st. locale wichita kansas united states service type bus service paratransit routes 17 fleet 51 transit bus 26 wheelchair vans 1 chief executive steve spade 2 website wichitatransit.org wichita transit is the public transportation department of the city of wichita which operates paratransit and transit bus services within wichita kansas united states . 1 3 contents 1 fleet 2 services 3 history 4 recent issues & developments 4.1 downtown redevelopment 4.2 khi health assessment 4.3 funding and sales tax issues 5 route list 6 see also 7 references 8 external links fleet edit wichita transit maintains a fleet of 51 ada compliant buses and 26 wheelchair lift vans . all regular wichita transit buses are equipped free wi fi and bike racks . 4 services edit transit services operate 17 fixed route bus lines and 17 demand response paratransit routes . they report about two million yearly fixed route trips and 320 800 yearly disabled paratransit trips . using a few replica trolleys the city also operates the q line shuttle service through downtown and adjoining areas in conjunction with the wichita downtown development corporation chiefly during recreational days hours typically evenings and weekends and during major conventions downtown . city buses including the imitation trolley cars are sometimes available for charter . history edit wichita transit evolved out of a long history of mass transit in wichita . early buses were horse drawn . by the late 1800s early 1900s the city had developed a trolley rail system connecting key commercial areas to the rest of the city . by the late 1920s the system had switched to electric trolleys . during the 1930s 1940s the system shifted to conventional gasoline diesel powered busses and reached its peak ridership during world war ii as the city became a hub of aircraft manufacturing for the war . routes connected nearly all of the population of the city to workplaces and commercial centers . following world war ii and the early postwar years in 1962 the city government took over transit through its metropolitan transit authority to provide bus service to most of the city chiefly through a hub and spoke system converging on downtown . the decline of downtowns nationwide was repeated in wichita during the 1960s and 1970s but the city retained its downtown hub system . in the 1980s and subsequently now renamed wichita transit the system generally has declined in ridership and capacity with a brief resurgence of interest at the turn of the 21st century . 3 in 2016 greyhound lines will be closing its station and relocating to the wichita transit building . 5 greyhound lines provides intercity bus service northeast to topeka kansas and south to oklahoma city oklahoma . beeline express subcontractor of greyhound provides daily bus service north towards salina kansas and west towards pueblo colorado . 6 7 recent issues & developments edit wichita s transit system is smaller in revenue miles per capita than comparable cities nationwide . 8 like most transit systems nationwide wichita transit struggles continuously with financial difficulties . rider fares do not bring in enough revenue to support the system and it relies heavily on subsidies from the federal government and other entities . 8 9 downtown redevelopment edit in 2010 2012 consultants for the city advising the city on its major push for downtown redevelopment emphasized that major transit improvements were needed for effective downtown redevelopment and growth as envisioned by city plans and proposals . 10 khi health assessment edit in 2013 the non profit kansas health institute produced a health impact assessment hia on wichita transit and its possible developments a study and review concluding that expanded hours and routes would have optimal impact on the health of the community s people . 11 specifically the khi s researchers advised that a grid bus system following major streets in straight lines should replace the city s current hub and spoke system routes radiating out from and returning to a downtown transit center and advised that it should make more frequent stops extend service after 6 p.m. and add sunday service . they also recommended ways to maximize existing bus service . one was to allow bus passengers to carry more than two grocery sacks . 11 funding and sales tax issues edit attempts by the city council to pass a one cent sales tax by referendum to fund transit along with selected other city programs and projects water jobs etc. was overwhelmingly defeated in november 2014 . 2 9 the current city council considered proposing a one tenth of one cent 0.001 sales tax committed exclusively to transit and in june was expected to vote on it in august 2015 as part of the city budget process . 