If they were to upgrade their entire bus system to these standards or better, sure it'd be pretty darn good. They're dead wrong if they think just running a couple lines of this meh quality is all they need though because they really need a couple good rail solutions.
Hi, overall. I think public transit in Tulsa is something that I'm really excited to see being expanded upon. As for the future of public transit in Oklahoma, I think it's gonna be a lot better and OKC then it is in Tulsa. Hearing about the budget issues and difficulty hiring new drivers from chase Phillips was kind of interesting. And that gives me more heard hope that we will go towards the train system if possible. But I know that that's probably going to be very difficult for the city, to Say "hey. Let's spend our money on train systems when there's all this other stuff that they might want to spend their money on."
The last part is that the Aero line bus stop near where I live is a very scary to be around because theres a buch of homeless that camp out of the stop right before mine at the walmart. I think I'd feel safer taking the bus if I was closer to downtown. But I've just never taken it in the city because it feels unsafe.
I’ve taken Rapid from downtown to 23rd street and over by the Plaza a few times. I wish it was faster and that the more classic real BRT strategies (signal priority, strong routing, exclusive lanes) were implemented. But I use a wheelchair and was very impressed with the accessibility and the service in general. I think it’s a great but imperfect addition to our transportation mix.
20 minutes really is just slow enough that missing a bus could mean a serious wait time, but still when compared to the existing hourly buses it's a BIG step forward. I'd ride this bus
Seeing the Oklahoma City bus lane issue made me think of something that I hadn't considered before. If I were an Oklahoma City driver, not familiar with dedicated transit lanes and driving next to the Rapid for the first time, I don't think seeing 'Bus' stencilled on the road would register as 'this lane is for buses exclusively'. Maybe it's just 'this is where the bus drives'! Having even the most basic level of physical separation, no matter how temporary or flimsy, and painting the lane a different colour would certainly be a much better driver experience for everyone and give the psychological effect of making the BRT feel more permanent.
Big agree, I'm almost certain I've driven in a lane with "BUS" stencilled on it in OKC and didn't think twice about it. If it said "BUS ONLY" and had a solid line of a differerent color I think that would make more of an impact. To me, a dotted line in the same color as the other lanes signifies I'm allowed to drive there. Disregarding the whole "yes you can make right turns in these" aspect, I think making it more obvious that it's a dedicated lane and THEN telling people they're allowed to make right turns out of them makes more sense to me. Maybe they could add signs or something to indicate the right turn aspect. Oklahoma and surrounding BRT-less areas are so car-centric that drivers assume if it's not obviously marked off that they're meant to be there.
There should be a solid - not a broken - line. If cars need to make right turns - they can break up the solid line just at the intersection. Even better, centre running would eliminate this problem. Buses can have signal priority followed by turns for cars.
I think I recall hearing a commercial on the radio while driving down I-59 in East Central Alabama regarding the recently launched BRT line through Birmingham… as of around a year & a half ago…
Gatewood resident here! 👋 I have ridden Rapid a few times now and I’m a fan! I do wish it had dedicated lanes on Classen. The painted “bus” word on the pavement plus the signs aren’t very clear. The signs went up shortly after service started and they clarify that the eight lane is for the bus and right turns only… during peak hours. I’m not sure many drivers pay attention to those rules. But overall I’m very pleased with it. More BRT-ish lines in OKC, please!
Indy actually solved the whole issue with the dedicated lanes that allow right turns, paint them red, but "hash it", and plenty of signage saying "right turns and buses only"....seems to work quite well for them.
As a lifelong Tulsan, I never realized how important the aero line was! Even using public transit and cycling much of my life here, I've never known how much it was doing. Always assumed it was just run by a different better funded company. Hope they get more funding so we can see it expand more throughout the city
Imo, the BRT qualification should also depend on the share of time spent at or around top speed. BRT should basically be a tram on wheels (and should be replaced by a tram after a while), and shouldn't spend its time decelerating and accelerating.
