Kansas City Announces Another New, Fare-Free Streetcar Line

The Kansas City Streetcar is set for another expansion, reports Michael Boyle in Streetsblog USA.

The Kansas City Streetcar Authority announced a plan for a new, fare-free line traveling east-west. The final route is yet to be determined, but will run through the historic jazz district 18th and Vine. “The proposed lines would also provide easy transfers with popular north/south bus routes, helping to further reconnect the east and west sides of the city.”

To prevent displacement from gentrification along the street car lines, the city passed an anti-displacement ordinance that “highlights a plan to build more dense housing in the streetcar corridor and to preserve existing affordable housing through formula grants.” While Kansas City buses may start charging fares in June, the streetcar will stay free thanks to a 1 percent sales tax on businesses near the line and property taxes. 

According to Boyle, “the Kansas City streetcar defied the naysayers to become one of the most successful public transit projects to come out of the 2010s. Ridership exceeded expectations. Businesses boomed all along the streetcar corridor. From 2017 to 2025, more than 1,700 new apartment units were constructed along Main Street, helping increase the downtown population by 44 percent in a 10-year period.”