KANSAS CITY, Mo. — There was a lot of commotion on Main Street on Friday morning, but for a good reason.
Members of the Kansas City, Missouri, police and fire departments and KC Streetcar crews performed a live emergency drill with the city to practice for real-life emergency scenarios.
The live drill is one of many federal requirements the streetcar must meet has to go through before the public can ride along the new route.
Friday's scenario involved a collision between motorcycle and the streetcar.
The scene was filled with sirens, lots of crews and equipment, even actors who played passengers. They screamed for help, and showed fake bruises and injuries.
"Being ready for anything that may happen, so if the unfortunate does happen, that all of our partners we’re ready, we know what to do, we know who to call and we know who each other are," said Jason Waldron, Kansas City's transportation director.
The Main Street extension is a significant addition to the streetcar route. That makes the safety drills are even more important because if an incident happens, emergency crews may need many more crews than they've been using.
"It’s a whole new ball game out here," said Donna Mandelbaum, KC Streetcar's communication's director. "There's a lot more people, a lot more traffic, a lot more situations that could happen."
Riders may be asking, 'If streetcar construction is done, why do we have to wait until fall to ride the new extension?'
It's because of important safety tests like the drill on Friday.
Streetcar riders KSHB 41 spoke with said they don't mind the wait.
"They can take as long as they want as long as it’s safe," said Enrique Villegas, who rides the streetcar to work every day.
"If we’re going to be expanding public transit, people need to be able to trust it," said Ashley Muddiman, who specifically moved into downtown Kansas City to be closer to the streetcar.
After the drill, each crew meets to assess what worked and what didn't.
"I wish we had a wooden bench or a table I could knock on right now because we have not had to execute the practices we are doing right now," Waldron said.
But it's never a bad idea to be overprepared.
