KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Thousands of Kansas City Current fans take the shuttle to CPKC Stadium for every home game. Now, there's an extra option for them: a trolley.
"Oh, beautiful," Carol Lopez exclaimed the first time she saw the Teal Town Trolley. "Isn't it beautiful?"
Lopez was one of the first fans to ride the trolley.
She came alone, but wasn't alone for long. Lopez easily made friends with others who were in line with her.
"It's fun and exciting," Lopez said.
She says the shuttle allows things like making new friends to happen.
Amanda White was there, too. White was first in line.
"Any way to get to the stadium is awesome, but the fact that we're riding the KC Current Teal Town Trolley — it's new and exciting,” White said.
They were joined on the ride by KC Current owners Angie and Chris Long.
"We're really creating the model for multimodal transportation that others are going to replicate,” Chris said.
An unconventional ride in some ways, with trivia, entertainment, and nostalgia.
“Trolleys were popular for so long in Kansas City, and they're back,” Chris Long said.
Traveling through time while enjoying the perks of technology.
“Air conditioning on a day like this is very much appreciated,” said KC Current fan Ash Sahni.
The trolleys join school buses as options to get to the stadium. Once the streetcar connects CPKC to downtown, the buses could be eliminated, according to Angie Long.
“We need to figure that out," she said. "But I do think there's a lot of hope that the streetcar itself will provide the same transportation service that the shuttles have done without having to make an extra stop.”
But the trolleys are here to stay.
"The trolleys will be a forever thing," Angie Long said. "That's why we wanted to roll them out."
Reaching for history while thinking about the future.
"I'm dreaming, scheming, planning, and hoping to be able to get here by boat,” Angie Long said. “We need more infrastructure along the Missouri River, because even if you could stop at our stadium and get out with the dock, where are all the other docks where you can load a boat? Where will all the future water taxis come from? It’s a long-term project, but I think it makes so much sense.”
KC Current Maeve Sahni fan praised the owners, saying they've always worked on making the fan experience better and more fun.
