Last Updated on August 6, 2023, 2:50 AM | Published: May 14, 2023
OKLAHOMA CITY — As EMBARK gears up to launch its new Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) system in OKC, questions remain about how the transit system plans to educate city drivers in advance about sharing the road with the new buses.
And the extent to which drivers are cooperative will have everything to do with the new line being able to stay on time and live up to the expectations of an express bus along the NW Expressway-Classen-downtown traffic corridor.
At present, with mere months to go, development announcements have been made. But, little promotional work has been done to educate drivers who will be sharing significantly modified streets with the new busses. And that line will need to stay on a much more aggressive schedule than the current neighborhood busses.
But, city staff assured us this week that they are taking seriously the need to educate the driving public that has traveled essentially the same road designs for decades along the NW Expressway and Classen Boulevard.
Haunting memories of Streetcar struggles
The notorious struggles and setbacks of EMBARK’s downtown Streetcar linger in the background as the first BRT line is readied for service in the fall.
Neither a broad public education campaign nor enforcement mechanisms were in place back in 2018 when the Streetcar first rolled out. The whole line was brought to a standstill sometimes daily because of one unaware or indifferent driver improperly parking too close to the tracks and no quick way to issue a citation and get it towed.
It happened often enough to cause a loss of confidence from many downtown workers who were originally thought to be the main constituents of the line during the workday.
Soon it became evident that the driving public had not been adequately prepared to share the streets with the Streetcar and the City was not prepared to respond quickly.
“Once people weren’t sure that they could get back to work on time, that ended the promise of more lunchtime business,” the former Cultivar Mexican Kitchen owner Gary Goldman told Free Press Editor Brett Dickerson after the first year.
The popular restaurant near NW 6th and Broadway had struggled to recover from lingering construction issues as development of the line along N. Broadway slowed to a crawl. Then, the traffic stoppages of the opened line added to the pain.
Bus Rapid Transit only months away
After a multi-year planning and consideration phase from EMBARK, Oklahoma City’s public transit authority, the city’s first BRT project finally broke ground in the summer of 2022 and is on track to begin operations this coming fall.
Hopes are high that the flexibility of busses over a fixed rail Streetcar will allow bus drivers to negotiate situations successfully that Streetcar operators just could not.
But, the new BRT concept is still dependent upon drivers sharing the road to comply with the new concepts.
Traffic concerns
Of particular concern for EMBARK staff heading toward the BRT launch is preparing drivers who will be sharing the busy road with the new buses along the NW Expressway and Classen Boulevard into downtown.
“That’s obviously a critical piece of the promotional efforts that we’ll have leading up to launch later this summer,” said EMBARK Community Engagement Officer Cody Boyd. “A lot of our safety messaging will have to be about how it’s different and what to look for.”
Boyd makes some acknowledgment of the traffic issues that have plagued the streetcar and how they expect the BRT launch to be different.
“Unlike a fixed-rail vehicle like the streetcar, the bus can change lanes, it can move to avoid something that’s laying in the street or a fender bender in front of it,” he said. “And it’s not going to be making those really wide turns like the streetcar.”
The hope is that similar issues can also be minimized for the BRT rollout through a blitz of safety messaging, explainers, and real-world, on-the-street testing that can give drivers a taste of how the buses operate before worrying about crowded loading platforms and disembarking pedestrians.
“In the weeks leading up to launch, the public can expect to see a lot of information from EMBARK,” said Boyd. “And for about a month before launch, the buses will actually be driving the line, doing a simulated service basically, each day without any passengers.”
On the Road
Though Boyd assured Free Press that the new Rapid buses are no longer than – and therefore no more an impediment to traffic than – existing city fixed-route buses, there will be some new elements to their operations that may be unfamiliar to other drivers.
“There are going to be some safety aspects,” Boyd admitted. “I don’t want to downplay that.”
Chief among these is the new dedicated pullout lanes that will be marked surrounding the new passenger loading platforms.
“Drivers will need to be aware of these platforms where the bus will have a dedicated pullout lane to get to that platform and then to pull back into traffic,” Boyd said. “Those lanes will be striped and signed that they are for buses only. And that’s something for motorists to be aware of because it just isn’t very familiar to us in Oklahoma City.”
However, there is currently no information as to the potential penalty for blocking or driving in those lanes.
Other planned traffic impacts relating to the BRT are more localized, including a new “midblock” style crosswalk at NW 42nd and Classen to accommodate bus patrons crossing, and extended green light timings at certain intersections to account for the increased bus traffic.
This short video presentation shows how the new bus pullout lanes and priority traffic signals are intended to help the BRT line buses stay on time.
Connecting the City
With the continuing rise of driver numbers, accidents, and congestion on city streets, and with watchers waiting to see how EMBARK handles their next major undertaking following the streetcar, you could say there’s a lot riding on the BRT project.
This time, they’re planning to hit the ground running in the hope of ensuring greater success and safety.
“The public can expect to see a lot of information from EMBARK through different avenues, from social media and YouTube to probably radio and television commercials,” Boyd said. “That all promotes the service, but we will also be producing a lot of safety and basic ‘how to’ type information as well.”
But they are confident that it’s something the city desperately needs to alleviate traffic, and that, with the right education and information, the driving public will put the effort into sharing the road.
“There’s still the educational component,” Boyd said, “but we know the public is interested in these types of transportation systems.”
Brett Fieldcamp has been covering arts, entertainment, news, housing, and culture in Oklahoma for nearly 15 years, writing for several local and state publications. He’s also a musician and songwriter and holds a certification as Specialist of Spirits from The Society of Wine Educators.
Founder, publisher, and editor of Oklahoma City Free Press. Brett continues to contribute reports and photography to this site as he runs the business.
