Comments on: Meet MAX

By: Corey

Corey — Tue, 26 Jul 2005 22:44:14 +0000

Is the MAX service free this week? I thought I heard that it was earlier on the news.

By: NoNewsMan

NoNewsMan — Tue, 26 Jul 2005 13:51:20 +0000

I too am all for improving public transport. Won’t be long until we’ll all be longing for even these days of $2.15-30 per-gallon petro.

It might be a good idea if this new Paseo/I-35 bridge had some sort of dedicated transit system lanes built in to it.

By: worst weather ever

worst weather ever — Mon, 25 Jul 2005 18:39:04 +0000

my wife plans on taking it downtown for work now. the old system woudl have taken 35-40min, this one will take 20-25. im all for imporviing the public transppot system no matter what the motivation

By: Bryan

Bryan — Mon, 25 Jul 2005 17:22:03 +0000

I rode it yesterday and thought it was great. I never used the metro before, but MAX looked attractive and simple and so I gave it a try. It really impressed me. I live a very short walk from one of the stations and will be using it on a weekly basis.

And as Tim pointed out, the buses were packed.

By: Tim

Tim — Mon, 25 Jul 2005 16:10:13 +0000

I rode it yesterday, and it just glides. Like riding a train, but not rickety. It’s like you’re floating on air. BTW, it was packed, including lots of people you don’t often see on a bus in KC: visitors with shopping bags who had been to the plaza and staying at Crown Center, etc. It’s gonna change everything.

By: Greg Beck

Greg Beck — Mon, 25 Jul 2005 13:28:03 +0000

I wrote about the MAX transit system weeks ago, here what concerned me about it minus the bad language since I know certain words upsets you folks.

It might just be my bad eyesight or is the new “MAX” transit system that’s set to start later this month in town running the Main Street corridor not looking quite right? I’m gonna take a closer look but the bigass stations that were built for it seem to take up a whole lot of sidewalk especially here in Midtown. I’m just saying and all, but I’d hate to be the cat in a wheelchair or some such device trying to negotiate past one of those station. Someone else wanna check and tell me what they think?

By: tony

tony — Mon, 25 Jul 2005 11:58:20 +0000

Finally, just to try and prove I’m not a completely dumbass ogre, in a capitalist society that is centered on competition, private ownership and commerce I find that there is little overall consensus (or large scale success) regarding any “public” project that might benefit the overall citizenry but does not conform to the aforementioned core values of the culture. Sure, there is a minimum standard of living that we would “like” to provide everyone in this country BUT even the extent those programs (i.e. nationalized healthcare, welfare, and public education) are fiercely contested. Furthermore, for those that might suggest that public and private interests can harmoniously co-exist . . . all you have to do is consider the plight of so many economically disadvantaged metro riders who rode for years on end (before downtown redevelopment) when few people had a concern for public transit efficiency. Only now that the new gentry have set upon downtown does the city search for a way improve crosstown bus lines. To that end, this project will ultimately fail because those same members of new gentry to whom the City is so eager to cater, already have their own transportation. Put simply, the first guy was absolutely correct when he stated: “more empty buses to cruise the streets.”

By: Hippstar

Hippstar — Mon, 25 Jul 2005 00:05:37 +0000

I agree with Chris. The only reason JoCo bothers with “The Jo” or whatever it’s called is because JoCo government has a lot of money and wants to spend it. It’s the same reason they want to build an arena nobody asked for.

I think it’s better for KCMO to not have to worry about running buses way the hell out to Olathe for people who would rather die than ride a bus (seriously, there are lots of those people out here). Plus, it’s not like a bus is going to get you to downtown any quicker than a car since 35 is the only way to get there.

I looked into taking the bus from 119th & Quivira to the Plaza, and it was seriously going to take about an hour and a half. I’m not complaining; I think it’s good that KCMO can build up a good public transpo system without having to worry about JoCo.

By: NoNewsMan

NoNewsMan — Sun, 24 Jul 2005 03:40:05 +0000

I always wondered why those tracks that run south of the Truman Sports Complex were not used for a light rail system running to downtown.

Those huge empty stadium lots could be used for commuter park & ride during the week.

More lack of forward-thinking from our tax-imcrememnt-financing pollys.

By: mwd

mwd — Sat, 23 Jul 2005 21:32:25 +0000

Let’s keep in mind that this is just a starter line. Yes it leaves a lot to be desired, but you can’t build 15 rail lines over night. If people use this first MAX line, then the ATA will build more.

Check out Smart Moves. It’s a plan for a real regional transit system with busses, multiple MAX lines, and possbily even light rail and/or commuter rail some day. People are already working a new law for it in Jeff City and Topeka, and in the next year or two we could have a metro-wide vote on regional transit funding.

http://www.marc.org/kcsmartmoves/