Last Updated on March 30, 2018, 5:23 PM | Published: March 30, 2018
The only thing that went wrong for EMBARK staff at the streetcar open house Friday downtown was that they brought only 300 t-shirts when well over 500 came by.
It was a beautiful day and a line had already formed down the street by 11 a.m. when they opened.
Here is our gallery of sights at the opening. (To activate the lightbox, click on any image. Captions will be at the top.)
The "Clear Blue Sky" color scheme and the "Redbud" color scheme were on display. The third of three unique colors for the streetcars will be called "Bermuda Green" (Brett Dickerson)
Downtown dweller Cody Lusnia was excited to see the streetcars up close and walk around inside. He said seeing them made it all more clear that they are a "serious piece of the city's transportation." Each car that includes three segments will hold 64 seated and a total of 104 with a full standing load. (Brett Dickerson)
The modern design of the streetcars is meant to fit into the newest construction going on now and into the future downtown. (Brett Dickerson)
EMBARK is the name of Oklahoma City's transit system within the Central Oklahoma Transportation and Parking Authority or COTPA. (Brett Dickerson)
Robin Williams (L) and Veronica Ramirez look over the streetcar that was open Friday. They said they both work in Customer Service and were training to answer questions about the streetcar lines when they start being used by the public. (Brett Dickerson)
Attorney Brian Young looks over the open streetcar. He said he has an office downtown and would probably start using the streetcar lines as soon as they are in operation. (Brett Dickerson)
In addition to answering questions, EMBARK staff were often called upon to help with photos residents wanted taken in front of the streetcars. (Brett Dickerson)
Nathanial Harding said he was very proud to see the streetcars out on their tracks downtown. He is the Chair of the Streetcar Committee. (Brett Dickerson)
Vertical pylon signs for various stops around the streetcar lines came in recently and are being stored horizontally in a neighboring building. These will be installed by cranes using the i-bolt seen at the top of each one. They each weigh about 600 pounds. (Brett Dickerson)
The clear blue sky and redbud color schemes from the park side. The Devon Tower (R) and the newest office building downtown, BOK Park Plaza tower are in the background. Scissortail Park is being constructed to the right. (Brett Dickerson)
Author Profile
Founder, publisher, and editor of Oklahoma City Free Press. Brett continues to contribute reports and photography to this site as he runs the business.