Here are some other examples of BRT: Pittsburgh has different bus highways! The Martin Luther King Jr. East Busway serves Pittsburgh's eastern neighborhoods and suburbs. Originally a Pennsylvania Railroad line, planning for the East Busway began shortly after the Port Authority of Allegheny County purchased the Pittsburgh Railways Company in 1964. The original segment of the busway opened in February 1983, running between Downtown Pittsburgh and Edgewood, a length of 6.8 miles, and expanded to 9.1 miles in 2002! The West Busway serves western neighborhoods and suburbs, running for 5.1 miles (8.2 km) from the southern shore of the Ohio River near downtown to Carnegie, following the former Panhandle Route (called such because it served WV's northern panhandle) railroad ROW. The South Busway runs for 4.3 miles (6.9 km) from the Mt. Washington Transit Tunnel across the Monongahela River from Downtown Pittsburgh to the Overbrook neighborhood. The Mt. Washington Transit Tunnel is pretty cool in that it's shared by both buses and light-rail, just like how the Downtown Seattle Transit Tunnel used to operate! Adelaide in Australia is famous for having a more unique BRT...a guided busway called the Adelaide O-Bahn! The greater Adelaide area experienced significant growth during and after WWII, and thus so did the amount of vehicles registered. By the mid-1970s, transportation had become a problem in the northeastern suburbs. This led to a study that concluded that a light-rail would be the best option. However, there was opposition because people thought it would interfere with the well-designed layout of the city proper, and that light-rail vehicles would be too noisy. In search of a replacement for the light rail project, they examined the O-Bahn system in Essen in what was then West Germany by Daimler-Benz. The system was seen as far superior to previous proposals; it used less land, made less noise, was faster and cost less. In addition, its unique feature of a non-transfer service direct from suburban streets to the city center made it more attractive. Adelaide's track is 12 km/7.5 mi long and includes three interchanges at Klemzig, Paradise and Tea Tree Plaza. Interchanges allow buses to enter and exit the busway and to continue on suburban routes, avoiding the need for passengers to transfer to another bus to continue their journey. Not to mention, the O-Bahn has sump buster devices to prevent cars.
I never realized how much planning has to take place and how many details are involved in an undertaking like this. Not to mention the financing, which is unfortunately always the issue, isn't it? Thanks for your latest video, Kyler!
5:01 meanwhile the bus that operates from Tulsa and Stillwater runs about 6 times a day. The route is called BOB and is run by Oklahoma State University
Low frequency on any transit route kills its utility for a huge percentage of people. I wonder if it makes sense to sacrifice coverage of public transit by reducing underused routes in order to make some routes actually useful ( by increasing frequency on popular routes) for a larger percentage of the population? I live in Norman, where most bus line frequencies are one hour - that really limits their utility unless one doesn’t have any other choice (like you can’t walk or bike the distance). In the long term, it might actually increase public support of transit because people will like and use the routes that run every 15-20 minutes and will push for similar routes elsewhere.
Hi Embark driver here. Its cool to see someone from the outside talking about my workplace. I personally wish they used the financing for the BRT service and implimented towards incremental changes for the entire fixed route service. Often it feels like fixed route is the ugly duckling of Embark.
I live in Tulsa and I really want to see a street car/ more rapid bus in our city. Tulsa is a grid layout, it would be so awesome to travel the grid via BRT/light rail. I did not know about the east BRT expansion, that is awesome news!
Living in Tulsa, I'm excited to see more of Aero, especially with the planned Route 66 route. I own a car, but I am significantly underserved by public transit, with several bus routes near me being suspended permanently during the pandemic. If I want to get downtown, for instance, it would take me significantly longer to take a bus than it does to even ride my bike the 13 miles. Having a convenient stop about a mile from my house, with a bus-attached bike ramp, and running on Sundays, would mean that I could easily, conveniently, and reliably get downtown any day of the week relatively quickly, which would be significantly cheaper than a ridesharing service, and significantly safer than driving (or biking) home after a few drinks downtown. That being said, after having been to Montreal and Japan, the Aero currently barely counts as a basic bus service, and our normal buses may as well not exist with how little they run (and how short their hours are). I agree that Tulsa and Oklahoma City could become places with world class transit, especially if we ever actually build an HSR connection between the two, but that would come with time, and would require a lot of people to change their perspectives on public transit. A lot of that will likely have to come from PSAs, actually improving the service (The Aero is a great example), and the rising cost of personal transit (which is a dual edged sword, as it also increases the price of public transit, too). I think we have a bright future ahead for Public Transit in Oklahoma, but it's gonna be a long way before we get there. We just need to keep trying, pushing for it, talking about it, and encouraging people who can use it to use it.
