‘It’s going to be tough’: IRIS rideshare program cut, drivers and riders react

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (KCTV) - There could be one less option for people trying to get transportation around the metro.

On Tuesday, during a Transportation Committee meeting, city leaders took no action in renewing funding for IRIS micro transit, a service hundreds rely on every day.

IRIS is an on-demand ride hailing service created by the city to help people where the bus system couldn’t reach.

After a 3-2 vote, the funding was shut down.

Riders like Ashley Ball who spoke up at the meeting said IRIS wasn’t just a ride, it was a lifeline.

“I was staying in a hotel out in the northside, and I was working overnights at Aspen Paper Products and that was my main transportation to get to work every single night,” she said.

Many argued that IRIS was also quicker and more reliable than the bus system.

“If you have an opportunity to catch an IRIS and take a 20-minute drive to get you where you need to be versus a 2-hour bus ride you might not have time to be able to be on time.”

250 IRIS drivers across Kansas City will now be impacted.

Drivers like Christopher Bake work more than 60 hours a week for IRIS and said it’s his livelihood.

“I drive about 300-400 miles a day driving people back and forth from destination to destination, said Bake. “I pick up a woman every day, she can’t afford transportation to go back and forth to dialysis.”

With the future of IRIS dimming, he said he’s not only blindsided but is left scrambling.

“It’s going to be tough,” he said through tears, “trying to budget things. I have plans, my daughter does dance and all kinds of other activities. It’s going to be an impact.”

Bake believes city funding should have been reevaluated and feels the city put its needs before its wants.

“I know they want to fix a lot of things around the city, but people need rides, they need to take care of their families, they need these programs, and the city decided that they don’t want it.”

Other supporters feel it’s not just about dollars and cents; it’s about real people’s lives.

“Imagine going to sleep tonight and waking up tomorrow and not only not having a job but not having access to unemployment benefits and not only the impact that it has on drivers but on a community as a whole,” said Terrence Wise, a leader with Stand Up KC.

Wise believes there is a disconnect between the people making the decisions and the people being impacted by them.

“We challenge council members to live a day in the shoes of a Kansas Citians, try to live on minimum wage for a week in this city, try out public transportation for a week in this city and see what its like in real time because until we close that disconnect between the folks between these walls and the folks in the streets, we won’t get real solutions.”

Councilwoman Melissa Robinson who supported the program said it’s a painful outcome.

“When we look at the 2-billion-dollar budget we passed this year, we unfortunately didn’t make those decisions where we prioritized transit,” Robinson said.

She also said the city now faces another challenge: finding a better solution.

“It’s time for us as a council to take really take ownership and leadership. Yes, we need a regional system, Yes, we need to hold our KCATA accountable,” she said, “but we have to fully fund transit, and we have to do it in a way where people have access to economic opportunities.”

While IRIS funding was not approved, $2.75 million was passed to the council to support KCATA’s existing bus routes for the next six months.

That will be voted on this Thursday.

As for when IRIS will stop service, Robinson said she does not have a date or time.

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