The following article comes from the Aspen Institute’s State of Play Kansas City report. The report assesses the opportunities and barriers for more children to access sports and physical activity in the Kansas City region.
Connecting youth with programs and facilities can be challenging given limited public transportation in the region and safety fears. Most fields are on the outskirts in the Kansas City suburbs, making it challenging for inner-city children to access them. Public transportation is more centrally located in the region, including the free streetcar system.
Even within some local neighborhoods, accessing sports can be difficult. Some communities don’t have sidewalks, or children don’t feel safe walking to and from play areas. Among surveyed children who indicated they don’t visit parks and green spaces as often as they would like, 12% said that’s because the walk there is not safe. Kansas City has the country’s highest percentage of chronically homeless people who can’t find shelter, according to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. Gun-related injuries among youth are on pace to be higher in 2024 than in 2023, which was Kansas City’s deadliest year ever recorded, according to the Kansas City Star.
“Transportation is definitely a hindrance here for after-school sports,” said the parent of a 14-year-old girl. “Lots of people are working more in the evenings. Unless you have a mature teenager who can figure out how to get home or they feel safe walking, a lot of parents can’t get transportation, so their child is missing out on an activity. We see more of our youth engaged in the wrong things because they can’t get somewhere.”
Our survey showed 77% of youth have a family member who usually drives them to play spaces, practices or games. Children from low-income households (61%) are far less likely to use family members for transportation than those from middle-income homes (76%) and high-income homes (83%). Only 1% of all surveyed youth said they use public transportation to reach play spaces and sports activities.
Kansas City, Missouri, is the only local jurisdiction with a dedicated transit tax. In 2020, before the pandemic, Kansas City became the first major U.S. city to offer free buses, subsidizing the program from its half-cent public transit sales tax. Suburbs that also contract with the Kansas City Area Transportation Authority did the same.
The city then diverted $22 million from sales tax revenues that would have supported the bus system — the equivalent of more than two years of the subsidized fares — to instead pay for new LED streetlights. The Kansas City Transportation Authority made up for lost sales tax revenue with COVID-19 federal relief dollars that were held in reserve and are now running out, according to NPR.
Buses will stay free at least through April 2025 after the Kansas City Council renewed its annual contract with KCTA. But cuts in future service are possible as the agency examines an alternative called “functional free fare,” which could reimpose fares for some riders and keep it free for others for financial and operational reasons.
Given security issues that have occurred on buses, KCTA is considering whether free riders might need to carry a personalized bus pass that could be withdrawn if they cause trouble for other riders or bus drivers. Increasing the region’s use of buses is a goal some leaders hope to begin accomplishing through Kansas City hosting the FIFA men’s World Cup in 2026.
“As the largest sporting event in the history of the world, the 2026 FIFA World Cup is poised to generate an unprecedented influx of visitors, and transportation — specifically safe, low-carbon transit options — is top of mind as we prepare for both visitors and the local community,” said Adam Lewis, who is leading human rights, social impact and sustainability work for Kansas City’s World Cup efforts. “This also serves as an incredible opportunity to build our capacity and comfort using mass transit options to reach vital community services — including access to play. We’re leveraging the ongoing investments to public transit — increased bus lines and the KC Streetcar — to generate a ton of data around where an expanded transit system could benefit the community the most.”
The Children’s Mercy Kansas City 2022-25 community health needs implementation strategy identified the need to improve the community’s built environment to impact a person’s ability to be physically active. Whether someone goes on a bicycle ride or walks to the grocery store, infrastructure can encourage or limit physical activity. Strategies to improve infrastructure were identified in the Kansas City Physical Activity Plan. Released in 2020 to create a culture of active living with the region, the plan gave the area grades of F for active transportation and C- for community and built environment.
Community-Led Solutions
Given the transportation challenges, some program providers buy vans to transport children to activities. For instance, Boys and Girls Clubs of Greater Kansas City is trying to create a partnership with AARP for retirees to volunteer and drive children home after practices and games. Boys and Girls Clubs of Greater Kansas City has vans but lacks drivers.
“There are a lot of parents who don’t have the option to pick up their child later,” said Waymond King, senior director of healthy lifestyle for Boys and Girls Clubs of Greater Kansas City. “We run routes at the end of the day to make sure kids get home, but it’s not consistent in every club because we don’t have staff available to run those routes. We could possibly tap into AARP with people who are active and receive a license to drive these routes.”
Another potential local resource is Uncover KC, which could help connect smaller sports nonprofits with each other and recruit volunteers to assist in various duties, including serving as coaches or supporting transportation needs. Uncover KC identifies communities with the most need and connects them with individuals and organizations best suited to serve them. Uncover KC has a sports and recreation category in its directory that includes 17 such organizations, including KC Marathon, Kansas City Royals Urban Youth Academy and Girls on the Run.
Jon Solomon is Community Impact Director of the Aspen Institute’s Project Play initiative. Jon can be reached at jon.solomon@aspeninstitute.org.