Wichita’s bus riders want better service, but money is short

Samantha Richardson just started her new job at Pratt Industries in Park City. The only problem? Her 12-mile commute without a car.

So she takes the bus. It gets close and it’s cheaper than Uber or Lyft.

But Wichita’s bus network can feel anemic. Its flaws sometimes force Richardson to choose between putting in some extra hours to make more money or clocking out earlier to catch a ride home before bus services shut down for the evening at 8 p.m.

“I’m debating in my head, ‘Am I gonna be able to make it (to the bus) if I take these extra hours?” Richardson said. “I do need the extra hours.”

Most of Wichita’s bus routes stop at 8 p.m. and none runs on Sundays. The shortest time between buses in Wichita is 45 minutes.

That’s part of the reason just 3,800 people in a city of roughly 400,000 ride the city’s bus system on most days.

Now, the city is plotting a transit system redesign that might offer a more robust way to get around Wichita without a car. But it’s struggling to find the money, particularly as federal pandemic relief tax dollars dry up.

“We do have looming budget crunches coming out,” Mike Hoheisel, the City Council member for Wichita’s District 3 in the southeast side of town. “We do have a deficit when the (American Rescue Plan Act) money runs out.”

The benefits of a robust transit system

Even in car-dependent cities like Wichita, public transit is vital for the city’s health.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports that better public transportation in cities, especially buses, can unclog traffic, decrease traffic death rates, increase access to health care, lower air pollution in the area and stimulate the economy.

“People rely on the buses to get to work,” said Hoheisel. “I hear from a number of businesses (that) they would like to have reliable transportation for their workers who come in for second shift.”

Kim Neufeld, the transit safety planner for the Wichita Area Metropolitan Planning Organization, said a better bus system gives unhoused people more access to resource centers, allows people in lower-income neighborhoods more access to health care and offers parents easier access to child care.

“Our anecdotal data says that more people are choosing to not use their car,” she said. “A better transit system lets people do that easier.”

Meanwhile, drivers benefit.

“If you have 40 people commuting to work on a bus,” said Penny Feist, the interim director of transit for Wichita, “that is 40 less cars on the road blocking Kellogg.”

A history of ups and downs for Wichita buses

Wichita’s bus system has seen better days.

In 2016, the last time Wichita’s transit system was overhauled, the city removed the option for riders to flag a bus to stop at any corner along its route. Instead, riders had to wait at designated bus stops.

Ridership fell drastically. Passengers took about 60,000 fewer trips per month following the change.

Four years later, the COVID-19 pandemic struck an added blow to Wichita’s bus service when more people worked from home or avoided public transit. Ridership fell another 40,000 trips per month.

In 2021, Wichita removed 189 bus stops from its routes as part of an effort to return to a system of scheduled and flagged stops, bringing back the rider’s ability to flag down the bus.

Since 2021, Feist said, the city hasn’t removed any more stops and has added five near Wichita State University.

Still, ridership has not returned to pre-2016 levels and has only recovered the riders lost during the pandemic.

Wichita’s transportation budget is behind others

Spending matters.

Compared to similar-sized cities Tulsa, Des Moines and Omaha, Wichita has the smallest operating budget and the lowest number of riders.

The urban area around Des Moines has a similar population size to Wichita, but Des Moines Area Regional Transit significantly outpaces Wichita’s transportation budget and ridership.

In 2022, the most recent year available from the Federal Transit Administration, Wichita spent $13.4 million to operate its transit system. Des Moines spent $32.1 million, more than twice as much.

Ridership is also much higher in Des Moines. Wichita bus riders took a little over a million trips in 2022, while Des Moines riders took 2.6 million trips.

Pumping more money into the bus system wouldn’t necessarily increase ridership. Instead, Feist said that the funding should be shaped by the needs they identify.

“The funding discussion would happen after we define what the need is,” Feist said.

How to get involved right now

Last fall, Wichita Transit began asking people what they wanted from the bus system. The transit system’s survey included proposals for new bus routes and asked respondents to vote on them.

“We want to know from the nonriders, the people not using the buses,” Feist said. “What are those issues that prevent them from not using the buses?”

The survey will be available until May 31 in both Spanish and English . It’s part of the Wichita Transit Network Plan that will shape the next 10 years of Wichita’s bus system.

But expenses remain an issue. The bus system is fully funded through the end of the 2025 fiscal year, but Hoheisel said that it is unlikely the budget will increase.

It’s a difficult sell to ask City Council for more money for transportation because the buses do not generate much revenue, he said.

Feist hopes that with community input, Wichita transit can make transportation that better serves the area. She also hopes the community can help spread the word about the benefits a better bus system might bring.

“The more that we kind of get the message out there and talk about the benefits of public transportation,” Feist said, “maybe we can shift that and work to make it more viable for more people.”

Funding challenges

Even if some areas could use more buses, Wichita Transit might have a hard time making that happen.

Wichita used money from the American Rescue Plan Act to increase the transportation budget from 2021 through 2023, and soon that money will run out.

“Funding is the main obstacle to running the services, to expanding the services,” Hoheisel said. “We have to get a little smarter and more efficient with some of the processes coming in.”

The city’s current adopted budget for the 2024-2025 fiscal year has the city making up losses with more state and federal grants.

Part of that funding battle might be how the city pays for transit. Fares, advertisements and dedicated local taxes make up 45% of Des Moines’ bus budget. Another 49% comes from the federal government, and the state pays for the balance.

Wichita’s bus system relies more heavily on government sources — only generating 16% from fares and advertisements. Federal grants and subsidies pay 57% of costs. The city and state kick in the rest.

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