Kansas City to Become Largest U.S. City with Fare-Free Bus System

Photo credit: Anzacosf2010

Social equity and greenhouse gas emission reduction often go hand-in-hand, and cities across America have been successfully developing unique solutions to further their social and environmental goals. Public transportation is an area frequently targeted for such policy improvement. On December 5, 2019, the Kansas City, Missouri, city council voted unanimously to make the city’s bus system entirely free.

Once implemented, the vote will make the city of approximately 490,000 people the largest city in the United States providing fare-free transportation. Going fare-free will cost the city $8 million annually in lost fare revenue, but Mayor Quinton Lucas is confident that the city council will be able to find the money to fund the project. Lucas framed the plan as a benefit in both socioeconomic and environmental terms, saying, “If we could actually build up a culture of bus riding, if we make it easier to do, if we remove the barriers, then our view was we have both great socioeconomic impact, environmental impact, and we get more riders onto the system as well.”

Residents who rely on buses for their daily commute will save an estimated $1,500-$2,000 per year, and eliminating fares may encourage more people to use the bus system over personal automobiles. The transportation sector is responsible for 29 percent of all U.S. carbon emissions, the majority of which come from light-duty vehicles. Increased bus ridership could therefore go a long way towards meeting emission reduction goals while letting Kansas City residents keep more of their money: a win-win for people and the environment.

Kansas City’s fare-free bus push fits within the city’s wider pattern of sustainable planning, which includes the KC Green program and the group Climate Action KC. KC Green, developed in response to evidence that the metropolitan area will experience dramatic population growth alongside more frequent heat waves and drought in the coming years, voluntarily convenes city departments and employees to work towards a vision of sustainability that includes “social equity, economic vitality, and environmental quality.” Climate Action KC was created in 2018 with support from the Global Covenant of Mayors. The group of elected officials and community leaders from across the metropolitan area is working to develop a Climate Action Plan, which is expected to be released in June 2020. Though not explicitly promoted as a component of KC Green or Climate Action KC, the city’s move toward zero-fare buses could help advance both groups’ missions.

Although the plan has generally been well-received, some have questioned the magnitude of its impact. Only about 1.2 percent of Kansas City residents use the bus system to commute to work, and 92 percent of residents get to work by car. However, making public transit free may incentivize more people to shift from personal automobiles to the bus system. For example, when the smaller city of Lawrence, Massachusetts, implemented zero-fare buses in 2019, it saw a 20 percent increase in ridership within months of the program’s implementation.

Commuters won’t switch to buses if no buses are available on their routes, however. Lucas noted that connecting the entire metropolitan area to the bus system presents difficulties. The entire metro area has a population of over two million people spanning both Kansas and Missouri, and the suburbs are not currently included in the zero-fare transit plan. However, Kansas City’s actions may create a ripple effect leading to an expansion of public transportation throughout the area. For example, the Board of Commissioners of Johnson County, Kansas, home to several major suburbs of Kansas City, recently announced its intent to improve its public transportation in response to the Kansas City plan.

Kansas City’s zero-fare bus plan is a reminder of the importance of climate leadership at the local level, and that many policies that reduce greenhouse gas emissions also create immediate socioeconomic benefits. Policy action at the federal level is necessary, but cities are also valuable policy laboratories where innovative ideas can be tested.

 

Author: Abby Neal