KANSAS CITY, Mo. — There’s no need to stop doing something that’s working.
That’s the thought process behind the announcement Thursday from city officials to make bus fares free for the foreseeable future for RideKC’s Prospect MAX bus line.
Kansas City Area Transportation Authority CEO Robbie Makinen and Kansas City, Missouri, Mayor Quinton Lucas said Thursday that after a successful 90-day period of free fares following the line’s launch late last year, fares would continue to be free.
A release from RideKC said the line, running from downtown to 75th Street along Prospect Avenue, has provided 270,000 rides since launch.
“Our new Prospect MAX line has proven that eliminating bus fares does increase ridership, and thus, mobility for Kansas City residents,” Lucas said in the release.
As part of the city’s proposed budget, city officials have earmarked nearly $5 million to help launch the city’s zero fare transit initiative.
“Prospect MAX is one of the premiere routes in the system and we are proud of the innovative approach we took to make it zero fare,” Makinen said in the release. “We put a lot of high-tech amenities at the station stops and on the MAX vehicles and we are now seeing what increased ridership does to spur economic development and social equity along the corridor.”
