KANSAS CITY, Mo. — University of Missouri-Kansas City students moved back to campus Thursday, and the KC Streetcar will soon make its move south toward the university's campus.
The KC Streetcar's extension project is expected to be completed Oct. 24. The southernmost stop — named "UMKC" — will be located at East 51st Street and Brookside Boulevard.
"This summer, I interned with the city of Kansas City, Missouri," Angelina Pearson, a sophomore at UMKC, said. "I was interning at the municipal court and we were able to see behind the scenes of the streetcar."
She said if the KC Streetcar operated near UMKC this summer, she would have used it to get to her downtown internship. She's not the only student who could use it to put their education to work.
“Our initial analysis shows that students who work their way through UMKC are doing internships — 25% of those employers are within four blocks of the streetcar line," Mauli Agrawal, chancellor of UMKC, said. "So, the students can just jump on this, go to their work, internships and then come back for classes.”
Pearson said she applied to continue interning at the municipal court, located at 511 E 11th St., which is about an eight-minute walk from a downtown streetcar stop.
"Having the streetcar will help because now I don't have to worry about parking," she said. "It's right there, easily accessible."
Accessibility is what's important to students who don't drive or have a car on campus, like Artemis Nowrouzi.
"Not everyone drives, not everyone is accessible to transportation," she said.
As UMKC welcomes students to campus this week — with new amenities like student support spaces — the KC Streetcar will be part of their welcome to the city.
"It will give our students a great opportunity to enjoy the rest of the city, go to entertainment districts, to historical places, all the way to downtown," Agrawal said.
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KSHB 41 reporter Lily O’Shea Becker covers Franklin and Douglas counties in Kansas. Share your story idea with Lily.
