Johnson County pauses K-10 Connector, leaving Douglass County riders stranded

Johnson County Transit’s summer pause of the K-10 Connector cut off one of the few direct bus links between Lawrence, Johnson County Community College and KU’s Edwards Campus in Overland Park, leaving students, commuters and other riders facing longer drives, higher costs or no easy cross-county option at all. The route is scheduled to return Aug. 24, but for now it is off the road entirely, not merely trimmed back, because Johnson County says declining summer ridership and tight budgets have forced a hard choice.

Andy Hyland, a Johnson County spokesperson, said the connector runs farther outside Johnson County than any other service in the system, and county officials are reassessing how many transit options they can keep operating with current resources. Hyland also said Lawrence ended its $155,000 annual contribution to the route about two years ago, and that keeping the partnership alive would have required cutting service elsewhere in Lawrence. For riders in Douglas County, the result is immediate: the bus that stitched together downtown Lawrence, community college classrooms and the Edwards Campus is gone for the summer commute season.

That loss is especially sharp because the K-10 Connector has long served as a regional bridge, not a niche shuttle. The route began service Jan. 17, 2007, in time for the spring semester at KU and Johnson County Community College. It opened with 114 riders on day one and 141 the next day, after a transit study had projected as many as 502 trips a day. Ridership climbed from 67,478 in 2007 to 149,703 in 2011, and by 2012 it was estimated at 159,000 riders a year, or about 612 passengers a day. A 2014 city memo said 50% to 60% of riders came from Douglas County, underscoring how heavily Lawrence travelers have depended on the line.

The funding dispute has been building for years. A 2013 Lawrence memo said Johnson County asked the city for support during a transit shortfall, and the Lawrence Public Transit Advisory Committee had not historically backed that request. Now the pause lands just as Lawrence Transit is expanding service for the 2026 FIFA World Cup. In partnership with eXplore Lawrence, the city plans to run the Score Lawrence route between the downtown transit hub at Seventh and Vermont streets and Central Station at 2315 Bob Billings Parkway from 8 p.m. to 1 a.m. on six Kansas City match days in June and July. KU will also offer fan shuttle parking with bus service to Central Station from June 11 to July 13.

The broader regional plan, branded ConnectKC26, includes Airport Direct between Kansas City International Airport and downtown Kansas City, Stadium Direct to Arrowhead Stadium and Region Direct links across the metro. Airport Direct is free and runs 6 a.m. to 10 p.m. daily, Stadium Direct costs $15 per rider per match round-trip, and Region Direct costs $5 for a one-day pass, $25 for a seven-day pass or $50 for the full tournament. Johnson County United Link will connect Johnson County neighborhoods with select Region Direct locations. For Douglas County riders watching one daily lifeline disappear while tournament service expands, the contrast is hard to miss.