borderless transit / borderless region

Court approves streetcar TDD formation

The 16th Circuit Court of Jackson County issued an Order on Friday afternoon forming the The Kansas City Main Street Rail Transportation Development District (TDD), which was approved by voters to fund the local portion of a streetcar extension through Midtown to UMKC.

The Order also calls for an election to select a Board of Directors from within the TDD. The Director election must be held within 120 days of the formation Order being issued. As of Friday afternoon, the Jackson County Clerk has officially called for the election, which will be conducted by the Kansas City Election Board on Saturday, October 7. Candidates should read the Order for filing instructions, as well as consult campaign requirements with the Missouri Ethics Commission.

For more information on the TDD Act, please read RSMO 238: http://www.moga.mo.gov/mostatutes/chapters/chapText238.html


Voters approve streetcar TDD by wide margin

Voters have approved the formation of a new Transportation Development District that would provide local funding for a streetcar extension through Midtown to UMKC. 70.11% of votes cast were in favor of forming the TDD.

The immediate next steps are for 16th Circuit Court Judge Dale Youngs to issue an Order forming the TDD, as well as an Order calling for the next election to vote on seven at-large Directors to govern the TDD. The Orders will contain details about how candidates can file for the TDD Board of Directors. Public notices will also follow. The Kansas City Board of Election Commissioners is responsible for administering the Director election, per the TDD Act.

In addition, Kansas City voters will weigh in on two streetcar-related petition initiatives on the Tuesday, August 8 ballot. Neither of these was put forth by the Kansas City Regional Transit Alliance. Please read our statements on Question 1 and Question 2.

More information about the Midtown/UMKC streetcar extension is at https://kcrta.org/streetcar/.


Election Board to certify TDD election results August 4

The Kansas City Board of Election Commissioners has scheduled a meeting of the Election Judges appointed by the Circuit Court for 2:00 pm this Friday, August 4, 2017, for purposes of certifying the results of the formation election regarding the proposed Kansas City Main Street Rail Transportation Development District.  It is anticipated that official results will be available shortly after 2:00 p.m. on Friday August 4, 2017.

Results will be available on the KCEB website.

More information about the proposal is here.


KCRTA supports Question 2 on August 8 ballot

The Board of the Kansas City Regional Transit Alliance supports Question 2 on the August 8 ballot in Kansas City, Missouri.

In complete contrast to Question 1 on the same ballot, Question 2 is a petition initiative that supports streetcar, as well as providing connections with a fleet of electric buses.

This proposal is drastically different from others offered by Clay Chastain, all of which we have opposed in the past.

  • It does not divert funding from the city’s 3/8th cent sales tax, which is essential for maintaining core bus service. Instead, it creates new funding sources for bus operations.
  • It includes a scope of work that can be scaled to available revenue – assuming federal funds are made available – through a “build what you can” caveat that would allow progress to continue in reasonable phases.
  • It provides a strong response to Question 1, an unreasonable anti-streetcar position on the same ballot.

You can view the sample ballot for the August 8 election here.