2 9 12 in mid july 2015 the city manager presented the 2016 2017 proposed city budget which indicated that service reductions of 2 million or 25 % would be required to ensure a balanced budget . the city council however instructed staff to find solutions to close the funding gap for 2016 . discussed solutions involved 1.2 million in deferred road construction delayed from 2016 to 2017 with scheduled 2017 bus replacements moved up to 2016 500 000 in fuel savings through commitment to a fuel contract and allocation of 300 000 from the city s permanent reserve fund the city has 26.9 million in reserves as of july 2015 . 2 13 mayor longwell who had campaigned on transit improvements in the 2014 election described the effort as painful but important describing transit as that critical to our community . however the previously discussed sales tax increase for transit did not figure into the budget plan and no increase to the property tax mill levy was projected in the city budget plan discussions during july 2015 . public hearings are pending for aug. 4 and aug. 11 the date that the city s 2016 2017 budget will be adopted . 13 route list edit college hill e. 13th street e. 17th street east central east harry e. lincoln meridian n. broadway north waco riverside rock road s. broadway s. main s. seneca west central w. maple westside connector southside connector see also edit greyhound lines wichita dwight d. eisenhower national airport historical arkansas valley interurban railway kansas aviation museum references edit a b wichita transit services main page a b c d salazar daniel ; ryan kelsey 2015 06 20 . sales tax to fund wichita s transit system may be proposed . wichita eagle . wichita eagle & beacon publishing co. retrieved 2015 07 31 . a b providing transit services in wichita a review of current issues financial challenges and a vision for the future city of wichita wichita transit to increase service to the wsu main campus . wichita state news . wichita state university . 2014 08 12 . retrieved 2015 07 31 . greyhound relocating to city s downtown transit station ; the wichita eagle ; january 2 2016 . beeline express greyhound lines a b transit service in wichita a review of issues financial challenges and a vision for the future wichita city council workshop november 26 2013 city of wichita kansas usa . a b c problem solvers plan to fix wichita transit 2015 04 27 kake tv news harris richard city planning news for wichita with links to major media reports a b city council weighs health impact of changes in wichita bus system consideration of health impact assessment by council a new approach to policymaking nationwide by council a new approach to policymaking nationwide . khi news service kansas health institute . 2013 10 23 . retrieved 2015 07 31 . fasbinder devon 2015 06 27 . wichita transit asks for increased sales tax . kwch tv news . retrieved 2015 07 31 . a b proposed budget helps wichita transit for 2016 . associated press with kake tv and knss radio . 2015 07 31 . retrieved 2015 07 31 . external links edit official website wichita transit facebook page wichita transit maps & schedules q line shuttle bus v t e public transportation in kansas bus systems ata bus citygo johnson county transit kansas city area transportation authority lawrence transit lcat rcat topeka transit wichita transit bus rapid transit metro area express ridekc v t e city of wichita general demographics education geography and climate government history timeline media metropolitan area notable people sports transportation neighborhoods college hill delano downtown wichita el pueblo midtown riverside landmarks and culture botanica epic center joyland the keeper of the plains music theatre wichita orpheum theatre sedgwick county extension arboretum sedgwick county zoo towne east square towne west square wichita public library wichita symphony orchestra museums exploration place great plains transportation museum kansas aviation museum kansas sports hall of fame mid america all indian center museum of world treasures old cowtown museum wichita art museum wichita sedgwick county historical museum event venues century ii performing arts & convention center cessna stadium charles koch arena cotillion ballroom eck stadium hartman arena intrust bank arena kansas coliseum lawrence dumont stadium colleges and universities friends university newman university university of kansas school of medicine wichita area technical college wichita state university retrieved from https en.wikipedia.org w index.php title wichita transit & oldid 713246371 categories bus transportation in kansastransportation in wichita kansastransit agencies in kansas navigation menu personal tools not logged intalkcontributionscreate accountlog in namespaces article talk variants views read edit view history more search navigation main pagecontentsfeatured contentcurrent eventsrandom articledonate to wikipediawikipedia store interaction helpabout wikipediacommunity portalrecent changescontact page tools what links hererelated changesupload filespecial pagespermanent linkpage informationwikidata itemcite this page print export create a bookdownload as pdfprintable version 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