UPDATED May 5, 2025
Folks, we have some great updates to share with you regarding Ordinance 250382. We’ve learned that the finance committee will NOT move forward with the ordinance at tomorrow’s meeting. Doing so means it is essentially dead (for now).
We know many of you were planning on attending the finance committee tomorrow. We do not think it is necessary now for you to attend. Your time is valuable and we much prefer to call on you when a show of numbers is needed. In this case, your emails and voices made all the difference!
BikeWalkKC staff will be in attendance to monitor the committee proceedings. Should any surprises happen, we will communicate with all of you about next steps. But for now, it appears both Bike Share and Vision Zero will remain as they were in the latest budget.
It is without a doubt that YOUR VOICE made this outcome possible. We cannot thank you enough for speaking up and supporting Bike Share, Vision Zero, and KCMO’s transit system.
Thank you!
In the next few days City Council could make devastating cuts to bike share and Vision Zero safety projects without fixing the bus and IRIS funding crisis.
Mayor Lucas has introduced Ordinance 250382 as an inadequate patch to the bus and IRIS program funding crisis. At best, it’s a temporary stop-gap measure that will further undermine KCMO’s overall transportation system and the safety of people who walk, drive, bike, and use the bus. And, it will cast further doubt on KCMO’s ability to meet the transportation needs of visitors for the World Cup.
Click here to take action now or keep reading for more details.
The legislation will:
- Force steep cuts to the city’s bike share program. This would significantly shrink the size of the bike share program in KCMO. Bike share is a lifeline for people getting to and from bus stops, especially as bus service continues to be cut. 60% of all bike share trips begin or end at a bus stop.
- Cut over $2.7 million from the city’s Vision Zero efforts. Coupled with cuts during the budget process, this would amount to a total 60% cut in Vision Zero funding that was just expanded by the City Council this spring.
- Undermine FIFA World Cup efforts. We need a strong transportation system for residents and international visitors. Defunding bike share, transit, and transportation safety projects is NOT the approach we need in this moment.
This is very important to me. I walk a lot and want to take the bus more than I do. Biking is important to me too and bike lanes make a good buffer for crossing the street. Many of our streets are too wide for crossing on foot safely. Vision zero and the bike lanes get my full support.
Click here to take action now or keep reading for more details.
The cuts are being proposed as a means of providing critical funding to the KCATA and the IRIS program. BikeWalkKC supports more investments in public transportation (including advocating for funding during the budget process and supporting efforts to establish regional transit funding), but we’ve also been clear that such increases can’t come at the expense of making our streets more dangerous and undermining the larger transportation system.
What is at stake
Some of the Vision Zero projects at risk include:
- Pedestrian safety on Independence Ave (in 3 years there have been 9 fatalities and 38 serious injuries)
- Dozens of crosswalks at elementary schools
- Dozens of new speed humps in neighborhoods city-wide
- All protected bike lane and cycle track projects planned for 2025
What City Hall fails to understand is that our transportation system isn’t made up of silos; it is an interwoven network that requires support and sufficient funding especially for people who are unable to drive.
I am a Federal employee and rely heavily on our city’s bikeshare program to get to the office every day. With telework agreements being abruptly terminated for thousands of employees, parking is unavailable for all of us on a daily basis. RideKC Bike has been the most reliable transportation system for myself and others who live in the city core.
Take Action
BikeWalkKC opposes Ordinance 250382, and we’re asking our members and partners to do the same. Here’s how you can help us:
👉If you live in KCMO (click here): Send an email to public testimony as well as your council members asking them to oppose this ordinance.
👉If you live outside of KCMO (click here): Sign this petition asking the City Council not to adopt this measure.
As part of a team helping a refugee family, I strongly oppose cuts to the bike share program. These bikes are used and are essential links for some to get to a bus stop. Many of these people do not own cars and need a low cost option for transportation. This will hurt those we should be supporting and helping.
