Streetcar

[sooner88]

Yeah I don't get that no Sunday service. Maybe don't start it until 11am or something, but think of all the Sunday night Dodgers and Thunder games, and Bricktown still has activity. I get that most conventions or events like that are not going on Sundays though.

There were 10-11 Sunday Thunder games last year.... that alone should be incentive to have it run on a limited basis at least.

[ljbab728]

The article says "Preliminary plans are to devote about 5 percent of 'service hours' to special events which could include Thunder basketball of Sunday evenings".

[David]

The official streetcar branding designs, linked by https://twitter.com/DowntownOKC/stat...98896397627392

[dankrutka]

Wow. I like it... a lot.

[David]

And the route map, this time from https://twitter.com/benfelder_okc/st...01260072542209

[catch22]

The branding and graphics look great. I am excited! Now we just need so get some sort of transit back to the airport.

[LocoAko]

A few additional photos from https://www.facebook.com/cityofokc/p...3609914717312:

[David]

The intermodal hub construction timeline, from the official twitter: https://twitter.com/OKCStreetcar/sta...10727451299840

[Anonymous.]

Clean. Minimal. Modern.

Perfect branding.

[Mississippi Blues]

A conceptual rendering, also from the official Twitter:

(Sidenote: I believe the emphasis of this rendering is on the stop itself)

https://twitter.com/OKCStreetcar

[warreng88]

Streetcar operators embark on bid process

By: Brian Brus The Journal Record July 27, 2016

OKLAHOMA CITY – The city’s downtown streetcar funded under the MAPS 3 sales tax has attracted the attention of some of the country’s largest mass transit operators.

Tuesday’s MAPS 3 subcommittee meeting on the contract-bidding process drew representatives from five companies: Transdev Inc. in Illinois, RATP Dev America in New York, Herzog Transit Services Inc. in Florida, AECOM in Florida, and First Transit in Ohio.

“The (Oklahoma City) system is certainly large enough, comparable in size to the tracks you’d find in Cincinnati or Detroit,” said Rick Gustafson, executive vice president at Portland, Oregon-based Shiels Obletz Johnsen Inc., the company that was hired to consult with City Hall on the selection process.

“You’re talking about 25,000-30,000 hours of operation per year. Detroit’s is about 24,000 and Tucson is about 32,000. So they’re all of similar size in operating hours. Oklahoma City is definitely large enough. It will garner quite a bit of interest,” he said.

The $131 million streetcar will be operated through Embark, the city’s mass transit agency. It is one of the larger projects approved in 2009 by voters in a $777 million temporary, 1-percent tax issue. The system was envisioned as the next step in a more vibrant mass transit system, focusing first on moving downtown workers during the day and tourists into the night, with plans for expansion.

Each of the six cars will have a standing capacity of 100 people. The contract to manufacture the cars was awarded this year to Brookville Equipment Corp. of Pennsylvania.

Embark will be responsible for providing the streetcar service, but an early evaluation suggested a turnkey private contractor, a relationship common in many other cities. According to the scope of services document provided to interested parties, two routes will be operated: The Bricktown-Midtown line will run at a 10-minute frequency during the daytime peak and 14-minute frequency during early mornings, evenings and Saturdays, with no Sunday operation for a total annual service of 19,396 hours over 4.86 miles. The hours for the second route through Bricktown will total 3,900 per year, with 1,200 service hours planned for special service and events, for a total of 2.04 miles.

A total of 23 streetcar stops will be spaced every 700-1,200 feet along the route.

Gustafson did not speak directly to the strength of any of the companies in attendance at the pre-bid meeting, but said they are among the most reputable in the industry. Transdev, for example, manages more than 200 transportation contracts for cities, transit authorities and airports in North America, including the new streetcar system in Cincinnati.

Herzog won the contract to operate Kansas City’s first streetcar this year. And RATP Dev is a state-owned French company, Régie Autonome des Transports Parisiens, that recently entered the U.S. market with its first tram system in Tucson, Arizona.

Company officials could not be reached Wednesday for comment.

Embark officials on Wednesday revealed the system’s logo and color design scheme well ahead of the streetcar’s expected launch in 2018. The official name for the system will be the Oklahoma City Streetcar, abbreviated as OKC Streetcar. Each car will be painted one of three palettes: Bermuda green, sky blue and redbud.

[Plutonic Panda]

http://newsok.com/streetcar-track-co...rticle/5515462

[Laramie]

"We are right on budget," consultant Mark Dorn told a MAPS 3 advisory subcommittee this week.

Installation of the rails is expected to begin in November and take nearly two years.

The Bricktown loop will give the system flexibility for frequent service between Bricktown and the convention center district, including the arena.

Sounds as though the city is on top of its game plan. Oklahoma City will be a better place come 2020.

What's encouraging, I've talked with two friends (haven't seen or heard from in 25 years) who have recently returned to OKC. The Hemingway and Jamestown condos will be their new residents; both are excited about what they have seen. One has moved here from San Antonio; the other from Flint, Michigan.

[David]

I have it on good authority that the Hemingway is a nice complex to live in. Kind of oddly isolated from its surroundings, though, with the curves of the interstate on one side and the drainage canal on the other.

[warreng88]

Streetcar rails on track for November

By: Brian Brus The Journal Record September 2, 2016

OKLAHOMA CITY – City officials are already trying to figure out how to avoid disrupting businesses and workers downtown when rail is being laid for a new streetcar over the next two years.

City Council recently agreed to start accepting bids on the construction of the line, one of the largest projects in the MAPS 3 sales tax issue. Building the 4.6-mile main line and 2.3-mile extension to loop through Bricktown is expected to cost about $57.2 million. The streetcar vehicles and maintenance garage brings the total to $131 million.

City Hall wants to start laying the rail by November and finish within two years, MAPS 3 project manager David Todd said. That’s a major impact for a district that has already had to deal with the pains of Project 180, a massive streetscaping project that has been delayed repeatedly because of utility lines and other unexpected problems.

To arrange the least intrusive schedule for downtown traffic, City Hall hired design and program management firm ADG Inc. Todd said the company’s research turned up about 100 sports and special events in the area that will need to be worked around.

“That doesn’t mean the streetcar installation is going to avoid all those points,” Todd said. “It’s just that we’ve identified a conflict.”

Todd said ADG program administrator Kristen Wilson will serve at the primary point of contact for everyone on the route, property owners as well as tenants. Wilson could not be reached for comment Friday.

“We’re also going to try to stay away from retailers and other concerns that might be sensitive to traffic around Christmas and times like that,” Todd said.

The streetcar’s main line will pass through the Central Business District with stops at St. Anthony Hospital, Automobile Alley, the new MAPS 3 convention center and central park, and Chesapeake Energy Arena.

Consultant Mark Dorn recently told the MAPS 3 advisory subcommittee that the project is still on budget. Construction bids will be due Oct. 11. Contractors will be selected Nov. 8.

The vehicles that will run the line are being manufactured by Brookville Equipment Corp. in Pennsylvania; City Council awarded that contract in March. City Hall is now looking for a streetcar system operator. Full service is expected to begin in early 2018.

[catch22]

Can't wait to see the rails in the ground!

[Bellaboo]

Saw a little blurb in the paper this weekend that the streetcar rails will begin delivery this coming Wednesday. Shipped from Houston.

[OKCisOK4me]

Saw a little blurb in the paper this weekend that the streetcar rails will begin delivery this coming Wednesday. Shipped from Houston.

Saaaaaa-weeeeet!

[David]

https://www.instagram.com/p/BKWAUg1gAM0/

Rail has arrived! Today we received our first of many deliveries of rail. Each piece/section of rail is approximately 2000 lbs and roughly 22 pieces on each truck! #ForwardTogether #okc

Has a picture, but I can't quite figure out how to embed it from Instagram.

[Anonymous.]

This makes me so happy.

[Pete]

Here's the photo:

[catch22]

Awesome!

[Harbinger]

^^^^
I heard about this on channel 5. By the way I love how KOCO references this site so often.

[drinner-okc]

Are there any detailed maps showing which side of the street the track will be ran? I have asked business owners on Broadway (admittedly, not all of them) and have found no-one that knows. They don't know if they are losing their parking spots, or the other side is.
I have worked off N Broadway for 25+ years, and until my retirement will have to use alternate routes.

[cinnamonjock]

The streetcar should flow with traffic so it will always be on the right side of the road depending on the direction it is moving. The map earlier in the thread shows the direction the streetcar will go