Funnily enough, there was a underground bus tunnel in Seattle that I though of as a sort of subway-bus hybrid. The tunnels had been built decades ago for a subway system that never materialized, but the partially built tunnels were repurposed as an express bus system. In recent years a light rail service was finally built in those same underground tunnels and the subway-bus is no more!
The irony of Tulsa's transit system is its name... Up until quite recently, it was called the Metropolitan Tulsa Transit Authority (Tulsa Transit for short, and recently rebranded to MetroLink), however, other than a single line in Broken Arrow, they never actually served metropolitan area outside of Tulsa proper...
The first BRT was established in Curitiba (Brazil) in the 1970s. Curitiba is my favourite sustainable city! Watching doccie: A Convenient Truth: Urban Solutions from Curitiba, Brazil. The mayor who transformed Curitiba was an urban planner - now isn't that a novel idea... a mayor who actually knows how to run a city!
In Allentown-Bethelehem-Eastson, Pa has two of these type of routes. And they are pretty good. I don't have to wait too long for a bus. The two lines interline so you don't really need to wait too long, depending what part of the route you are on.
A really important step to really good BRT is also the ability to get information on what bus I'm taking, how long it will take, and where the bus stop I need is located. Good BRT also have supreme accessibility and integration with things like Google Maps. I can open an app I already have, figure out where I need to walk/bike to, and once I'm off the bus how far I have to go to my final destination.
I love BRTs, and I think they are a logical way to bring service to traditionally "transit starved" cities. They can provide a quality service that can reinvigorate some investment in corridors that really need it, and they can be scaled up or down during special events simply by adding or removing buses. Also, turn up and go service is very important to distinguish it from a normal bus.
Albuquerque had "Rapid Ride" before the ART which replaced it. The Rapid Ride being called that, while not being a BRT, has caused a lot of confusion for opponenta who see Rapid Ride as aj existing, curb running BRT and ART (a true BRT) being a waste. So i do think these nicer, branded lines ARE great, and Rapid Ride did a good job in its day, but i do think agencies should avoid calling them "rapid" or "brt."
So when i first saw the stations for RAPID NW I was hoping that it was an extension to the Streetcar network, i was honestly disappointed to learn that it was just an attempt at BRT. That said i am definitely glad that it's there even as a BRT attempt.
the apartment im at has one of the Aero bus stops here. were at near the south end by ORU. But maybe I've been spoiled by "good" public transit my whole life(lived in seattle where i took the train(Sounder) to highschool and countries with actual train transit like Australia, Japan, Europe) Tulsa just feels so behind. i really hope we can get there. but tulsa isn't even on the amtrack route to be a tourist in other cities. sorry, im just complaining. hoping for a better tulsa transit future ig The main problem with public transit in Tulsa, is that a lot of our routes depending on where your point a and point b are going to be are so much less efficient than in other cities transit. with more public transit infrastructure, I just really hope that we end up getting to a point where I can take public transit. (And it not be twice as the time it normally would take due to delays, inefficent routes, or bus stops being far away from my work. As a city, I think it's fine if we just stay with buses, and not Transition to a train system(though trains would be nice too). Personally, I feel like that's a lot for Tulsa to adapt to. editing: speech to text errors
i just got out a score of 45 for a rail replacement service that was running for 2 branches in my cities tram network in germany that is quite funny tbh
i think what's most notable about the bus system in oklahoma is that you can walk to your destination about the same rate as the bus and sometimes beat it back, but oklahoma is going to need a hardy public transit system very soon the worse the winters and summers get and the humidity levels rise
They can't make it centre-running. That would take too many lanes away from cars. We all know most voters would rather 200 car lanes in each direction than even one bike lane.
In the exact moment you mention "level boarding" and "enhanced bus stops", you show a video of people stepping up onto the bus at a regular bus stop. Jokes aside, if the BRT brand helps cities design bus routes with reasonable routing and frequencies, I'm all for "BRT", whether the term is accurate or not.
