Hitting the rails: Oklahoma City set to inaugurate streetcar service

[mahatmakanejeeves]

Hitting the rails: Oklahoma City set to inaugurate streetcar service

{No time or date stamp or journalists' names were provided without a login.}



A streetcar travels west on Reno in Bricktown. [Photo by Doug Hoke, The Oklahoman Archives]

After a rigorous safety review, two years of construction and six months of testing and training, the Oklahoma City Streetcar is set to announce, "All aboard." ... Service on the $136 million, 6.9-mile MAPS 3 downtown streetcar system begins Friday.

Transit officials prepared to accommodate 10,000 to 15,000 riders on opening day, based on averages in other cities, and up to 50,000 for the opening weekend.

Rides will be free the first three weeks. ... After that, the fare is $1 per ride and $3 for a 24-hour pass.

A streetcar will be the backdrop as choirs and bands welcome the public to a grand opening ceremony starting about 9:30 a.m. at Leadership Square, 211 N Robinson Ave.

[yesphan]

1. Very little practicle

purpose for public transportation but, a fun little ride I'm sure.

OKC once had a bustling railway and trolley system till they tore it all out.

[Bradshaw3]

2. The interurban trolley was a main transit system from the teens to the 40s

Went all the way from Edmond to Norman and included trolley lines in OKC. My parents rode it all the time before WWII. Good to see this new system is part of OKC's dowtown revitalization.

[redstatebluegirl]

3. What we need is high speed rail between OKC, Norman, Stillwater and Tulsa.

[mahatmakanejeeves]

4. Texas-Oklahoma Passenger Rail Study

I went to a presentation about this last year or earlier this year.

Texas-Oklahoma Passenger Rail Study

http://ftp.dot.state.tx.us/pub/txdot-info/rail/txok/study_area_map.pdf

Alignments proposed for Oklahoma City-South Texas passenger rail

[virgogal]

5. Boston got rid of them years ago---replaced by busses.

Streetcars are a pain in the neck when they break down------and busses can take an alternate route if the road is blocked ahead of them,streetcars are stuck.