Missouri’s public transportation options cannot keep up with demand

Missouri’s public transportation options cannot keep up with demand. 

A 2022 assessment study says that two-thousand transit vehicles – operated by 45-hundred workers – transport 156-thousand bus riders DAILY in Missouri. 

During this week’s State of Transit meeting Kim Cella, Executive Director for Citizens for Modern Transit, credits lawmakers for recognizing the importance… 

According to Cella:   “We saw record funding with the passage of HB4. This, for the second year in a row, Missouri invested additional funding in transit taking us to $11.7 million in 2023. That is a 580% increase since 2021.” 

Industry partners say that it’s not enough. 

While recognizing the service gaps in Missouri, Cella says that total trips would need to increase by more than 39 million annually to meet the demand. 

That would cost more than 341-million a year in additional operating costs.