Last Updated on September 18, 2023, 7:26 PM | Published: September 18, 2023
OKLAHOMA CITY — With a December 4 launch date stated for the “RAPID” NW Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) line, EMBARK officials are in the final months preparing both equipment and training for the bus drivers.
Monday, the last of the nine new purpose-built BRT busses for the new NW route arrived at the EMBARK operating facility in Oklahoma City.
Details revealed
Free Press visited the facility Monday and learned some details that have been worked out about how the busses will stay on time.
The heavy traffic on the entire route along Classen and then the NW Expressway as well as the time it takes to board and disembark will make the promised frequency a challenge.
Officials say that the NW BRT busses between downtown to the end of the route at Meridian and NW Expressway will run on a 12 to 15-minute frequency both ways during peak hours.
Jesse Rush, assistant operations manager for EMBARk told Free Press that there are several aspects of the design of the system that are intended to give those promised frequencies.
Signal prioritization
“One of those is our transit signal prioritization or TSP. So along the entire corridor…, we’ll be installing that transit signal prioritization, which essentially means that as the bus is approaching a signal that the light’s already green, that light can stay green for the bus.
But if that light is red, it’s going to jump into that cycle and make sure that that bus gets that green light for the intersection.”
But what about drivers who want to misuse the signal prioritization for themselves? Free Press raised that issue earlier.
“We’re working with legal now to look at any ordinance changes that need to happen,” said Rush.
One of the most complex intersections for the BRT busses to navigate and stay on time will be outbound at Classen and the NW Expressway. At that intersection, the bus will have to make a left turn onto the NW Expressway after picking up passengers a few blocks away in the far right lane.
Rush told Free Press that the earlier idea of having a priority signal in the far right lane on Classen has been abandoned.
Instead, traffic signals for the pedestrian crosswalk at the BRT stop near NW 42nd and Classen will be programmed to hold traffic and allow the bus to have signal priority. That will give the bus about six blocks to move across three lanes to the far left turn lanes without having to negotiate traffic.
Faster loading/unloading times
The other features of the BRT busses will be the stations and the busses being made to match with each other at the same level like a subway platform. The additional safety and ease will allow the driver to stay with the plan of only 20 seconds per stop.
Currently, neighborhood routes have busses and stops where everyone has to take one step up unless the driver takes the time to kneel the bus down. And, if someone in a mobility device needs to board, the driver has to kneel the bus to put the platform on a level plane from the street-level stop. All of those factors take time off of the route progress.
With the new platforms and BRT busses being designed to match, all persons with differing levels of mobility can board and leave the bus easily, safely, and quickly.
Ticket kiosks at each station
The usual taking of money and generating tickets on board the busses also requires planned accumulated time to complete a current neighborhood route.
The new BRT buses have no equipment on board to take money or generate tickets. All of those transactions will take place on the platform before boarding the bus.
Again, the amenity is intended to help drivers stay within the 20-second standard for time at a platform.
Educating drivers about sharing the road
Michael Scroggins, public information officer for EMBARK, told Free Press that they are working on a series of public information videos that they will publish as we get closer to the December launch date.
How drivers are expected to react to bus signal priority will be something the public will need to know.
The numbers
The RAPID NW line has 32 stops along its 9.5-mile length. The route connects downtown OKC to Classen Boulevard, Northwest Expressway, and Meridian. It will also be part of the EMBARK transport network, which is a much bigger system.
During peak hours, the RAPID NW line will run seven days a week, with stops every 12 to 15 minutes. Nearly 40,000 people live and work along the RAPID NW line, where there are 91,000 jobs. It is thought that more than 20% of the region’s jobs are within a half-mile of this new, high-quality transport service.
NW-BRT_Route_2022_V4EMBARK already offers fixed-route buses, OKC Streetcar, Spokies, Oklahoma River Cruises, Mobility Management Services, and Downtown Parking. RAPID will be added to this list.
Founder, publisher, and editor of Oklahoma City Free Press. Brett continues to contribute reports and photography to this site as he runs the business.
