United Way of Greater Kansas City is pleased to partner with the Kansas City Area Transportation Authority (KCATA) to help riders continue to access vital bussing services, as fares will resume on June 1.
Transportation is routinely identified within the top five needs of those reaching out to United Way 211—our region’s 24/7 resource and referral line—for support. This partnership recognizes that many in our community need access to public transit, but fares may present a barrier to accessing vital services.
“Public transit is how many working families access jobs, how seniors may get to medical appointments, how people can reach the food pantries and services that keep them stable,” said Jim McDonald, Senior Advisor on United Way’s Community Impact Team. “Nearly 50,000 Kansas City households don’t own vehicles—so we know the bus system plays a pivotal role in connecting people to community. We’re thankful to be working alongside KCATA to ensure our most vulnerable neighbors will continue to have access to this important service.”
United Way will provide administrative support to connect qualifying individuals with discounted passes. Eligible populations will include:
- Children ages 6-18 (Under 6 are free)
- Adults ages 65+
- Low-income people receiving assistance through SNAP, WIC, TANF, Medicaid, LIHEAP/LIEAP, Federal housing subsidy programs
- Medicare card holders
- Individuals with disabilities enrolled in SSI, SSDI and VA disability compensation, or RideKC Freedom paratransit services
United Way will support KCATA in identity and income verification, working with applicants throughout the process, and providing regular updates to KCATA on the number of individuals qualifying to receive 50% discounted passes, which will be applied to their KCATA digital account. Those wishing to apply for these discounted rates can do so here starting June 1st.
“Every fare paid is reinvested into running our network,” said Chuck Ferguson, KCATA interim CEO. “Fares help sustain reliable service and provide opportunities throughout our region. We are grateful to be partnering with United Way as we reintroduce fares to our broad-based community for the first time in six years. Their expertise will be so valuable in ensuring equitable access to transit.”
The next part of the program will be rolled out in two primary phases. The first phase will include distributing a maximum of 20,000 single-day passes over the course of the year. These free rides will be made available to individuals already being served by a variety of local nonprofit partners, designed to help individuals access services like food pantries, healthcare, rent/utility assistance, employment and case management programming.
Phase two will launch this fall, with the addition of three-month and 12-month free-fare passes.
We’ve also included a list of FAQs at unitedwaygkc.org/RideKC.
For route and schedule information, visit RideKC.org any time or call the RideKC Regional Call Center at (816) 221-0660 weekdays from 6 a.m to 6 p.m. Translation assistance for trip information is available in more than 500 languages.
El Centro de Llamadas Regional de RideKC brinda asistencia con la traducción al (816) 221-0660, de lunes a viernes de 6 a.m. a 6 p.m. Lo conectaremos con un intérprete que puede traducir la información del viaje en mas de 400 idiomas.