JUANA SUMMERS, HOST:
The World Cup is about a month away. And Kansas City, Missouri, the smallest host city, is preparing for hundreds of thousands of visitors. As Savannah Hawley-Bates with member station KCUR reports, it is building a second transit system to get visitors and residents more interested in taking the bus.
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SAVANNAH HAWLEY-BATES, BYLINE: I'm on my way from downtown Kansas City, where the FIFA Fan Fest will take place starting in June, to the stadium where six World Cup matches will be played this summer. It's about a 15-minute car ride. But I'm taking public transit, which will take a lot longer. There's currently no fast public transit to the stadium where the World Cup matches will be played. Slow, infrequent buses are the norm for Kansas Citians. But this summer, the World Cup will bring a transportation windfall, at least temporarily. That includes a direct route from downtown to the stadium where the matches will take place.
PAM KRAMER: From the very beginning there's been a real focus on making sure that we put our best foot forward.
HAWLEY-BATES: That's Pam Kramer, the CEO of KC2026, the city's planning group behind the World Cup. It will run its own transit system on top of the existing regional system. The extra buses will be called ConnectKC26. The plan is to carry hundreds of thousands of visitors to 15 different locations where no direct bus service currently exists. They include the FIFA Fan Festival, the airport, the stadium and other tourist attractions.
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HAWLEY-BATES: But those new routes will last for only the month of the tournament. So I'm taking the current route from downtown to the stadium.
AUTOMATED VOICE: Next stop, plaza.
HAWLEY-BATES: Our journey starts on Kansas City Streetcar. After about 15 minutes, it's time to transfer.
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HAWLEY-BATES: The bus arrives 10 minutes behind schedule, and I step on board with my travel companion.
ERIC BUNCH: Hi. I'm Eric Bunch.
HAWLEY-BATES: As both a city council member and a commissioner for the regional transit agency, Eric Bunch has been working to ensure the World Cup is a smooth ride for everyone. That includes making sure that KC2026's new buses coordinate with the existing ones, like the one we're on.
BUNCH: The stadium is like 7 miles from downtown. And that's 7 Kansas City miles, not 7 New York miles. So it still lacks a lot of the density between here and there. And so transit options are pretty limited.
HAWLEY-BATES: The issue here is frequency. This bus comes only once every 45 minutes and takes a lot of stops before it gets to the stadium, which is on the eastern edge of the city, right next to a highway. With the added buses, Pam Kramer, with the planning committee, says she wants the World Cup transit to be a showcase for the city.
KRAMER: To make sure people from across the region participate and make sure visitors see all we have to offer is something I'm really proud of.
HAWLEY-BATES: Right now, all buses are free in Kansas City. But they're reinstating fares just in time for the World Cup. So this bus trip to and from the stadium will cost $4. But a ConnectKC26 direct bus will cost $15 round trip. That's more than host cities like Dallas and Philadelphia, but far less than the $100-plus fans will pay for stadium transit in New York. For the non-stadium trips, there's a $50 pass in Kansas City that's valid for a month. Bunch hopes people will use it and explore public transit.
BUNCH: You know, you could buy a pass for the entire month and just explore the city. I think that's an exciting thing. So I think that there's an opportunity. But I think that we really have to be mindful and really thoughtful about how we leverage that for future planning.
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HAWLEY-BATES: But for now, our bus has arrived outside the stadium, about 25 minutes and 40 stops later. I'm now 50 minutes into this trip.
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HAWLEY-BATES: All that's left is a 15-minute walk from the stop, through the stadium's massive parking lots, to its entrance. For NPR News, I'm Savannah Hawley-Bates in Kansas City.
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