I tend to repeat on this one but I have a certain dislike of BRTs. It mostly boils down to muddling the definition of BRT (in the US at least) but also forces the exclusive use of a busway to only one type of busses when a busway should be more general alongside being promoted more often IMO alongside having the tendency to improve only specific lines when the standards for busses should overall be higher. Basically, these two systems are a good start, at least, but is more of a showcase on just how bad busses are in Tulsa and OKC compared to those I know. - Signed, a spoiled German 12:04 The other reason is that it removes conflicts with right turns, the most common type of turns (and typically the main reason for such alignment). In fact, if one side is low access (i.e. few to no driveways), it's often preferable to build the busway aside of the main carriageway and not right in the middle. On that aside, you don't always need an island platform as the stop can also be two side platforms (which admittingly may not be the most user-friendly set up but allows for the accomodation for general busses, not just dedicated BRT busses).
Great video! BRT - if it’s done to build up ridership and spur development - can help to catalyze the ridership demand that would be needed to replace with a light metro system on the busiest routes one day. Yes, even in lower density cities with highways and a high share of car drivers. Unfortunately the local and state governments - and the public that votes them in - need to make a clear argument in support of public transit being a good for society at large. Not just for the poor and people that have no choice but as a better travel option. The amount of money spend on maintaining and upgrading roads is an order of magnitude greater than what is spent on transit, particularly in these types of cities - and because of that, it’s only going to further encourage driving. For it to be that, it needs at least frequencies of every 10 mins (15 mins off peak) which would at least meet most definitions of high frequency & it should have been designed as a centre running service. An island platform could be built and provide a comfortable (heated and air conditioned) place to wait in advance of the bus. While nicer than what exists they would only need to build 1 station per stop (as it is an island), so the costs should not be much higher). The centre running also decreases engagements with vehicles - as left turns can and should be highly regulated. Buses can get first crack signal priority, with any cars needing to make a left turn can follow. Some limited grade separation would be even better & further increase speed - tho that’s definitely going to increase costs with bridges or trenches or tunnels needing to be built. Depending on the route - some of the grade separated features could eventually be integrated into a metro line, so it could be seen as an investment in the future. In the end, with increased BRT & metro services, the need to spend money on roads can be decreased and some highways can be closed with a demand no longer being required. It’s about the society we want to create.
I don’t believe that frequencies on these BRT lines will significantly increase until the state steps on board with funding. All Canadian transit systems are funded by their provincial as well as federal and city governments. Most of the transit systems in blue states are funded by their state governments. In red states like Oklahoma, the Republican Party pretends that transit doesn’t exist so transit systems in red states don’t get funded by their state governments which makes it difficult for these transit agencies to provide the funding necessary for the increased frequencies on these BRT lines.
I feel a lot of the BRT checklist makes things more complicated and expensive than they need to be. For the cost of a couple center lane stations you can get several more buses and drivers. Same goes for all the fancy payment systems. Despite all the complaints about dedicated lanes, there wasn't a shot where the bus was impeded by traffic or parking; maybe in that context they aren't necessary. In my experience, a bus stop can be a pole in the ground and the bus can be from WWII; if the bus is frequent, dependable and goes between desirable locations, it will be filled to capacity. You should use the list as a shopping menu ,to fix things that are real problems for your specific line, not as a purity test.
What do you think? Is this the future of transportation in Oklahoma? Or is there a better solution?
If they were to upgrade their entire bus system to these standards or better, sure it'd be pretty darn good. They're dead wrong if they think just running a couple lines of this meh quality is all they need though because they really need a couple good rail solutions.
Hi, overall. I think public transit in Tulsa is something that I'm really excited to see being expanded upon. As for the future of public transit in Oklahoma, I think it's gonna be a lot better and OKC then it is in Tulsa. Hearing about the budget issues and difficulty hiring new drivers from chase Phillips was kind of interesting. And that gives me more heard hope that we will go towards the train system if possible. But I know that that's probably going to be very difficult for the city, to Say "hey. Let's spend our money on train systems when there's all this other stuff that they might want to spend their money on."
The last part is that the Aero line bus stop near where I live is a very scary to be around because theres a buch of homeless that camp out of the stop right before mine at the walmart. I think I'd feel safer taking the bus if I was closer to downtown. But I've just never taken it in the city because it feels unsafe.
I’ve taken Rapid from downtown to 23rd street and over by the Plaza a few times. I wish it was faster and that the more classic real BRT strategies (signal priority, strong routing, exclusive lanes) were implemented. But I use a wheelchair and was very impressed with the accessibility and the service in general. I think it’s a great but imperfect addition to our transportation mix.
