Starter Line Takes a New Turn

By DAVID MARTIN

Kansas City Councilman Russ Johnson is making an attempt to correct a significant flaw in the “starter” light-rail line he’s promoting. Today’s Kansas City Star reports that Johnson wants to stretch the line to 63rd Street, making it more accessible to people who live in disadvantaged areas.

The two-mile extension would increase service in the city’s 5th District. In this week’s column, I describe how the starter line under consideration before today barely ventured into the city’s most impoverished neighborhoods. To me, this seemed like both bad policy and bad politics. (Polls indicate that support for light rail is soft among black voters.) Though its funding source remains clouded, the two-mile extension should go a long way to address concerns about the starter router’s fairness and, ultimately, its fortunes at the polls.