MAPS 3 Oklahoma City Streetcar Open House March 30
The Oklahoma City Streetcar is a $130 million project funded through the MAPS 3 sales tax initiative.
First 300 Get a FREE Streetcar Shirt
Be among the first people to get a glimpse at transit’s future in Oklahoma City at the MAPS 3 OKC Streetcar open house on March 30.
The first 300 people get a free streetcar t-shirt at the event, 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Friday, March 30 at the OKC Streetcar Storage and Maintenance Facility, SW 7th Street and Hudson Avenue.
Attendees will be able to board the streetcar to get a first-hand look at what it will be like when OKC Streetcar service begins late this year. The streetcar will be stationary at the event, accessible by a temporary ADA platform. A taco truck will be on site.
Excitement Building
“There’s been a lot of excitement from people looking forward to the streetcar, so we wanted to provide an opportunity to see a streetcar up close,” said MAPS 3 Program Manager David Todd. “You’ll be able to get a feel for what it’s like inside, sit on the seats and be among the first people in generations to be inside an Oklahoma City streetcar.”
The first three of seven modern streetcars for the streetcar system have been delivered, and testing is under way. The track lines are under construction.
The final four streetcars will be delivered one at a time about every three weeks. They’re delivered by truck from Pennsylvania, where they’re built by Brookville Equipment Corporation.
EMBARK will operate the OKC Streetcar as part of the City’s public transit system.
Stay updated on how construction will affect traffic on City streets as the project progresses by signing up for email alerts.
SOURCE: City of Oklahoma City Public Information Office
Options
The streetcar will have two route options: the 2-mile B-Line serving the Bricktown loop, and the 4.8-mile D-Line serving downtown, Bricktown and other districts in the urban core. Click here for a map.
104 Passengers
Each streetcar can carry 104 passengers, and each stop will be served every 12-15 minutes.
The D-Line – the downtown mainline – will begin service at 6 a.m. Monday to Friday and 7 a.m. Saturday. Service ends at midnight Monday to Thursday, extending to 2 a.m. on Friday night (Saturday morning) and Saturday night (Sunday morning).
Safety Campaign
The streetcar will use City streets in the same way as other vehicles, obeying traffic signals and other rules of the road. EMBARK is developing a safety campaign to educate drivers, pedestrians and cyclists how to safely interact with the streetcar once rail service begins.
Each OKC Streetcar stop is ADA-accessible for easy, level boarding with signage, real-time arrival information, covered shelters and a ticket vending machine.
22 Stops
The OKC Streetcar will serve 22 stops with five streetcars, which ride on rails flush with the street. The streetcars use overhead wires for electric power on part of the route, and batteries for the rest.
B-Line
The B-Line – the Bricktown loop – is served 7 a.m. Friday to 2 a.m. Saturday, and 7 a.m. Saturday to 2 a.m. Sunday, and will be activated for other special events.
The streetcar system is expected to be operational on Sundays when there are large special events along the route to generate trips.
Budget
The project budget is $131 million and includes the storage and maintenance facility, completed last year.
Herzog-Stacey and Witbeck is building the rail line. Consultants include ADG, Jacobs Engineering, AECOM and SOJ. EMBARK contracted Herzog Transit Services to manage OKC Streetcar’s day-to-day operations.
Historical Streetcar Routes
Streetcars are not new to Central Oklahoma
Check out ACOG’s post, Historical Streetcar Routes, from 2013, and learn about the “days before well-paved streets and near-ubiquitous automobile ownership,” when electric streetcars wound their way through Oklahoma City neighborhoods.