The City of Lawrence is moving forward in its process to build a Multimodal Transfer Facility. As part of that project, students in the KU Urban Planning department have created a survey to gather feedback on transportation patterns to inform future bus routes that will serve the new transfer facility.

The survey is available now at https://lawrenceks.org/listens/surveys/. Answers to the survey are important regardless of how often, or if, you currently use the bus system.

The City will engage with the community over the next year to collaboratively determine a new route structure for transit. This student-led route redesign project will lay the foundation for a consultant-led route redesign planning process in spring 2021.

Following these route redesign processes, the design process for the facility itself will begin. Each route redesign study and the facility design process will include early and substantial public engagement.

“I know it might be hard to think about how routes are designed two years from now, but we really have to start planning for these changes early,” said Adam Weigel, Transit & Parking Manager. “There are a few different concepts for how we can approach our routes and how frequently the bus comes along certain corridors. The public telling us what they like and don’t like about these different ideas will help us plan our routes, and ultimately, plan for our capacity needs at the new transfer facility. This first survey will help us understand important travel patterns, which will be key in producing route concepts for the public to weigh in on.”

In July 2020, the City and the University of Kansas signed a legal agreement to move forward with further study and development of a multimodal transfer facility on university property located at Bob Billings & Crestline Drive. This location takes into account community feedback from prior studies that sought a relatively central location and one that did not encroach on established neighborhoods.

As the City and KU continue moving forward on the legal and technical requirements for this site, it is critical to begin community discussions early about redesigning routes to serve this new primary transfer facility. Decisions about route redesign will inform design decisions for the transfer facility.

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