The Prospect Avenue corridor in Kansas City, Missouri, has been struggling a bit from underinvestment in recent years, but --with some help from DOT-- that is changing.

A lot of people living along this corridor rely on the bus to get to work, to school, to medical appointments.  The Route 71 bus –which is just one of three routes on Prospect Corridor– carries 6,000 riders a day. But right now for some people, especially people with disabilities, taking the bus isn’t always an option because the infrastructure at and around the bus stops isn’t doing the job it’s supposed to.

This sidewalk is difficult to walk, let alone navigate a wheelchair.

So, Kansas City has looked ahead and crafted a plan to renovate these facilities, to improve curb ramps that serve folks with disabilities, to improve sidewalks --you wouldn't believe the condition of the sidewalks I saw when I walked around the corridor yesterday with Kansas City Mayor Sly James-- and to add things like benches and shelter for when the weather’s bad.

That way, those bus doors will truly open up to everybody.

I have to say, I had deja vu when I was touring Prospect Avenue yesterday; it reminded me of the neighborhood I grew up in. Like my old Charlotte neighborhood, it's a community of people who wake up every morning, get themselves together, and step out of their homes ready to go to work. They're ready to make their city a better place; they're ready to provide for their families; and they're ready to take advantage of the opportunities that sit there out on the horizon.

With Kansas City Mayor Sly James and Prospect Avenue bus passengers.

One of the ways that we in government help them achieve what is possible is by helping them move --physically move-- from where they are to where their dreams are. But when folks are stumbling over jumbles of concrete where there should be sidewalks, or waiting --exposed-- in the snow, that's a problem.

It makes finding the American Dream a little harder. And we want to change that.

We want to make it a little easier for those who just might have the deck stacked against them.

That's why we're proud to provide $1.2-million dollars for this initiative, and why we provided a total of $100 million to 23 other similar projects in 19 states.

All of this is part of an effort that our Department is making to open the door of opportunity to more Americans, wherever they live, whatever their background, whatever their economic circumstances.

In the community I was born into —much like Kansas City’s Prospect Avenue corridor— it was not in my sights that I would ever become the U.S. Transportation Secretary. But every little bit that we help folks gain access to a world beyond their sights expands their vision of what’s possible. We start to catalyze that fire in an individual that says, “I can be something; I can do something; I can go farther.”

The people of Kansas City believe that connecting more people to quality transportation can make their lives better and fuel the city's revitalization. We at DOT share that belief, and with the GROW AMERICA proposal I sent to Congress earlier this year, we can continue helping Kansas City and communities across America get more people connected.

We have a responsibility as an agency to make sure that every single person in America has the transportation they need so they can get to work, so they can get to school, so they can get to a grocery store or a doctor's appointment. So they can live the American Dream.