Streetcar

[ChowRunner]

They still have lots of openings for people to volunteer to help out on the opening weekend.

https://m.signupgenius.com/#!/showSi...4f94-volunteer

[Urban Pioneer]

We are very close! There are three welds to complete on the D Line and a section of track to install between the switches on 5th street. The D Line track is being cleaned and the clearance cart pushed around. The first test train should be towed through October 8th with electric operation the following week.

[Pete]

Press release:

Vehicle Testing
Now that the D-Loop (Downtown Loop) has passed its track-to-earth test, vehicles will be tested starting next Monday, October 8 through Thursday, October 18. On October 8, the test will occur from 8 p.m. to 4 a.m. The vehicle will have police escorts during this time. Beginning on October 9, testing will occur between 7 a.m. and 7 p.m., similar to the B-Loop (Bricktown Loop) tests. The only other exception to this will be on October 15 when EMBARK will run a special test from 8 p.m. to 4 a.m. on NW 11th Street, during which they will need to close all of the intersections. There will be police stationed at the intersections, so if someone needs access, they will be working them through.

Signals and Stop Signs
On Friday, traffic signals on Broadway at NW 8th and NW 11th streets will be turned on. Electronic sign boards are already in place alerting drivers. Beginning as early as this week, drivers will also see stop sign changes along NW 11th Street as crews prepare for streetcar testing. The intersections at Broadway Place and Robinson and Harvey avenues will become north-south two-way stops.

OCS
The system’s overhead electric wires will be on – “hot” – during testing. Never touch the overhead wire, which is high voltage and dangerous.

[shawnw]

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DowJ3Y5U8AEZRwI.jpg:large

5th street rn

[Midtowner]

They announced some of the pricing today. $1 for a 3-hour pass, $3 for a day pass.

I hope they do something for a monthly pass. I can see myself being a pretty heavy user of this system as my office is about 2 blocks away from the closest stop and I sometimes go to the courthouse several times a day. $60/month for all those day passes seems kind of steep though. I'm sure a lot of potential users would be interested in monthly passes.

[Teo9969]

$1 for 3 hours is just enough to get people to pay $2 for Thunder games and many concerts - no doubt this was done on purpose.

I wonder if places all around downtown are going to begin charging for parking just because they know that the streetcar is going to induce demand for parking at all sorts of places.

I don't mind the pricing per se, but if parking rates start springing up all over downtown, this will incentivize Uber/Lyft just as much as usage of the streetcar: The reason being - I still can't get to the street car in any reasonable manner from other public transit.

[CloudDeckMedia]

I was in Minneapolis-St. Paul over the weekend, and rode their streetcars extensively. From appearances I believe we'll be using the same cars they have. The cars are comfortable for the short distance they'll be ridden in OKC, but there was a serious problem in MSP that I hope doesn't repeat itself in OKC.

The cars in MSP are de facto rolling homeless shelters, especially in cold weather, attracting aggressive panhandlers and those suffering from mental illness who ride for hours at a time. In four days we never saw a ticket taker or transit police officer, and every car without exception had sleeping homeless people and panhandlers. Apparently local shelters give train tickets to the homeless so they have a warm place to go, and so the trains are where they congregate. Police don't intervene because these people are ticketholders.

This is something that Embark should anticipate, especially since service begins in the cold month of December.

[shawnw]

this happens with the bus already and was discussed at length during the streetcar fare focus groups.

Embark bus drivers are decent about handling situations. I've seen them remove people for cursing too much, being too lound, smelling too badly, and bothering other riders.

(no intention of being insensitive to the plights of the homeless, just reporting what I've personally witnessed)

[CloudDeckMedia]

this happens with the bus already and was discussed at length during the streetcar fare focus groups.

Embark bus drivers are decent about handling situations. I've seen them remove people for cursing too much, being too lound, smelling too badly, and bothering other riders.

(no intention of being insensitive to the plights of the homeless, just reporting what I've personally witnessed)

Good to hear, and I share your sentiments about the challenges facing the homeless and others on the margins of our society.

[Pete]

It's the nature of mass transit and comes with the territory.

You see it all the time in New York, LA, DC, Atlanta... People just get on with it unless someone is being belligerent, which almost never happens.

[Pete]

Media Advisory
10/12/2018

Last rail weld for MAPS 3 OKC Streetcar marks end of street construction

WHO
MAPS 3 Program Manager David Todd and others.

WHAT
Watch as crews finish the last bit of welding on a rail for the MAPS 3 Oklahoma City Streetcar. That signals the end of the rail construction part of the project and fewer street closures. Work will continue on overhead wires, testing, platforms and other projects. Streetcar service is expected to begin December 14

WHEN
10 a.m. Oct. 15

WHERE
NW 5th Street and Robinson.

[Pete]

Greater OKC Chamber releases streetcar investment impact study
Published Tuesday, October 9, 2018
by David McCollum


The Greater Oklahoma City Chamber today released an investment impact analysis on the MAPS3 downtown streetcar project.