20 minutes really is just slow enough that missing a bus could mean a serious wait time, but still when compared to the existing hourly buses it's a BIG step forward. I'd ride this bus
Yeah anything above 6 minutes is a risk leaving passengers to go back to their cars.
@@theurbanspokesman The wait time in my city being between one hour and ten to one hour and fifteen minutes:
Seeing the Oklahoma City bus lane issue made me think of something that I hadn't considered before. If I were an Oklahoma City driver, not familiar with dedicated transit lanes and driving next to the Rapid for the first time, I don't think seeing 'Bus' stencilled on the road would register as 'this lane is for buses exclusively'. Maybe it's just 'this is where the bus drives'! Having even the most basic level of physical separation, no matter how temporary or flimsy, and painting the lane a different colour would certainly be a much better driver experience for everyone and give the psychological effect of making the BRT feel more permanent.
Big agree, I'm almost certain I've driven in a lane with "BUS" stencilled on it in OKC and didn't think twice about it. If it said "BUS ONLY" and had a solid line of a differerent color I think that would make more of an impact. To me, a dotted line in the same color as the other lanes signifies I'm allowed to drive there. Disregarding the whole "yes you can make right turns in these" aspect, I think making it more obvious that it's a dedicated lane and THEN telling people they're allowed to make right turns out of them makes more sense to me. Maybe they could add signs or something to indicate the right turn aspect. Oklahoma and surrounding BRT-less areas are so car-centric that drivers assume if it's not obviously marked off that they're meant to be there.
Yeah that's weird in Austin the whole lane is red and for the most part it seems like drivers stay out of them.
There should be a solid - not a broken - line. If cars need to make right turns - they can break up the solid line just at the intersection.
Even better, centre running would eliminate this problem. Buses can have signal priority followed by turns for cars.
that hype ad from Oklahoma City is the most epic ad I've ever seen for a bus. It also might be the only ad I've seen for a bus.
I think I recall hearing a commercial on the radio while driving down I-59 in East Central Alabama regarding the recently launched BRT line through Birmingham… as of around a year & a half ago…
Canada has tons of bus commercials.
5:54 That joke will never get old.
Gatewood resident here! 👋 I have ridden Rapid a few times now and I’m a fan! I do wish it had dedicated lanes on Classen. The painted “bus” word on the pavement plus the signs aren’t very clear. The signs went up shortly after service started and they clarify that the eight lane is for the bus and right turns only… during peak hours. I’m not sure many drivers pay attention to those rules. But overall I’m very pleased with it. More BRT-ish lines in OKC, please!
Indy actually solved the whole issue with the dedicated lanes that allow right turns, paint them red, but "hash it", and plenty of signage saying "right turns and buses only"....seems to work quite well for them.
I enjoy the deep dives, especially in a place that doesn’t get much attention from urbanists. If Oklahoma can improve, there’s hope for America!
As a lifelong Tulsan, I never realized how important the aero line was! Even using public transit and cycling much of my life here, I've never known how much it was doing. Always assumed it was just run by a different better funded company. Hope they get more funding so we can see it expand more throughout the city
Cheesecake Factory and McAlister's are really the official dining locations of the urbanist community now, aren't they
Another excellent video.
Imagine Tulsa BRT with the full grid complete, signal pre-emption, and running every 10 min.
Dedicated lanes? Dare we dream?
Imo, the BRT qualification should also depend on the share of time spent at or around top speed. BRT should basically be a tram on wheels (and should be replaced by a tram after a while), and shouldn't spend its time decelerating and accelerating.
Here are some other examples of BRT: Pittsburgh has different bus highways! The Martin Luther King Jr. East Busway serves Pittsburgh's eastern neighborhoods and suburbs. Originally a Pennsylvania Railroad line, planning for the East Busway began shortly after the Port Authority of Allegheny County purchased the Pittsburgh Railways Company in 1964. The original segment of the busway opened in February 1983, running between Downtown Pittsburgh and Edgewood, a length of 6.8 miles, and expanded to 9.1 miles in 2002! The West Busway serves western neighborhoods and suburbs, running for 5.1 miles (8.2 km) from the southern shore of the Ohio River near downtown to Carnegie, following the former Panhandle Route (called such because it served WV's northern panhandle) railroad ROW. The South Busway runs for 4.3 miles (6.9 km) from the Mt. Washington Transit Tunnel across the Monongahela River from Downtown Pittsburgh to the Overbrook neighborhood. The Mt. Washington Transit Tunnel is pretty cool in that it's shared by both buses and light-rail, just like how the Downtown Seattle Transit Tunnel used to operate!
Adelaide in Australia is famous for having a more unique BRT...a guided busway called the Adelaide O-Bahn! The greater Adelaide area experienced significant growth during and after WWII, and thus so did the amount of vehicles registered. By the mid-1970s, transportation had become a problem in the northeastern suburbs. This led to a study that concluded that a light-rail would be the best option. However, there was opposition because people thought it would interfere with the well-designed layout of the city proper, and that light-rail vehicles would be too noisy. In search of a replacement for the light rail project, they examined the O-Bahn system in Essen in what was then West Germany by Daimler-Benz. The system was seen as far superior to previous proposals; it used less land, made less noise, was faster and cost less. In addition, its unique feature of a non-transfer service direct from suburban streets to the city center made it more attractive. Adelaide's track is 12 km/7.5 mi long and includes three interchanges at Klemzig, Paradise and Tea Tree Plaza. Interchanges allow buses to enter and exit the busway and to continue on suburban routes, avoiding the need for passengers to transfer to another bus to continue their journey. Not to mention, the O-Bahn has sump buster devices to prevent cars.
I never realized how much planning has to take place and how many details are involved in an undertaking like this. Not to mention the financing, which is unfortunately always the issue, isn't it? Thanks for your latest video, Kyler!
5:01 meanwhile the bus that operates from Tulsa and Stillwater runs about 6 times a day. The route is called BOB and is run by Oklahoma State University
BRT light? So you mean B?
Low frequency on any transit route kills its utility for a huge percentage of people. I wonder if it makes sense to sacrifice coverage of public transit by reducing underused routes in order to make some routes actually useful ( by increasing frequency on popular routes) for a larger percentage of the population? I live in Norman, where most bus line frequencies are one hour - that really limits their utility unless one doesn’t have any other choice (like you can’t walk or bike the distance). In the long term, it might actually increase public support of transit because people will like and use the routes that run every 15-20 minutes and will push for similar routes elsewhere.
Hi Embark driver here. Its cool to see someone from the outside talking about my workplace. I personally wish they used the financing for the BRT service and implimented towards incremental changes for the entire fixed route service. Often it feels like fixed route is the ugly duckling of Embark.
I live in Tulsa and I really want to see a street car/ more rapid bus in our city. Tulsa is a grid layout, it would be so awesome to travel the grid via BRT/light rail.
I did not know about the east BRT expansion, that is awesome news!
Living in Tulsa, I'm excited to see more of Aero, especially with the planned Route 66 route. I own a car, but I am significantly underserved by public transit, with several bus routes near me being suspended permanently during the pandemic. If I want to get downtown, for instance, it would take me significantly longer to take a bus than it does to even ride my bike the 13 miles. Having a convenient stop about a mile from my house, with a bus-attached bike ramp, and running on Sundays, would mean that I could easily, conveniently, and reliably get downtown any day of the week relatively quickly, which would be significantly cheaper than a ridesharing service, and significantly safer than driving (or biking) home after a few drinks downtown.
That being said, after having been to Montreal and Japan, the Aero currently barely counts as a basic bus service, and our normal buses may as well not exist with how little they run (and how short their hours are). I agree that Tulsa and Oklahoma City could become places with world class transit, especially if we ever actually build an HSR connection between the two, but that would come with time, and would require a lot of people to change their perspectives on public transit. A lot of that will likely have to come from PSAs, actually improving the service (The Aero is a great example), and the rising cost of personal transit (which is a dual edged sword, as it also increases the price of public transit, too).
I think we have a bright future ahead for Public Transit in Oklahoma, but it's gonna be a long way before we get there. We just need to keep trying, pushing for it, talking about it, and encouraging people who can use it to use it.
Funnily enough, there was a underground bus tunnel in Seattle that I though of as a sort of subway-bus hybrid. The tunnels had been built decades ago for a subway system that never materialized, but the partially built tunnels were repurposed as an express bus system. In recent years a light rail service was finally built in those same underground tunnels and the subway-bus is no more!
I really wish OKC would just paint their bus lanes green. Great vid nonetheless!
