KSHB 41 reporter Elyse Schoenig covers Johnson County. She also focuses on issues surrounding the cost of health care, saving for retirement and personal debt. Share your story idea with Elyse.
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The FIFA World Cup 26 brought a new era of transportation options to Kansas City.
KC2026's most recent data shows more than 140,000 passengers traveled to matches, celebrations, and destinations across the metro during the tournament. The ConnectKC26 data shows riders came from across the country and around the world. The data revealed 56% were national travelers, 31% were local and regional, and 13% were international.
The most recent data also shows Stadium Direct service carried 88,771 passengers across four match days. Region Direct sold 34,037 passes, and Airport Direct carried 19,214 passengers.
Johnson County launched its own transit initiative alongside ConnectKC26, called JoCo United.
Preliminary ridership numbers through the July 4 weekend show the JoCo United Airport Drop and Ride service — which began June 1, 2026 — carried 3,350 cumulative riders. The JoCo United Link service, which launched June 9, 2026, saw 1,374 cumulative riders through the same period. A county spokesperson said those numbers are preliminary and subject to change once the World Cup ends.
The majority of Airport Drop and Ride users rode for travel and personal trip purposes, a sign the service is filling a gap that extends well beyond the World Cup.
A county spokesperson also said an ongoing ridership survey for the Airport Drop and Ride shows 77% of users live in Johnson County, and 21% live somewhere else — including 14% from another U.S. state, 3% from outside the U.S., 2% from the Kansas City metro outside Johnson County, and 2% from Kansas or Missouri outside the Kansas City metro.
Vacation and personal travel were the top trip purpose at 73%, followed by business travel at 12%, FIFA World Cup matches or events at 9%, and conference or special event at 2%.
Kansas City match days drove the highest ridership on the JoCo United Link.
Mariah Wickham, a FanFest volunteer who lives in Johnson County, has ridden the bus from the county several times this summer.
"My whole personality is the World Cup right now," Wickham said. "It has been very smooth every time. I've been up and down many times."
Heather Wiyninger, who also lives in Johnson County, said the service delivered.
"I really haven't had any issues. Pretty much when I get there, there's a bus there, or they're there within 10-15 minutes," Wiyninger said. "I think it would be great to connect all of Johnson County."
Fellow Johnson County resident Kathy Zarda echoed that sentiment.
"I go to the airport several times a year, and I would really like to see some type of Johnson County to the airport transportation," Zarda said.
JoCo Board Chairman Mike Kelly said Monday the Airport Drop and Ride service will continue running after the World Cup ends. Starting July 17, it will run every hour.
Kelly shared a full statement on the initiative:
"Johnson County United was built as a pilot - an experiment in what enhanced transit could look like for our county, prompted by the opportunity of hosting FIFA World Cup 2026™ matches. Kansas City ranked 15th out of 16 host cities on public transportation going into this tournament, and we knew we had to close that gap for our residents and visitors. The Airport Drop and Ride will continue to run after the tournament is over, and we're actively engaged in a formal review with an outside agency looking at ridership data, rider surveys and other performance metrics, so I don't want to get ahead of those processes with a final verdict on the numbers. What I can say is that we saw real engagement from Johnson County residents from day one, cooperation across all seven cities was strong and the operational lift — buses, routes, fare systems, drivers — came together the way we needed it to. So far, about 95% of riders rated the service as excellent, and 98% say they would recommend it to a friend. Whatever the final ridership numbers show, this was never just about the 33 days of the tournament. It's about building the case for what a more robust, more frequent transit system could mean for Johnson County long after the World Cup is over."
This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
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