Northeast News

July 6, 2016

KANSAS CITY, Missouri – Members of the Northeast Chamber of Commerce were invited last week for a tour of the facility where the KC Streetcar calls home.

After a chamber luncheon held at Caddy Shack, chamber members walked over to the KC Streetcar Vehicle Maintenance facility for a guided tour from Donna Mandelbaum, Communications Manager with KC Streetcar Authority. Mandelbaum dropped some knowledge about KC’s newest transportation option and offered chamber members a behind-the-scenes look at the facility that keeps the streetcars (mostly) up and running.

Mandelbaum began the tour by relaying the ridership figures from the KC Streetcar’s opening weeks and months of operation.

It’s definitely exceeded our expectations,” said Mandelbaum. “I think our daily average weekday ridership numbers are like 6,500. Weekends are higher; for example, on this past Saturday we had nearly 10,000 riders.”

During the tour, Mandelbaum also showed off the streetcar facility’s control room, which is used to track the vehicles. The room features a wall full of monitors that are used to monitor activity along the route.

“This bottom left monitor is important because its tracking our streetcars,” Mandelbaum said. “You can see we have three on alignment, so you can see where each one is. It also feeds into our system so we know which operator is operating which streetcar vehicle at any given time.”

While this technology is currently not available for the public to peruse, Mandelbaum noted that the KC Streetcar Authority is working on a solution that will help get real-time arrival information to passengers.

“We are working on an app where you could track the streetcar on your phone for free,” Mandelbaum said.

Mandelbaum also noted that 16 cameras are on board each streetcar. Every streetcar holds a maximum of 150 people, while hitting each stop every 10-15 minutes. The streetcar does provide audible cues for the visually impaired, as it tells riders what stop they are going to, as well as what stop they are currently at.

The tour concluded in the facility’s large maintenance garage, which at the time housed one of Kansas City’s four streetcars. Maintenance staff worked on the roof of the streetcar, which could be accessed from the second level of the two-story garage.

The KC Streetcar Authority reported on Wednesday, July 6 that the streetcar was ridden more than 30,000 times during the 4th of July weekend. In the two months since the 2.2-mile route opened, more than 380,000 passengers have taken a ride.