Quote Originally Posted by PhiAlpha View Post
Yeah I mean probably Uber, lime scooters, etc just like most people I know do if they live downtown in either city, are going out and will be drinking, are going out in somewhere that has decent transit like Denver but the light rail doesn’t make it all the way to their destination, and when visiting another city in general. You, your circle of friends and possibly your generation (I don’t know how old you are so sorry if assuming) might not do this much, but that type of thing is extremely common. Additionally Fort Worth’s train station has an enterprise rental car facility onsite as well as several other companies a short walk or Uber from the train station. I used to utilize that all the time if traveling for business last minute when flights to DFW or love were insanely expensive when I needed to go. Sitting on a train for 30 minutes to an hour longer than the drive but being able to relax or work during that time was great and if I only needed to go to Fort Worth it was often comparable in total travel time to flying.

For one, now that the tracks have been upgraded…it would not take double the driving time even with 4 stops, it should at most be just under an 2.5 hours but more likely closer to 2 hours even.. As long as the train ran from downtown to downtown, has a schedule that works and can travel at 60 mph (as it can now), I think it could work. If additionally, you ran some express trains, it would only be about 10-20 minutes longer than the drive…which for most people I know that commute frequently between OKC and Tulsa…the trade off of being able to relax, work or whatever and not have to drive the damn turnpike all the time would be worth it most of the time even at an 40 minutes longer. Especially if just going to Thunder games or events in either direction. If you’re going to either city for something that involves travel way outside of downtown and are on a tight schedule…it would probably be easier to drive but I would guess that the final destinations for people traveling to both cities decrease the farther you get from the cores.

That said, realistically I think it needs to be upgraded to run at 70-85 mph to be adopted as an option on a wide scale which should be possible.
Thanks for those links in the previous post. Did not realize they had been talking about upping the speed that much on that corridor. I was under the impression they were still looking at service with speeds averaging 40 ish MPH.

I personally think anything less than 75 MPH is likely a waste of time for rail between OKC and Tulsa. It needs to be somewhat competitive time wise and needs to have a decent enough frequency. 1 trip there and 1 trip back a day will not cut it. We need service like 4-6 times a day for it ever to be a realistic alternative too.

I see the argument bombermwc made all the time. How do people get around when the arrive at the airport? They don't fly with their car in their checked baggage. Transit at the destination point is irrelevant in Oklahoma for trains just as much as it is for an airport. Uber/Lyft have been it that way and there's also no reason Hertz, Enterprise, etc. couldn't have a rental location in the downtown cores of both cities if train service happened regularly. All the things you mentioned as well.