World Cup crowds offer 'stress test' for Kansas City transit planners

Transportation planners in Kansas City, Missouri are studying World Cup-related travel patterns to understand bottlenecks in the city's transit system and inform planning efforts, reports Josh Merchant for KCUR.

As Merchant explains, "Over the next few weeks, the region’s transportation system will face a stress test of thousands of extra cars on the highway, passengers on buses and streetcars, bikes on trails and pedestrians wandering the streets downtown." In a way, this offers a glimpse into what the city's mobility needs will look like as it continues to grow. 

As World Cup games continue over the next month, officials from the Mid-America Regional Council will collect data about travel behavior. "Transportation planners hope that the results will help local governments around the metro build out a more reliable road, bike and transit network for the next chapter of Kansas City’s growth." 

Planners hope the data will reveal gaps in the city's transit network and which lines are the most well-used, as well as where dedicated bus lanes could help improve bus reliability and speed. Bobby Evans, a transportation planner at MARC, says he hopes the World Cup games will offer some residents an opportunity to use transit for the first time — and hopefully not the last.