“Historically, the Greater Oklahoma City Chamber has always taken the position that it is critical to measure the success of MAPS projects to better understand the impact to the community,” said Roy Williams, Chamber president & CEO. “There can be a number of ways to measure the success of a streetcar including usage and ridership, improved access to downtown amenities, quality of life and enhanced visitor perception of our community. It is also vital to understand the investment and economic development that takes place along the route. The Greater Oklahoma City Chamber partnered with RegionTrack, a local economic forecasting and analysis firm, to work with us to track that investment.”

Williams noted that the downtown streetcar is a key and unique project within MAPS3 for many reasons. The project is considered to be an important economic development tool for future investment in Downtown Oklahoma City; it is a significant project that sets the stage for future regional transit discussions throughout all of central Oklahoma; it improves the overall walkability of downtown and encourages linkages to a number of different districts; and, already there are discussions on how additional routes might enhance development opportunities in other parts of downtown and throughout the city.

Some of the key takeaways from the study include:

There has been more than $1.6 billion in public and private investment in the three block impact zone since the route was announced in 2011.
Private investment has exceeded $801 million.
Public investment totals more than $806 million.
Residential developments have been built with 1,860 new housing units.
A 16 percent increase in the number of jobs has taken place.
Seven new hotels with 833 rooms have been constructed within the investment area.
A net increase of more than 1.5 million square feet of office space has been recorded.

[Pete]

Greater OKC Chamber releases streetcar investment impact study
Published Tuesday, October 9, 2018
by David McCollum


The Greater Oklahoma City Chamber today released an investment impact analysis on the MAPS3 downtown streetcar project.

“Historically, the Greater Oklahoma City Chamber has always taken the position that it is critical to measure the success of MAPS projects to better understand the impact to the community,” said Roy Williams, Chamber president & CEO. “There can be a number of ways to measure the success of a streetcar including usage and ridership, improved access to downtown amenities, quality of life and enhanced visitor perception of our community. It is also vital to understand the investment and economic development that takes place along the route. The Greater Oklahoma City Chamber partnered with RegionTrack, a local economic forecasting and analysis firm, to work with us to track that investment.”

Williams noted that the downtown streetcar is a key and unique project within MAPS3 for many reasons. The project is considered to be an important economic development tool for future investment in Downtown Oklahoma City; it is a significant project that sets the stage for future regional transit discussions throughout all of central Oklahoma; it improves the overall walkability of downtown and encourages linkages to a number of different districts; and, already there are discussions on how additional routes might enhance development opportunities in other parts of downtown and throughout the city.

Some of the key takeaways from the study include:

There has been more than $1.6 billion in public and private investment in the three block impact zone since the route was announced in 2011.
Private investment has exceeded $801 million.
Public investment totals more than $806 million.
Residential developments have been built with 1,860 new housing units.
A 16 percent increase in the number of jobs has taken place.
Seven new hotels with 833 rooms have been constructed within the investment area.
A net increase of more than 1.5 million square feet of office space has been recorded.

[jn1780]

A streetcar got stuck under the railroad viaduct last week. Good thing they do testing!
Is the power arm thing automated? Hopefully, it is because that seems like something an operator could forget. Seems pretty easy to have it self retract when it senses no power.

[shawnw]

I don't think so because there are signs reminding drivers to lower them.

[PaddyShack]

When you say stuck, do you mean it ran out of juice stuck or physically got stuck?

[catch22]

When you say stuck, do you mean it ran out of juice stuck or physically got stuck?

https://www.koco.com/article/streetc...s-say/23941572

[shawnw]

it was physically stuck because the pantograph had not been lowered while going under a bridge.

[Anonymous.]

That is insane that the driver is responsible for lowering and raising that. Everything else about the streetcars seems very high-tech. Then you have this dumb task that requires a human to press a button?

[shawnw]

As previously noted there are signs for the driver:

https://www.instagram.com/p/Bl9Q13wHyY_/


not that I don't think it should be automated

[jn1780]

I wonder if this was a malfunction or operator error. There are signs, but we are talking about a mindless task that an operator will have to do over a 100 times a day.

[Urban Pioneer]

Operator error. Our committee agrees and we actually paid for transponders to be added to all seven trains to automatically perform this function. We basically paid the vehicle builder to invent the device and add the programming. It is being installed this month.

As we feared, this couldn’t be installed fast enough. The new mechanism not only automically performs the function, it will not allow the train to move forward even if the interlock is overridden.

The reason that it wasn’t built in to begin with is because the transponder part had not been installed yet and the new program had not been uploaded as it had just been created. If feel for whoever was operating the train.

[David]

Was there any serious damage to the car that got stuck?

[Ross MacLochness]

That is insane that the driver is responsible for lowering and raising that. Everything else about the streetcars seems very high-tech. Then you have this dumb task that requires a human to press a button?

The operators do a bunch of stuff manually. Throttle, brake, track switching, pantograph raise/lower. They even have power to change some of the streetlights if I'm not mistaken.

[jn1780]

The operators do a bunch of stuff manually. Throttle, brake, track switching, pantograph raise/lower. They even have power to change some of the streetlights if I'm not mistaken.

Track switching sounds like another thing that can be automated with a transponder if they have the software developed for that.