KC Streetcar Party Video
Posted by Transit Action Network on December 14, 2012
Transit Action Network shares Kansas City’s excitement over the success of the streetcar election. It has taken a long time and a lot of work but Kansas City will finally get rail and the return of streetcars. Receiving 63% of the vote for the sales tax and 62% for the property tax is a huge victory. This election is a major historic event for Kansas City. Congratulations to everyone who worked on this project and voted for the streetcar!
Watch the election party video and hear the full presentations by Mayor James and Councilmen Russ Johnson and Jim Glover. There is a lot of excitement about the direction of the city.
Matt and David in St. Louis learning how to pass a transit ballot initiative, June 2011
Matt, Janet and David at the CFTE conference, June 2011
Nearly two years ago we went to lunch with David Johnson and Matthew Staub and suggested they start a dedicated downtown advocacy group to fight for creating a Transportation Development District, TDD, and funding the streetcar. In April 2011, we went with David to the Downtown Neighborhood Association to talk about the streetcar and using the TDD legislation. In June 2011, David, Matt, TAN advocate Janet Rogers and other Kansas City transit advocates all went to St. Louis for a conference on “How to Pass a Transit Ballot Initiative” hosted by the Center for Transportation Excellence. After that David and Matt were up and running with Streetcar Neighbors. Little did we know they would do such a great job to make the streetcar a reality, but we certainly believed they were the right people for the job.
Other transit advocates wanting to expand the streetcar into their neighborhoods are already learning from the Streetcar Neighbors model – start early, identify the potential YES voters and get out the vote.
If you missed the Election Watch Party, you can watch it here!
Transit Action Network (TAN) 
Chris Sanford said
Way to go. Public advocacy is what keeps America evolving. Congratulations to you & all.