SHAME: Kansas City Streetcar 'On Time & Under Budget' Lies Exposed

The local toy train has always run on deception and sketchy deals. 

Thanks to the work of a KCMO TAX FIGHTER . . . We now know the how & why of it . . . 

Several media outlets reported the cost and the length. None wondered why a Midwestern city with a relatively low cost of living would have such a high cost per mile. None questioned the claim that the extension was completed on time and under budget — even though it was easily disproven. 

Back in 2016, the Kansas City Streetcar Authority claimed the cost of the extension would be roughly $227 million (already put into 2019 dollars) and the line was expected to open as early as 2022. Five years later, the cost had ballooned 55% to $352 million. Why? The project’s federal reviewers were skeptical of the original cost claims. 

In 2019, long before the first rail was laid, Federal Transit Administration researchers reported that the estimated cost had already jumped 11% — from $316.58 million to $351.63 million — citing “further design work and an extended project schedule.” Reviewers gave the project’s cost estimate reasonableness a “medium-low” rating and called the operating cost estimates, “optimistic compared to recent historical experience.” 

The opening date also shifted considerably. Originally set for 2022, it was moved to August 2024. Then it was pushed back again to December 2025. Nevertheless, the late opening and increased costs were heralded as “on time and under budget.”

Read more via www.TonysKansasCity.com link . . .

No, KC Streetcar extension was not on time and under budget | Opinion

Former City Manager Brian Platt claimed these projects cost $150 million a mile. That's wrong, and he should have gotten pushback. | Opinion

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