KANSAS CITY, Mo. (KCTV) — Thousands of fans will soon be in the metro for the World Cup, and the transportation system developed for the tournament is taking shape in downtown Kansas City.
ConnectKC26
ConnectKC26 features three main routes, with 247 motor coaches to transport visitors and locals during the World Cup. The buses arrive on Sunday.
Routes:
- Stadium Direct
- Region Direct
- Airport Direct
The ConnectKC26 bus mall is starting to take shape with tents, signs, and barriers near 27th and Grand in downtown.
“This is really going to be the epicenter for all this activity,” said KC2026 transportation consultant, Meghan Jansen.
If you’re flying in for the tournament, you can catch a free ride from Kansas City International Airport to downtown, right near FIFA Fan Fest.
Airport Direct:
- Free (round-trip), must sign up for ConnectKC26 Pass
- Route: Direct service between KCI and the ConnectKC26 Bus Mall (27th Street and Main Street)
If you snagged a ticket for a match, you can hop on the Stadium Direct route.
Stadium Direct:
- Only operates on the six match days
- A valid $15 ConnectKC26 pass and a valid match-day ticket are required
- Service begins 3 hours before kickoff and runs until 2 hours after the match ends.
- Hop on at the FIFA Fan Festival or 47th and Cleaver near the Country Club Plaza
- Four park and ride locations are available:
- Oak Park Mall (Sold out for first match-day, June 16)
- Independence Center
- North Kansas City
- Grace Way Church
If you want to explore the metro as a visitor or local, you can pay for the Region Direct route that travels to 15 locations.
Region Direct
- Cost: 1-Day Pass $5 | 7-Day Pass $25 | Full Tournament Pass $50 (unlimited rides).
- A valid ConnectKC26 Pass is required.
- Locations:
- North Kansas City
- Boardwalk Square
- Liberty, Mo.
- Worlds of Fun
- Independence Square
- Lee’s Summit
- 3-Trails Transit Center
- KC Zoo & Starlight Theatre
- Mission
- Oak Park Mall
- Overland Park Convention Center
- Lenexa City Center
- Lawrence
- The Legends
KC2026 encourages visitors and locals to hop on.
“It really becomes part of the experience, right? How much more fun is it for local residents to jump on a bus with other fans and visitors who are experiencing Kansas City for the first time,” said Jansen.
Along with purchasing passes online for the routes, you can also track your bus. Starting next week, you can do so through the app, ‘Transit’, something local transportation systems already use.
“It is trip planning, door-to-door, and it’s also going to show real-time arrivals. So folks have questions about the frequency of the bus pickup and drop-off at any of the locations or want to know when the next bus is coming,” said Jansen.
Next Thursday, June 11, the buses start moving. The first time ConnectKC26 will operate with a new system, KC2026 says monitoring performance and communication is key.
“When things happen or don’t go as planned, which tends to happen in very big things, we’re going to be dealing with those in real-time,” said Jansen.
With people from all walks of life coming to the metro, they are also ensuring everyone can understand where to go, no matter the language they speak.
“You’ll notice on our tower signage that’s up that we’ve done a couple of things. The first is that we’ve used visual cues as much as possible. We also have QR codes on all of our signs, and when those are scanned, and you get to the online version, it will translate into seven different languages, English plus six others,” said Jensen.
Volunteers will be all over to help, and many will have name tags that show what languages they speak to help navigate people to the right place.
You can learn more about transportation plans, the FIFA Fan Festival, and more through KC2026.com
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