Opening weekend streetcar ridership totals released
Embark transit said it counted 20,104 trips taken on the downtown streetcar on the opening weekend.
The $136 million streetcar system opened Friday with a midmorning ceremony, and ran past midnight Friday and Saturday and until 7 p.m. Sunday.
Mayor David Holt tweeted a photo from a packed streetcar after Saturday night's Thunder basketball game, writing, "Still busy after midnight on @OKCStreetcar ..."
Transit officials had said they were prepared for bigger crowds based on experiences in other
cities, up to 15,000 the first day and 50,000 for the weekend.
Transit Director Jason Ferbrache said Embark counted 5,612 trips Friday, 10,222 Saturday and 4,270 Sunday, which works out to about 480 riders per hour.
The Liberty-model modern streetcars each have a capacity of 103 passengers seated and standing.
Streetcar regular hours are 6 a.m. to midnight
Monday through Thursday, 6 a.m. to 2 a.m. Friday and 7 a.m. to 2 a.m. Saturday on the downtown loop.
The Bricktown loop runs 6 a.m. to 2 a.m. Friday and 7 a.m. to 2 a.m. Saturday.
Through Jan. 27 streetcars will run on Sundays, 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Dec. 30, Jan. 13 and Jan. 20, and 11 a.m. to midnight Dec. 23, Jan. 6 and Jan. 27. Later hours are for Thunder games.
Introductory Sunday hours are to gauge support for ongoing Sunday service. Initial plans are for regular service Monday through Saturday only.
Streetcars are free through Jan. 5. After that, the base fare of $1 takes effect.