Kansas City Light Rail Update

State and Local Government | May 5, 2008

By David Stokes | Read Time 1 minute

I am going to take the recent news about light rail in Kansas City as an opportunity to further plug Randal O’Toole’s work on this subject for SMI. In recent days, the lawsuit against the City Council for overturning the voter light-rail initiative was tossed out by the courts. Now, the Star is reporting on the pressure that the mayor and others are facing as they decide how to move forward, pun intended.

Randal O’Toole thinks Kansas City should move forward the responsible way, with expanded bus?rapid transit and the use of competitive contracting in the provision of transit services. I agree, and hope Kansas City oficials give his ideas strong consideration.

About the Author

David Stokes

David Stokes is a St. Louis native and a graduate of Saint Louis University High School and Fairfield (Conn.) University. He spent six years as a political aide at the St. Louis County Council before joining the Show-Me Institute in 2007. Stokes was a policy analyst at the Show-Me Institute from 2007 to 2016. From 2016 through 2020 he was Executive Director of Great Rivers Habitat Alliance, where he led efforts to oppose harmful floodplain developments done with abusive tax subsidies. Stokes rejoined the Institute in early 2021 as the Director of Municipal Policy. He is a past president of the University City Library Board. He served on the St. Louis County 2010 Council Redistricting Commission and was the 2012 representative to the Electoral College from Missouri’s First Congressional District. He lives in University City with his wife and their three children.

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