5 million rides for KC Streetcar
Written by Railway Age Staff
An HDR rendering of the KC Streetcar's proposed Main Street Extension.
The fare-free KC Streetcar recently logged its 5 millionth ride in less than 2-1/2 years of service.
Since operations began in May 2016, the KC Streetcar traveled 305,128 miles with a daily ridership average of 5,806, the KC Streetcar Authority said. Each streetcar averaged 76,282 miles and 34,673 trips per vehicle.
During the busier summer months, July 2018 was the highest ridership month to date with 262,593 total rides, and up 31,000 rides from the previous July. The highest ridership day to date was July 6, 2018, with 19,181 total rides.
The 2.2-mile system operates between River Market and Union Station running mostly along Main Street through the central business district and the Crossroads, an historic neighborhood with art galleries and live music venues near downtown Kansas City. The roster of four CAF Urbos 3 vehicles make 16 stops on the system.
The operator’s project team recently applied for federal funding for the Main Street Extension to University of Missouri-Kansas City (UMKC).
The authority said the Streetcar has an average on-time performance of nearly 95% and an employee safety record of 863 total days injury-free.
