KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The first batch of funding from President Joe Biden's bipartisan infrastructure law, signed in November, is headed to Kansas and Missouri.
Kansas Rep. Sharice Davids and Missouri Rep. Emanuel Cleaver, II, who both played a role in passing the bipartisan plan, announced Wednesday that the funding was on its way.
The funding aims to improve public transportation systems, support transportation jobs and create additional investments.
Davids announced that the first round of transit funding would bring over $17.4 million to Kansas.
The round of funding in Kansas includes over $2.8 million to improve transit safety and to acquire new buses and rail cars.
Across the Kansas City area the funding is set to bring over $400,000 for transit repairs and to improve transit reliability, as well as over $750,000 to improve transit for seniors and those with disabilities.
"I look forward to working with KCATA as well as other state and local leaders to ensure that we implement these investments efficiently and effectively,” said Davids, who helped pass the law as vice chair of the House Transportation & Infrastructure Committee.
In Missouri, $46 million is arriving in this wave of the funding, $4.8 million of which will be allocated to Kansas City, Missouri.
$25.8 million will be used to improve transit safety and create new buses and rail cars in Missouri and $12.6 million will be used to make the transit systems more reliable and be used on repairs.
Across the state, $3.4 million will also be used to upgrade bus fleets, and an addition $3.4 million will be used to improve transit for seniors and people with disabilities.
“With these critical investments in our public transit system, we have an opportunity to connect communities throughout the Fifth Congressional District of Missouri—which will help workers find more opportunities, enable greater economic development throughout the congressional district, and ensure the Kansas City Region continues to grow in an equitable fashion,” Cleaver said.
