Kansas City Looks Back on its Long, Costly Ride With Microtransit
Since 2016, the Kansas City Area Transportation Authority has offered door-to-door trips from on-demand shuttles. Here’s what the transit operator has learned.
In 2017, Kansas City Area Transportation Authority president and CEO Robbie Makinen launched RideKC Freedom, an earlier microtransit program.
Photographer: Keith Myers/Kansas City Star/Tribune News Service via Getty Images
Few innovations in public transportation are trendier — or more controversial — than microtransit: on-demand shuttles that ferry passengers from origin to destination and cost little more than a bus fare.
For passengers, the appeal is clear. Who wouldn’t leap at the chance to take a door-to-door trip that is far cheaper than hailing an Uber? Advocates claim microtransit can bring people to public transit who would never otherwise consider it, while critics question the scalability of a service that can require eye-watering subsidies.