via indigenous artifacts - Why Evolution Is True - December 31st, 2023 [December 31st, 2023]
- Baleen Whales First Evolved Large Body Size in Cold Southern Waters, New Fossil Shows - Sci.News - December 31st, 2023 [December 31st, 2023]
- The Evolution of Identity in Taiwan The Diplomat - The Diplomat - December 31st, 2023 [December 31st, 2023]
- From the Archive: The Evolution Of Hockey Pools - The Hockey News - December 31st, 2023 [December 31st, 2023]
- 'X-Men: Evolution' Is Better Than 'X-Men: The Animated Series' - Collider - December 31st, 2023 [December 31st, 2023]
- Unveiling the Silver Screen: The Evolution of Celebrity Nudity in Cinema - The Hype Magazine - December 31st, 2023 [December 31st, 2023]
- Are Humans Still Evolving? 'Maybe More Rapidly Than Ever,' Says Scientist - Newsweek - December 31st, 2023 [December 31st, 2023]
- The Intersection of Real Estate and Fintech: Evolution, Impact of Policies, and Global Dynamics - CXOToday.com - December 31st, 2023 [December 31st, 2023]
- Kyle Richards' Style Evolution: Her Best Looks - Us Weekly - December 31st, 2023 [December 31st, 2023]
- Criminal Minds: Evolution Season 2's "Deeper Secrets" Teased By Aisha Tyler - Screen Rant - December 31st, 2023 [December 31st, 2023]
- Saturday: Hili dialogue Why Evolution Is True - Why Evolution Is True - December 31st, 2023 [December 31st, 2023]
- NBA 2K24 MyTEAM New Year Resolution Adds 14 Evolution Cards - ClutchPoints - December 31st, 2023 [December 31st, 2023]
- dive into the history of NASA's logo evolution from the space ... - Designboom - November 8th, 2023 [November 8th, 2023]
- Resolving the puzzle of same-sex sexual interactions - Nature.com - November 8th, 2023 [November 8th, 2023]
- The History and Evolution of Black Friday And How It Got Its Name - Yahoo Life - November 8th, 2023 [November 8th, 2023]
- Evolution of Terran R, with Tim Ellis (Relativity Space) - Payload - November 8th, 2023 [November 8th, 2023]
- Brownell Raves About Breakout Junior's Evolution - The Clemson Insider - November 8th, 2023 [November 8th, 2023]