Show up at City Hall Tuesday
The measure is expected to go to the city’s Finance Committee on Tuesday, May 6 at 10:30am at City Hall (414 E. 12th Street, KCMO 64106). If you’re able to attend in person (or virtually) to speak in opposition, we would appreciate your presence!
What does the community say?
More than 100 residents of Kansas City, MO have shared how this issue important for their families:
Living in the Northeast, I know how important the safety improvements to St John and Lexington have been to our community. I’m writing to ask you to oppose Ordinance 250382 so we can have continued improvements for pedestrians, bikers and drivers.
I believe that funding for adequate public transportation is vital. As a Northlander who commutes by bicycle, I believe that providing public transportation options is not only important for the environment, but also for long range planning for the city.
I’m still looking for work and every time I apply for a job I first check if there is a bus stop nearby, how often the bus is, whether there is a decent sidewalk between the job and the bus stop, and if there is a bike lane that I could use. I do not want you defunding my methods of getting to and from potential jobs
Our city will lose critical public safety nets with this legislation. As a bus rider, I cannot sit quietly while my friends who ride bikes lose the safety provided by vision zero to fund the buses I depend on. We will not be pitted against each other.
Vision Zero has been the only clear voice and action plan for those of us who do not drive. It is not just a transportation strategy — it is a moral commitment to protect lives and build equity into our urban design. Weakening or dismantling any part of this effort, whether directly or indirectly, will isolate and endanger citizens who rely on non-car options for mobility. Some will lose their jobs, their access to healthcare, education, or simply the ability to participate in daily life.
Reducing money from vision zero will result in more dead pedestrians. Dangerous intersections will continue to exist, and people will die while riding their bikes, walking their dogs, and taking their kids to school. There is only one way for the city to seriously reduce these tragedies. If the city is serious about Zero traffic fatalities, then it needs to spend serious money. If it continues to cut this funding further, it would continue to show that “Vision Zero” is a catchy name for a goal it’s not serious about achieving.
I live in one of the walkable neighborhoods in Kansas city on the east side and love it deeply. We need vision zero and bikeshare for our neighbors who don’t drive everywhere and for kids to live healthy lives outside and moving. Please help us keep it safe to walk and bike and run in our neighborhoods and to improve traffic calming, especially on independence ave.
As part of a team helping a refugee family, I strongly oppose cuts to the bike share program. These bikes are used and are essential links for some to get to a bus stop. Many of these people do not own cars and need a low cost option for transportation. This will hurt those we should be supporting and helping.
I frequently use my bike to get around, access healthcare, get to classes at UMKC (nearly 40 blocks away). The Vision Zero funds have created bike lanes that make my rides safer and more accessible. The parts of my ride that are most harrowing are near my home, especially on Independence Ave. cutting these funds would be detrimental to the city, especially with events like the World Cup coming up. I love this city, and I love telling my friends how bikeable and walkable it is. Please preserve this vital infrastructure and continue to fund improvements so our city can continue to develop.
Our city needs MORE protected bike lanes and traffic calming, not less. Unfortunately I personally know people who have been hit by drivers while biking. Every day while mixing with traffic I fear I’ll be hit, too
Our transportation system deserves to be funded to the fullest extent and to cut one version of sustainable transportation for the other is not right.
Safe and secure walking and biking is just as important to the city as a robust transportation system. If people are not able to safely walk to their destination after they get off the bus, what is the point of the transportation in the first place? I consistently see people have to walk in ditches because there is no sidewalk, use unsafe crosswalks that stretch across 4 lanes of traffic, and have to bike on roads with high speed limits because there isn’t another option.
When World Cup comes to town, a lot of those fans are from countries that are used to cycling everywhere. It will be very important for us to have these alternatives for them.
Kansas City deserves a comprehensive, fully funded transportation system that works for everyone. I urge you to reject Ordinance 250382 and instead pursue long-term, sustainable solutions that strengthen—not sacrifice—public transit, bike share, and street safety together.
Cars are only going to get more expensive and we need to invest in alternatives now.