KS: The bus is how 79-year-old gets around KC. Looming fare comeback makes her uneasy

Sadie Grant, 79, waited outside the Kansas City Area Transportation Authority’s East Village Transit Center for her bus, grocery bags resting on her red walker.

She’s lived in Kansas City for the past 18 years and takes trips on the buses around four times per week.

In her experience, the bus system is broken, Grant said, pointing to a lack of public restrooms for riders, the bench removals at bus stations and an infrequent and unreliable schedule.

Despite its faults, the KCATA buses are Grant’s only means of transportation. She uses them for everything, she said, from getting groceries to going to the library.

“I don’t have any family here, so I have to do everything myself,” Grant said.

These past five years, Grant hasn’t paid for her trips — nor has any other KCATA bus rider. The KCATA did away with their bus fare in 2020, providing transportation to all members of the public for free.

But some riders will begin paying fares again in 2026, as required by a new contract between the regional transit authority and Kansas City. Although the KCATA has plans to keep buses free for low-income riders, how that will work in practice and specific information on the threshold to qualify for a free fare is still unclear.

How much will the bus cost?

Last week, the Kansas City Council authorized the city to enter into a new contract with the KCATA, directing nearly $78 million from the city’s transit sales taxes to the regional authority for this budget year and in effect mandating next year’s fares.

On Wednesday, the city’s press secretary told The Star that the contract was still yet to be finalized.

The last contract between the KCATA and the city expired in late April, leaving a funding deadline fast approaching that was resolved through the contract.

But, as one KCATA spokesperson said, “a lot of unanswered questions” remain, including a confirmed price of the bus fare — and whether that fare will be the same across the metro or not.

“We want to work regionally to see if we can arrive at a consistent base fare with the Johnson County and Unified Government systems,” the KCATA said in a statement to The Star. “We are working with them to finalize a regional fare structure.”

Another unanswered question lies in who will still receive free transit.

Grant, who relies on Social Security, said she would not be able to afford, for example, a $2 bus fare. Because she takes the bus both to and from her destinations, those small trips would add up quickly, eating into her grocery money, she said.

“Everything is so expensive,” Grant said. “I don’t get food stamps … I have to buy all my food, so that’ll be a big hole.”

Grant doesn’t know if she would continue to get to ride the bus for free. Information is not yet available on who will still qualify for free fares next year, how that will be determined or how qualifying individuals will be made aware of the service.

According to an Aug. 15 KCATA press release, “Free fares will be offered to those who qualify, but they will need to obtain a specific fare mechanism.”

Before the buses dropped their fares, some riders still rode for free with certain “fare mechanisms.” For example, starting in 2017, veterans rode the buses for free as long as they had an ID denoting military service. Veterans could receive these IDs through the Veterans Community Project on Troost Avenue.

The KCATA confirmed that some kind of pass will once again be what signals to bus drivers that a rider gets free admission. But “what that pass is and how it is obtained is being worked on,” the spokesperson said.

Long history of funding struggles

The KCATA eliminated its bus fare in March of 2020. It was a coincidence that getting rid of fares coincided with the COVID-19 pandemic. Talks of a free bus system began well before.

But federal pandemic relief funds still benefitted the bus system. The problem is that recently, those funds have been drying up, leaving the KCATA with a deficit to make up for. Just last year, the agency questioned whether it would be able to continue offering free rides in 2025.

The regional authority’s budget is made up of contributions from various local governments across the metro, with Kansas Citymaking up a significant portion of that. The equation makes it difficult to plan ahead, as cities consider reducing or cutting how much they put toward regional public transit as part of their respective budget processes each year. Within the last few years, several area cities have dropped their contracts with the KCATA altogether, which affects the authority’s overall bottom line.

Previous reporting from The Star also found that although Kansas City is the largest supporter of the KCATA, it also has diverted some funds that were to go toward the transportation agency.

As for the questions relating to fare structures and free fares for those who need them, the KCATA said it expects to have answers in the next few months as work toward implementing the contract progresses.