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Kansas City, Missouri, passed its $2.5 billion budget, but it's unclear how long the Kansas City Area Transit Authority (KCATA) buses and public transit system will be running under that funding.
Kansas City Council allocated $314.5 million to housing and community development, nearly $700 million to public safety, $341.4 million for infrastructure and accessibility and the remaining $4.97 million to arts and community services.
$77.8 million of that budget allocation will go toward the KCATA for public transportation.
Before the city council meeting on Thursday, KC public transit riders, drivers and supporters stacked the steps of city hall. The crowd even spilled out into the street as buses and cars honked in support.
"That's the sound of democracy," bus rider Joseph Nelson said.
More than 100 Kansas Citians chanted and rallied for additional public transit funding. It's one of many protests for bus funding that has taken place in Kansas City over the last few months.
"I'm saying to myself after 20 years, why are we still in the same situation of having to find funding for the buses?" KCATA operator Sherrita Jackson said. "There's no way that we should still be out here worried about if we're still going to have buses to move the city."
Kansas City's original 2025-2026 budget gives the KCATA $71 million. However, the transit authority predicts an extensive gap between the allocated money and the projected operating costs of $117.1 million.
"If you want us to work in the city you should be able to get us around," bus rider Mitch Schiler said.
With an anticipated budget shortfall of nearly $32 million according to KCATA leaders, the transit authority proposed to cut 13 bus routes, reduce weekend and nighttime operating hours, reduce fleet numbers, suspend the IRIS microtransit program and lay off 171 transit workers.
"Their jobs are at risk, my job is at risk," Jackson said. "I would have to find something else after being at the company for 23 years."
The city council allocated an additional $6.8 million to the KCATA funding for this year, totaling $77.8 for operating expenses. Councilmember Crispin Rea explained that $4.8 million came from reserve funds and the remaining $2 million came from LED street light budgeting.
"I can't think of a better use of our reserve funds than when we are about to cut bus routes," councilmember Rea said.
But riders aren't optimistic it will keep the buses fully running.
"It'll do something but it's not enough," Raymond Forstater said. "Each dollar is routes cut and jobs lost."
Council submitted a last-minute proposal to give the KCATA $46 million from the 2025-2026 budget to keep buses fully running with routes intact until October 31, 2025. But there are no current plans as to what may happen after that.
"We absolutely got to get it figured out so that we're not back in this position," councilmember Rea said. "We can't do this stop-gap legislation long term."
Mayor Quinton Lucas spoke with reporters after Thursday's council meeting, expressing his disappointment in the communication between the KCATA and the council.
"We asked the [KCATA] director at a public hearing [several weeks ago] what will be the cuts, what will be the issues?" Mayor Lucas said. "We did not get an answer in a public, open session. I find that incredibly discouraging. What we did [Thursday] was allocate what we view as a proper amount of money to help support the system."
City leaders explained that the $46 million proposed funding adds oversight to hold the KCATA accountable for ensuring operations are running efficiently and effectively.
"We added auditing standards in connection with it," Mayor Lucas said. "We're adding other standards that will help us ensure we don't get to this point year after year."
Even with the $46 million ordinance, IRIS microtransit would still be cut. Driver Bakar Mohamed expressed his disappointment with city leaders.
"A lot of families are going to be hurting, a lot of families are going to be hurting," Mohamed said. "The negative ripple is going to be massive and huge."
Other riders expressed their concern about eliminating IRIS, which was originally implemented to supplement the gaps in Kansas City's public transit.
"If they get rid of buses, if they get rid of IRIS, I won't be able to get to work," Lisa Miller said. "What other alternatives are you going to give us if you cut our buses and take away IRIS, what are we going to do?"
Now, it's another waiting game for KC public transit users to see if the $46 million will be approved, and what happens when that money eventually runs out too.
"It's pretty frustrating because it seems like we still don't know exactly where we're at," Forstater said. "The money that's been allocated so far, we know isn't enough to fully save our service and we feel like there's not really a clear plan forward for how we sustainably move it forward."
"We just want to know how we're going to get places," rider Henry Robinson IV said.
The $46 million proposal is expected to be discussed at Tuesday's finance meeting on March 25.
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