Dedicated to intercity passenger rail expansion between Fort Worth and Kansas City through Oklahoma City and Wichita. We need a connected America!


2020 Kansas Smart TD Rail Survey

Friday, February 5, 2021 10:01 AM

Executive Summary:

Bottom line: by a two-to-one margin 59 percent (support) to 29 percent (oppose), Kansas residents strongly support expanded Heartland Flyer Amtrak service into the state, even when told service could cost the state of Kansas up to $3 million annually. The survey was conducted January 30 through February 6, 2020 comprising 525 random Kansas adults (600 for political questions) by live caller utilizing both landline and cell phones. Margin of error is +/- 4.3 percentage points witha 95 percent confidence level.

The focus of the Kansas rail survey was to measure the public’s support for Amtrak and the Heartland Flyer, a two-person crew state regulation, and the impact of long-trains. Final results clearly show Kansans support an expansion (even knowing the cost) of the Heartland Flyer from Oklahoma City into Kansas. Consider:

 Initial support of the Heartland Flyer (HF) is over whelmingly in favor, with 87 percent of Kansans in support to just 7 percent opposed (when told HF service would expand into Kansas with daily service to Oklahoma City and Dallas-Fort Worth).

 Support for the HF decreases when told service could cost the state of Kansas up to $3 Milliona year; support is still at a strong two-to-oneratio (with every demographic group supporting an expansion of HF service, including Republicans).

What is significant about the support level for the Heartland Flyer expanded service is that 80 percent of respondents say they have not been a recent passenger on Amtrak, yet these Kansans still support the concept of more rail service in Kansas by 57 to 31 percent (Amtrak riders support the expansion 69 to 22 percent). Groupings where we also see some gaps are education levels (college educated more in support than non-college) and political party preference (little difference between Democrats and Independents, with Republican still in support of Heartland Flyer service).

The demographics where we see uniformity (no wedges) in support of the Heartland Flyer expansion are: gender, age and where you live (crosstabs by the four congressional districts).

Bottom line, no matter the age, education level gender, partisan inclination or where one lives, Kansans support the state of Kansas spending money (up to $3 Million annually) to connect Kansas to the Heartland Flyers’ service to the Dallas Metroplex. The numbers are clear.

For the full report of the survey click here: