KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The 2023 NFL Draft is weeks away, and the Kansas City Area Transportation Authority (KCATA) says it's ready to move people around.
“There’s not going to be a significant amount of changes," said Chuck Ferguson, KCATA chief operating officer.
Ferguson says unlike the Chiefs' championship parade, the Draft will be spread out over several days, making it much more manageable.
“We don’t anticipate robbing from Peter to pay Paul for this event like we did for the parade," he said.
The agency will add a parking shuttle to operate during the Draft that's similar to the one that operated during the parade.
Bus routes near Union Station — like 27, 47 and Main Max — will be impacted by detours, according to RideKC's website.
Ferguson says a passenger uptick is expected for the Main Max line, so the agency will operate a "surge-type of service."
"We’re going to have [what] we call space buses parked strategically to enter into service once those passenger counts get significantly higher so we don’t have too many people being passed because the bus is full," he said.
Such changes are based on advice from transit agencies in cities that have previously hosted the NFL Draft.
"They see more people on a regular Saturday in Vegas than they saw for the actual event," Ferguson said. “Nashville, the way it was set up there is also completely different."
As the city and KCATA prepare to welcome football fans to Kansas City, staffing is back to normal.
“We have managed to hire almost a hundred bus operators over the last several months," Ferguson. "We’re close to back to full staff to operate service right now."
