Kansas City Area Transportation Authority votes to take over management of the JO
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After three months of evaluation, the Kansas City Area Transportation Authority’s board of directors approved on Monday a proposal to manage the Johnson County bus service.
Under the proposal adopted by the KCATA, Johnson County would pay the regional transit authority about $475,000 to manage Johnson County’s network of bus lines. Johnson County currently has an 11-member staff overseeing the bus network, frequently referred to as the JO.
The idea awaits approval by the Johnson County Board of Commissioners.
The JO is frequently the target of derision for its often weak ridership numbers, even though those figures have improved over the last two years. The transit system’s struggles are mired in a chicken-or-the-egg argument: Are JO busses largely empty because the county hasn’t committed enough resources to its services? Or is the county wise to use money elsewhere than a transit system with soft ridership numbers?
Steve Klika, vice chairman of the KCATA, says his agency’s management of the JO would lead to a more coordinated effort to integrate Johnson County’s transit with the rest of the metro.
“What we’re doing is tearing down jurisdictional boundaries,” says Klika, who is also a Johnson County commissioner and former board member of Johnson County Transit.
Cooperating beyond political borders in the Kansas City metro area is usually a tough task. But Johnson County commissioners might find the projected $500,000 savings through the KCATA/JO unification palatable.
The KCATA is a bi-state transportation agency with directors who live on both sides of the state line. While it carries out transportation planning for the wider region, the JO has remained largely under Johnson County’s purview.
“What we’re doing is reducing redundancy,” Klika says. “That opens the door to cooperation.”
Monday’s KCATA vote by no means represents final approval. KCATA staffers will present to the Johnson County Transportation Council and the Johnson County Board of Commissioners later this week.
