March 2024 Ridership

KC Streetcar reports surging ridership ahead of busy season

KC Streetcar ridership numbers for March 2024 are just the beginning for what looks to be a busy spring and summer in Kansas City.

KC Streetcar logged 192,161 passenger trips in March, an increase of more than 33,000 from the previous March. The total average daily ridership for the month was 4,471 with the highest ridership day of the year occurring on Saturday, March 16 with 15,144 passenger trips. This surge in ridership coincided with the home opener for the KC Current and Planet Comicon weekend, underscoring the streetcar’s importance as a vital transportation link during major events in the city.

To meet demand, the KC Streetcar has implemented boosted service:

• Four streetcar Saturdays between 10am and 6pm
• Four streetcar First Fridays (April – October) between 2pm and 10pm
• Five streetcar service for KC Current home game days

“Partly due to the presence of the KC Current at CPKC Stadium as well as the tremendous amount of activities downtown, Kansas City is leaning into our public transit system like never before. This spring has seen remarkable ridership, setting the stage for even greater numbers in the months ahead,” said Tom Gerend, Executive Director of the Kansas City Streetcar Authority.

The total ridership for the year to date has reached 406,900, indicating a sustained interest and reliance on the KC Streetcar. Noteworthy is the remarkable recovery seen in ridership figures compared to pre-pandemic levels. Quarter 1 of 2024 saw an average ridership recovery of 90% compared to 2019, with February 2024 achieving nearly a 110% recovery. Click here for more information about KC Streetcar ridership.

KC Streetcar ridership is monitored and tracked daily using Automated Passenger Counters (APC) located over each door of every streetcar vehicle. This method, known as “Unlinked Passenger Trips” (UPTs), is the national standard employed by the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) for calculating usage on public transportation systems across the country. As defined by the FTA, UPTs represent the number of passengers who board public transportation vehicles, counting each passenger each time they board a vehicle, regardless of the number of vehicles used during their journey from origin to destination.