Things I’m excited to try with my kid

I’ve heard many people derogatorily refer to the KC Streetcar as a white people mover. In KC We have always called the tiny 2 mile downtown streetcar a starter line, and everything great has to start somewhere.

The KC Streetcar’s no fare plus special taxation model needed to prove its financial capacity to actually run a transit line. Now that it has proven financially viable, and quite popular we are experimenting to see how expansion works. I for one am very excited to use it for family outings. 

                I often hear, but isn’t the bus better? Or isn’t it just a big bus that gets stuck? While there is some truth to that, there’s also a clear benefit that the buses have not been able to replicate, which is level walk on and off. We tried to replicate it on the prospect max and it failed. Buses are simply not as a good at level on and off as the streetcar is.  

That’s the big game changer for families using the streetcar.  While I do use the bus often, it is as a single individual when I’m going between places. It is no surprise that one of the biggest streetcar user groups are families having fun times together.

                For a family outing the streetcar is a far superior method of transportation.  Plus kids LOVE trains, there’s something more magical about getting on a train that the bus cannot replicate .  You feel it as an adult, and the kids certainly know it.  Perhaps the ineffable quality is the best thing the streetcar has to offer, which is why everything around it feels better, even though everything about them screams inefficient expensive bus. Perhaps the awe of a child’s mind offers us the clue as to why we all like getting a a streetcar so much more than a bus.