Water taxi development plans floated past City Council
by Brian Brus
The Journal Record
2/28/2006
OKLAHOMA CITY - The Oklahoma City Council is expected to request the movement of $2.2 million in federal funds today to allow work toward the development of an Oklahoma River corridor taxi system.
The first river taxi access ports could be in place at both ends of a seven-mile stretch of the river in early 2007, city officials said, with more terminals expected to be built soon thereafter, driven by local business demand.
"It's more than just moving people. It's seen as fostering and encouraging significant in-fill development along that corridor," said Pat Downes, director of development for the Oklahoma City Riverfront Redevelopment Authority. "Fixed transit corridors, such as a river or rail, have a history of a very colorful economic development impact on surrounding areas."
The City Council received the Oklahoma River Water Transport Mobility Plan prepared by the Goodman Corp. in late December. In mid-January, the Central Oklahoma Transportation and Parking Authority approved a resolution that brought under COTPA's administration the water transportation system along the seven miles of the North Canadian River dubbed the Oklahoma River. The Goodman plan was recommended for approval by the Oklahoma City Riverfront Redevelopment Authority on Jan. 31.
In order to implement the plan, funds already received from the federal Ferry Boat Discretionary Fund must be transferred from the Highway Administration to the federal Transit Administration. Officials at the state Department of Transportation have said they'll file the appropriate paperwork upon receipt of a formal request by the Riverfront Redevelopment Authority, COTPA and the city of Oklahoma City.
Once that's done, work will proceed toward establishing river taxi routes between two initial taxi terminals - one at the Bricktown Canal's intersection with the river, adjacent to the Chesapeake Boathouse, another just east of Meridian Avenue, a few miles north of Will Rogers World Airport.
Other water taxi terminals are likely to be built at the Stockyards District, near the state fairgrounds, the Dell Inc. computer service campus and the American Indian Cultural Center, when it's completed. Those terminals will be supported by street trolley service to expand traveler access through the city's core. The Goodman plan projects 11 docks by 2012.
Interstate 40's impending realignment through downtown will pull the highway closer to the river, "and actually will improve visibility and access to the river corridor," Downes said.
"The Riverfront (authority) trustees see this as a development tool; the COTPA trustees see it as a way to move significant numbers of people in an efficient but fun way," he said. "Many of the patrons staying at the hotels in the hospitality zone of the Meridian-aero corridor are in town to attend meetings or conventions held nearby or downtown."
John Rhodes, a trust specialist for the Riverfront Redevelopment Authority, said the river taxi concept originally was envisioned as something more akin to a fun canal ride. But the Goodman study suggested the river could become "a viable transportation system for larger numbers of people."
"We're going to try it and see what happens. There's nothing else like it in this part of the country," Rhodes said. "It'll need a lot of publicity and marketing and corporate support. But we believe it's there. We're already getting questions from people about how they can tie into this."
The initial plan outlined by the Goodman group suggested an opening in 2006. The study says transit trips would number 317 daily, or an annual tally of nearly 80,000 riders.
The plan elaborates on rider numbers for the following year when the river taxi service is expected to take off. Depending on events at the fairgrounds, volume could reach as high as 163,000 riders annually. And by 2012, the total number of river travelers is projected to reach 235,000.
"Many hotel operators have visited with us about the possibility of using their airport shuttle service vans to take patrons to the river taxi terminals," Downes said. "That's a tremendous private sector partnership that would potentially feed ridership into the public transit system."
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