This is exactly what I fear for the OKC “rail-based” streetcar project:
[T]ransit critics will cite for years to come as evidence against expansions of any kind.
via Atlanta Streetcar’s Early Ridership Numbers Disappoint | Streetsblog USA.
Tag Archives: OKC
Pay Attention OKC! “Rethinking How To Assess Public Transit Needs”
Podcast: Rethinking How To Assess Public Transit Needs | KCUR.
As is often the case, Jarrett Walker talks sense about transit and has some thoughts on streetcar-before-bus systems. OKC, pay attention!
Wire allergy: “Oklahoma City opens bidding process for new streetcars”
Article: Oklahoma City opens bidding process for new streetcars | Trains Magazine.
Well, this explains the lack of span wire in the image above (stolen from the OKC website). This doesn’t give me a warm/fuzzy.
Exclusive lanes, please: “Seattle Wants to Change the Whole Conversation on Streetcars”
“The problem we’ve had in the first generation of North American streetcars is that, with a few exceptions, they’ve been designed with the attitude that the transit function isn’t really the point,” says Walker. “Or, as they often say, this isn’t a transit tool, its a development tool, which is a bizarre kind of insistence on the separation of silos, since in Europe great transit is a development tool because the transit is designed to actually function.” – Jarrett Walker
via Seattle Wants to Change the Whole Conversation on Streetcars – CityLab.
I’ve said it before – I worry about the OKC Streetcar for this very reason. It’s being sold as transportation (sometimes) when it’s really about economic development. Plus, it’s a one-way loop, showing, to me at least, that it’s really not intended to move people.