Embark (OKC Metro Bus Service)

[Urban Pioneer]

Its similar. They haven't pursued a rail prototype yet. That's the problem. We talked to them at this year's APTA Convention.

[LetsTalkTransit]

Rick Cain Announces Retirement, learn more at http://ow.ly/r3qE0, National search underway.

[CuatrodeMayo]

What is the likelihood it will be an engineer?

lol.

[G.Walker]

Does anyone know if they are going to add a new line for the Sooner Express, Route 24? Ridership has to be at an all time high, and bus is always packed. With limited seating, at least for the first morning bus.

[LakeEffect]

What is the likelihood it will be an engineer?

lol.

0%. But, could it be a financial/numbers person without operations experience? Maybe... Rick was a numbers guy, not an operations guy, if I recall correctly.

[kevinpate]

Does anyone know if they are going to add a new line for the Sooner Express, Route 24? Ridership has to be at an all time high, and bus is always packed. With limited seating, at least for the first morning bus.

That first run has been the fullest of the three buses that are outbound from Norman each am. I don't think the others really compare. While I do not use it often, it is the one I use the most anymore. Not sure on the evening return buses as I am usually on the mid afternoon bus when I take a bus.

[Platemaker]

I ride the Sooner Express everyday. I ride the 6:05 AM at least 3 times a week. I've never seen it "packed". Many mornings it has been just me. The 7:28 and 9:33 are always significantly fuller, but they are run by CART.

[catch22]

If Amtrak ran another frequency between OKC and Dallas with Norman stop, would OKC/Norman be able to convince them to charge a lower fare for OKC-Norman (and reverse) customers.

It could be a quick solution to commuter rail between the two cities until a greater system was in place.

Current fare is $9 e/w between Norman and OKC.

If it were say, $4.50 or a month pass...would people be enticed to ride it?

Or, on second thought, a better solution would be if the Wichita line came to existence...

have the Wichita leg originate in Norman. Norman-OKC-Wichita. Depart 7am arrive 730am downtown and then continue to Wichita. Then the Heartland Flyer could run OKC-Norman-Dallas at it's current time. It would allow there to be commuter options for both Northbound and Southbound commuters in the morning and in the evening.

[kevinpate]

If given a choice between more runs of the Sooner Express bus or an added AMTRAK run, it is a no brainer. Bus.
I'd be finer than frog hair if Sooner Express simply operated one additional run 11 ish in the day and had a late evening night time run.
I'd also drive to the city a whole lot less if that existed, while making many more trips.

[catch22]

I'm just thinking as I-35 gets more congested, the bus schedule will be harder and harder to stay on-time.

[kevinpate]

Congestion on I-35, well at least the kind that doesn't involve officer shootouts, results in delays that are still measured in minutes. Delays on a track that sees 38 or more major trains go through a day already creates delays measured in hours, and at times far longer.

[shawnw]

If Amtrak ran another frequency between OKC and Dallas with Norman stop, would OKC/Norman be able to convince them to charge a lower fare for OKC-Norman (and reverse) customers.

It could be a quick solution to commuter rail between the two cities until a greater system was in place.

Current fare is $9 e/w between Norman and OKC.

If it were say, $4.50 or a month pass...would people be enticed to ride it?

Or, on second thought, a better solution would be if the Wichita line came to existence...

have the Wichita leg originate in Norman. Norman-OKC-Wichita. Depart 7am arrive 730am downtown and then continue to Wichita. Then the Heartland Flyer could run OKC-Norman-Dallas at it's current time. It would allow there to be commuter options for both Northbound and Southbound commuters in the morning and in the evening.

I had made a similar suggestion to Sid during a discussion some time ago about how we could/should leverage the Flyer as an interim commuter rail option. I like the idea, though you could probably only do one run in the morning from Norman to reset the line to make the Flyer run later that morning. When the Flyer returns at night it could go back down to Norman to park to be ready for the morning commute, but then it would be gone to Texas so I don't know what you'd do about getting the morning commuters home in the afternoon (I'm talking that first interim step of using the existing train, before anything new is acquired).

[Platemaker]

Kevin...

When you were saying that the early AM bus is full were you talking about Norman to OKC?

[kevinpate]

Platemaker, when I bus into the city from Norman, I normally take the earliest bus. It's not SRO, but it has seemed fuller to me than the few times I have ridden in on a later bus.

[catch22]

Does Norman post ridership numbers?

[kevinpate]

catch22, I don't know. Never thought to even look and see.

oops. hit send too fast. If there are numbers, I imagine they'd be reported to OKC Metro bus system.

[catch22]

Who runs the bus? CART or COTPA (Or what's their new name...Endeavor??)

[Platemaker]

I see. My apologies. I ride from the the city to Norman. I thought you were crazy saying the early bus was full. haha. A fuller bus coming into downtown makes a lot more sense.

[kevinpate]

Who runs the bus? CART or COTPA (Or what's their new name...Endeavor??)

Depends on the time of the day, but I don't know which runs are CART and which are OKC. It may be on the schedule at gometro. All I ever concern myself with are when do I need to be at Homeland and when do I need to be at Transit Center. If it is on time, it could be run by Keebler elves and I would be fine.

[Urban Pioneer]

Great new tv ad for the transit system.

EMBARK - Forward Together

[CaptDave]

That's pretty cool. I hope they do not repaint the newer hybrid buses in the white, blue, gray scheme though.

[CaptDave]

I love the new color scheme.

I agree - it is much better than the old GoMetro. Except for those newer hybrid buses. It is good to see some effort in marketing and improving the brand of OKC transit.

[shawnw]

Do we know if this new branding will carry over to the streetcar or if we'll have to call that something else? (I presume it will carry over)

And by extension, do we think the new branding will carry over to whatever RTA might develop down the line, or will we have another branding exercise in a few years? (I suspect we might have to re-brand)

[AP]

I used the bus system today for my commute for the first time. I found the overall experience a lot better than I thought it would be going in. The only issue I had was them not taking a card to pay for any type of pass at the transit center. You have to pay with cash or check, so I had to use the ATM they provided.

[kevinpate]

A place that still prefers checks. I thought it was down to only Ozzie's at this point.