1. Kansas City has released the Preliminary Budget for Fiscal Year 2011-12.
KCATA budget from the ½ cent transportation fund is $1.98 million more than the previous budget. (Note: This is 75% of the revenue after TIF and City administration costs.) General Manager Mark Huffer reported that he has been told that the city may be able to reach the 95% mark required by the new ordinance as soon as next year, which would be a year earlier than required.
2. The Board of Commissioners authorized a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with MARC, the City of Kansas City, Missouri and Jackson County concerning implementation of the regional Alternatives Analysis (AA) Studies using $1.8 million in federal grant funding.
The MOU allocates the funding as follows:
| Corridor Study |
Federal Funds |
Local Funds |
Source of Match |
| Downtown Streetcar AA |
$540,000 |
$135,000 |
Kansas City, Missouri |
| Commuter Corridors AA |
$1,260,000 |
$315,000 |
Jackson County |
Other key points in the MOU are as follows:
• MARC will serve as FTA grant recipient,
• MARC, KCATA, the City of Kansas City and Jackson County will serve as a partnership team overseeing AA efforts,
• KCATA and the City will lead the downtown streetcar AA, and
• MARC and Jackson County will lead the commuter corridors AA
3. KCATA has $10.4 million in a federal grant for public transit improvements in the State Avenue corridor, which extends from the 10th and Main Street transit center in downtown Kansas City, Missouri, through downtown Kansas City, Kansas, to the Village West area in western Wyandotte County.
Key components of the project include:
• 7th Street and Minnesota Avenue Transit Center
• 47th and State Avenue (Indian Springs) Transit Center/Park & Ride
• State Avenue Corridor Transit & Access Improvements
• State Avenue Corridor Branding
The Board authorized a contract with BHC Rhodes, Inc., for Architectural and Engineering (A&E) Design Services for State Avenue Corridor Transit Improvements.
4. Update on the Comprehensive Service Analysis – Nelson Nygaard
The CSA is an in-depth, technical study of the system’s effectiveness and will result in system-wide and route-level recommendations for improved efficiencies and service delivery.
Mr. Geoff Slater, Project Manager with Nelson Nygaard, provided a project update and discussed the next efforts of the CSA.
Public involvement is scheduled spring or early summer. See the presentation KCATA_CSABoard0111.
5. Emerick Cross, Interim Transit Manager of Unified Government Transit in Wyandotte County thanked KCATA for its help in the recently completed Comprehensive Service Analysis. See the 2010-UG Transit Comprehensive Service Analysis.
The Kansas City Area Transportation Authority and Unified Government Transit of Wyandotte County/Kansas City, Kan., are hosting the final open house for the public to review the detailed improvement 
plans for the “Connex” transit corridor. Displays will provide information about the overall design of the corridor, plus specific plans for two new MetroCenters: Midtown KCK (47th and State Ave.) and Downtown KCK (7th and Minnesota Ave.). This major east-west route connects the city’s revitalized urban core to new development occurring in the Village West area.
