Kansas City, Kansas Community College joins U-Pass program

RideKC's popular U-Pass program will be extended to a Kansas higher education institution for the first time under a pilot program recently approved by the Kansas City Area Transportation Authority's Board of Commissioners.

The KCATA board approved a plan for offering the U-Pass at Kansas City, Kansas Community College as part of a one-year pilot program for the 2017-2018 academic year. The board approved the agreement following conversations with the community college.

The new program brings to four the number of schools participating in the U-Pass program, which allows students to use their college ID as a bus pass.

“We anticipate the pass partnership with Kansas City, Kansas Community College to be successful and look forward to working closely together to maximize the benefits to the college and its students,” said Dick Jarrold, the KCATA's vice president of regional planning and development.

The pass stands to benefit the more than 5,000 students who attend Kansas City, Kansas Community College. The community college is now served by two bus routes, the 101 State Avenue and the 116 West Parallel. Starting July 30, it will be served by a third route, the 114 Amazon Link.

The U-Pass program started in 2011 at the University of Missouri-Kansas City. The KCATA now has similar agreements with Metropolitan Community College and the Kansas City Art Institute.

The program has proven to be popular with college students.

At UMKC, the pass averages 24,000 trips a month. At MCC’s campuses, it averages about 22,000 a month and at the art institute it averages about 1,700 a month.

We look forward to promising results at Kansas City, Kansas Community College as well.