Metropolitan Kansas City's
Long-Range Transportation Plan

citizen discussion at Transportation Outlook 2040 open house

Process Archive

Here are materials used in the development of Transportation Outlook 2040.

Reports

 

Other Materials

 

Final Open House – May 13, 2010

Over 55 citizens attended a day-long open house hosted by MARC on May 13, 2010, to review exhibits and share feedback about draft plan for Transportation Outlook 2040. Exhibits included policy goals, financial information, land-use direction, a draft 30-year population forecast, and a list of recommended transportation projects. Citizens also participated in several discussions about how to turn the plan’s vision and strategies into action.

See event photos

 

MARC Board of Directors – April 2010

 

MARC Board of Directors – March 2010

 

Public Meetings – February 2010

Over the next 30 years, the Kansas City region can expect to add 500,000 people [NOTE: later revised to 750,000 people] and 300,000 jobs. Predicting where they will be located helps jurisdictions plan for future travel needs. MARC hosted several community meetings around the region Feb. 3, 4 and 11, 2010, to discuss land-use scenarios under consideration that show alternate ways of accommodating growth. The city of Leavenworth hosted an additional meeting on Feb. 17.

 

MARC Board of Directors – September 2009

 

Open House – June 3, 2009

MARC hosted a day-long open house on June 3, 2009, to present ideas for how Transportation Outlook 2040 could guide investments in roadways, transit, bridges, bicycles, freight and more over the next 30 years. Over 140 citizens attended the event to review exhibits and share feedback about the kind of growth we should plan for as a metro, and whether strategies identified so far will help achieve our proposed transportation goals. Attendees evaluated two future growth scenarios for the year 2040, which were developed for the first time by the region's Technical Forecast Committee, using existing local land-use plans.

See event photos

 

Imagine KC logoImagine KC

Beginning in 2009, citizens across the region participated in Imagine KC, a widespread public engagement effort to talk about their vision for a more sustainable Kansas City region. The effort culminated in a live regional town hall meeting that was broadcast on Kansas City Public Television (KCPT). Imagine KC was a partnership between MARC, One KC Voice, the University of Kansas, Bridging the Gap, KCPT and the Regional Transit Alliance. The project was funded by a grant from the Federal Highway Administration and major supporters Burns & McDonnell and Kansas City Power & Light.

Since then, MARC and KCPT have partnered to co-produce a 12-part "Imagine KC" television series (which debuted Nov. 18, 2010). Using video footage from throughout the region, graphics, animated scenarios, expert interviews and viewer feedback, the series is focused on helping the region envision its future. It will encourage residents to imagine a more vibrant, connected and green region.

 

postcardsPostcards to the Future

Postcards to the Future is an activity that challenges children to think about the future — not just their own but the future of the larger world around them. MARC asked children what they think transportation in our region should look like in 30 years, and had them create a "postcard to the future." Prior to the art activity, children played transportation charades, and MARC staff members made presentations about transportation planning and Transportation Outlook 2040.

 

Futre in Focus Photography Contest"Future in Focus" Photo Contest

The Mid-America Regional Council hosted a photography contest Oct. 15–Dec. 31, 2008, to challenge people to explore the character and places we value in the Kansas City region — from Olathe to Kearney and Platte City to Harrisonville. Dozens of citizens joined the conversation about what our "picture" should be for the year 2040, and how transportation can help achieve the vision. MARC featured these photos in print and website communications for Transportation Outlook 2040.

 

Community Presentations & Discussions

MARC transportation and research staff conducted more than 100 presentations and discussions with a variety of community organizations, civic groups, local governments and the general public from late 2008 through 2010. Staff provided an overview of Transportation Outlook 2040 and talked with attendees about transportation challenges, needs and goals, opportunities in their communities, and — later in the process — growth and development scenarios. List of community outreach presentations

 

Committee Discussions

MARC's committee structure provides significant opportunity to engage community leaders. Throughout plan development, various MARC committees closely tracked Transportation Outlook 2040's progress, ensuring that local planners and elected officials had ample opportunity to provide input on the plan's policy goals, strategies, financial forecasting, alternative scenarios modeling, and evaluate nominated projects. The Total Transportation Policy Committee and the Long‐Range Transportation Subcommittee played particularly key roles in guiding plan development.

Key themes that emerged across multiple committees:

 

Citizen Discussions – October 2008

MARC held five Transportation Outlook 2040 community discussions in the region during October 2008. Citizens were invited to talk about how they thought tax dollars should be spent on transportation projects in the Kansas City region over the next three decades.

Several activities tasked participants with allocating poker chips to invest the region's transportation dollars in different modes, equity and environmental issues. During a third activity, each participant was asked to use poker chips to allocate what kinds of growth should happen — from sparse rural areas to a dense urban core.

 

Transportation Outlook 2040 Timeline

MARC went through a multistep process to develop Transportation Outlook 2040.

  2008 2009 2010
SPR SUM FAL WIN SPR SUM FAL WIN SPR SUM FAL WIN
Step 1.
Understand existing conditions		                        
Step 2.
Create a regional transportation vision based on needs and values		                        
Step 3.
Evaluate potential planning strategies		                        
Step 4.
Choose a preferred future scenario		                        
Step 5.
Select major transportation projects and develop plan		                        
Step 6.
Adopt and communicate final plan