Oklahoma City’s first bus rapid transit (BRT) system is off to a stellar start. The system, named RAPID, began operating in Northwest Oklahoma City nearly two months ago. The routes run from early morning to late at night seven days a week. The buses, which are powered by compressed natural gas to improve air quality, travel up and down Classen Boulevard and Northwest Expressway, starting from the downtown transit center and turning around at the Meridian Park and Ride facility on 63rd Street. Assistant City Manager Jason Ferbrache, who also serves as director for EMBARK, the city’s passenger transportation system, said the RAPID NW line has met or exceeded all expectations. Ridership has averaged anywhere from 1,000 to 1,200 trips per day, which makes it EMBARK’s best-performing route. “Having launched a new service and getting that kind of ridership is a really good start for us,” he said, noting that real-time arrival information has typically been spot on. “Occasionally, we’ll have cellular interruptions and things that happen with technology, but we have been pleased with all of that. We have received virtually no complaints,” he said. RAPID SUCCESS: OKC’S FIRST BUS RAPID TRANSIT SYSTEM EXCEEDS EXPECTATIONS
To help deliver a BRT system that would work safely and more efficiently, the city has erected 32 platforms or stops along the route where riders can purchase fares in advance from a ticket kiosk. The platform is also level with the bus, which allows easier access for passengers, especially for those who have disabilities or who may be pushing a stroller or cart. The platform is also covered and lighted and includes seating as well as real-time bus arrival displays. “The level boarding absolutely helps people in mobility devices. But also just from a customer standpoint, the level boarding is much easier than stepping up or down onto a bus, especially for people who may be rolling a shopping cart on and off the bus, or if they are traveling with their young child and they want to easily roll a stroller on and off the transit vehicle,” Ferbrache said. The city is in the planning stages to add two additional BRT lines in other parts of Oklahoma City. One is in northeast OKC which would terminate at the Adventure District and serve University of Oklahoma Health Sciences and the area around Northeast 23rd Street and Martin Luther King Boulevard. The other RAPID line is planned for the south side, which would serve the Capitol Hill area and ideally terminate at the Amazon facility near Southwest 89th Street and Portland Avenue. Those routes would be funded through MAPS 4. “We are studying the corridors, trying to determine exactly where the next two BRTs will go in terms of streets,” Ferbrache said. He expects the two lines will be operational sometime around 2028.
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