Chat recap
Get an update about streetcars and more in the OKC Central chat.
Jane Jenkins and Jill DeLozier with Downtown Oklahoma City Partnership and Michael Scroggins with EMBARK joined The Oklahoman's Steve Lackmeyer for OKC Central Live Chat Friday as they discussed the start of OKC Streetcar operations on Dec. 14. You can join Steve's Q&As on Fridays at 9:30 a.m. and submit your questions about the happenings in and around downtown Oklahoma City.
Lackmeyer: I'm hearing from some retailers along the streetcar routes that business has not fully recovered from when access was limited by construction. What efforts are now underway to bring these businesses into the overall streetcar discussion and operation?
DeLozier: Downtown Oklahoma City Partnership in working with the district is going to do a big push for Small Business Saturday on Nov. 24. We are going to do a Shop Downtown advertising campaign. Hopefully that starts next week. We will be convening all of our businesses and retailers to find out what their needs are and what offerings we can promote. A lot of our holiday activities are intended to stimulate retail as well. Scroggins: You don't want to miss Lights on Broadway Saturday night because we will be announcing some promotions to support businesses along the streetcar route. We will have a streetcar to tour. Be looking for a large building-size video to be near the stop at NW 8 and Broadway.
We will be announcing something pretty sweet only available in stores along our route for Small Business Saturday. There will be 5,000 OKC Streetcar chocolate bars being given away on that day in those businesses. In those chocolate bars, 500 of them will have a golden ticket for a free early ride. And people will be limited to one chocolate bar per person. We learned our lesson seeing what happened with the Wonka Bars. There will be more promotions. Come find out. We are looking for ways to thank retailers for their patience. After the video screening around 6:15 p.m. we will be handing out our newest OKC Streetcar T-shirts.
Q: When will dockless bikes be in OKC?
Scroggins: The future expansion of Spokies will include dockless bikes making expansion even more viable physically because we won't have the overhead of a station to add. Look for new options this next year. DeLozier: The technology for dockless bike share has been
getting increasingly less expensive, more reliable and user friendly over the past few years. Now is a good time to jump on that bike.
Scroggins: Bike share in the U.S. is relatively young and while we look to our friends overseas the public demands are different here than in Amsterdam.
Q: Is there a pricing schedule out for the streetcar? If so, where can I find it and where will I be able to purchase passes online?
Scroggins: You can go to EMBARK’s website to see the pricing structures for the streetcars. You will be able to purchase tickets through our mobile fare app, Token Transit.
Q: With Mayor Holt announcing the formation of a regional transit authority for central Oklahoma, any chance we see quick returns from that collaboration?
Scroggins: You will likely see formal formation of a regional transit authority soon. However, many of the projects already identified could likely take decades to complete, specifically commuter rail.
Lackmeyer: Michael, would it be fair to say the corridor with the most traffic and potentially closest to getting public support for such a project is along I-35 between downtown and Norman?
Scroggins: Yes. It’s certainly a corridor ODOT has already identified as an area where future highway expansion is not feasible. It’s completely built out. However, I would say support from Norman to Edmond is already very high.
Q: How will events like Thunder Games be handled to maximize convenience of the streetcar for a large number of people coming and going at the same time?
Scroggins: The way the route was designed, specifically the Scissortail Park stop, allows us to stage more than one streetcar in an area where we anticipate a surge of large crowds at one time. The uniqueness of that stop is you have a boarding platform that has boarding on both sides and it is in its own right of way.
Q: If I already buy Embark 30-day unlimited passes for the bus do I also have to buy a pass for the streetcar?
Scroggins: No. The streetcar is included with EMBARK’s universal bus passes. The passes for a monthly regular is $50. All students can get a $10 monthly pass. The monthly passes are free for high school juniors and seniors.