7/1/2013
Contact: Angela Gates
202-366-3669

MISSION, Kansas – The U.S. Department of Transportation’s Federal Transit Administration (FTA) today celebrated the opening of the new Mission Transit Center that will significantly enhance transit service in Johnson County and connect thousands of daily riders to jobs and other destinations in the Kansas City region. FTA Regional Administrator Mokhtee Ahmad joined state and local officials at the event.

The U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) provided $10.7 million for the project through the Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery (TIGER) grant program. The funding was part of a $50 million TIGER grant to revitalize key neighborhoods in Kansas City’s urban area and improve access to jobs throughout the region.

“Over the last four years, DOT’s TIGER program has committed $3.1 billion to help communities plan and build more than 200 projects that strengthen our nation’s transportation infrastructure,” said U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood. “Here in Mission, Kansas, and all across America, those investments are improving opportunities for hard-working families, while helping us reduce our carbon footprint and build more sustainable communities.”

The Mission Transit Center is a new transportation hub that unites six bus routes serving riders in Mission and Overland Park, including Johnson County Transit’s newly launched JO Connex bus service. The new center features electronic displays with real-time bus route information and covered outdoor seating for a more comfortable rider experience.

“The people of Johnson County need and deserve a 21st century transit system that connects them with downtown jobs, Johnson County Community College, the shops at Oak Park Mall, and other destinations,” said Federal Transit Administrator Peter Rogoff. “This new transit hub is vitally important to the region’s ongoing effort to spur new economic development in the region and better connect the surrounding neighborhoods with downtown Kansas City.”

Johnson County Transit has been working in partnership with the Mid-America Regional Council and the cities of Overland Park, Mission and Roeland Park to implement the transit improvements, which also includes 15 new sheltered bus stations along Metcalf Avenue and Shawnee Mission Parkway; traffic signal upgrades to keep buses moving through intersections; pedestrian access improvements; and park-and-ride facilities.

Johnson County Transit operates a total of 16 bus routes throughout the county, serving a population of more than 550,000, and connects passengers to other transit services in the region, including the Kansas City Area Transportation Authority and Unified Government Transit.