Kansas City has once again approved last-minute funding to prevent drastic bus cuts that were just weeks away.
The Kansas City Area Transportation Authority was originally set to eliminate nine bus routes and reduce the frequency on four others because the city’s budget for the transit agency was not enough to cover current service levels. A nationwide trend of higher transportation costs and a lack of regional funding across the metro has resulted in Kansas City shouldering most of the KCATA’s operational costs, which leaves the agency in a constant cycle of budget strain and service cuts.
An ordinance approved unanimously by the city council last week approved another $8.3 million for the KCATA. That’s enough to stop the cuts from going into effect Sept. 6 as originally planned…