In the US, red is typical for bus lanes and green is for bike lanes! But you’re right, painting the lanes would certainly help
I don't know what OK Cupid has to do with any of this, but if they run busses, sure, why not paint their lanes... I'd go for pink.
i was a little surprised to open yourube and see aero in the thumbnail as a resident in the tulsa area
The irony of Tulsa's transit system is its name... Up until quite recently, it was called the Metropolitan Tulsa Transit Authority (Tulsa Transit for short, and recently rebranded to MetroLink), however, other than a single line in Broken Arrow, they never actually served metropolitan area outside of Tulsa proper...
The first BRT was established in Curitiba (Brazil) in the 1970s. Curitiba is my favourite sustainable city! Watching doccie: A Convenient Truth: Urban Solutions from Curitiba, Brazil. The mayor who transformed Curitiba was an urban planner - now isn't that a novel idea... a mayor who actually knows how to run a city!
In Allentown-Bethelehem-Eastson, Pa has two of these type of routes. And they are pretty good. I don't have to wait too long for a bus. The two lines interline so you don't really need to wait too long, depending what part of the route you are on.
This video is Bussin
A really important step to really good BRT is also the ability to get information on what bus I'm taking, how long it will take, and where the bus stop I need is located. Good BRT also have supreme accessibility and integration with things like Google Maps. I can open an app I already have, figure out where I need to walk/bike to, and once I'm off the bus how far I have to go to my final destination.
I just watched all your videos and then, energized, emailed my city commison about our awful buses.
I love BRTs, and I think they are a logical way to bring service to traditionally "transit starved" cities. They can provide a quality service that can reinvigorate some investment in corridors that really need it, and they can be scaled up or down during special events simply by adding or removing buses. Also, turn up and go service is very important to distinguish it from a normal bus.
i would LOVE to see more public transit in tulsa and oklahoma in general!! also was wild to see b roll of the walmart by my sisters house 😂
Albuquerque had "Rapid Ride" before the ART which replaced it. The Rapid Ride being called that, while not being a BRT, has caused a lot of confusion for opponenta who see Rapid Ride as aj existing, curb running BRT and ART (a true BRT) being a waste. So i do think these nicer, branded lines ARE great, and Rapid Ride did a good job in its day, but i do think agencies should avoid calling them "rapid" or "brt."
So when i first saw the stations for RAPID NW I was hoping that it was an extension to the Streetcar network, i was honestly disappointed to learn that it was just an attempt at BRT. That said i am definitely glad that it's there even as a BRT attempt.
That guy from Metrolink seems like a cool guy
He is!
Great video! Very informative!
the apartment im at has one of the Aero bus stops here. were at near the south end by ORU. But maybe I've been spoiled by "good" public transit my whole life(lived in seattle where i took the train(Sounder) to highschool and countries with actual train transit like Australia, Japan, Europe)
Tulsa just feels so behind. i really hope we can get there. but tulsa isn't even on the amtrack route to be a tourist in other cities. sorry, im just complaining. hoping for a better tulsa transit future ig
The main problem with public transit in Tulsa, is that a lot of our routes depending on where your point a and point b are going to be are so much less efficient than in other cities transit. with more public transit infrastructure, I just really hope that we end up getting to a point where I can take public transit. (And it not be twice as the time it normally would take due to delays, inefficent routes, or bus stops being far away from my work. As a city, I think it's fine if we just stay with buses, and not Transition to a train system(though trains would be nice too). Personally, I feel like that's a lot for Tulsa to adapt to.
editing: speech to text errors
Trains will be coming to Tulsa "soon" if the FRA can complete their LDS for PRS within the next year or so.
i just got out a score of 45 for a rail replacement service that was running for 2 branches in my cities tram network in germany that is quite funny tbh
i think what's most notable about the bus system in oklahoma is that you can walk to your destination about the same rate as the bus and sometimes beat it back, but oklahoma is going to need a hardy public transit system very soon the worse the winters and summers get and the humidity levels rise
Wait they're trying to call the aero bus line a BRT? You can't call something that runs along PEORIA with no dedicated lanes a BRT
Great video!
They can't make it centre-running. That would take too many lanes away from cars. We all know most voters would rather 200 car lanes in each direction than even one bike lane.
Great video.
Hey! Tried joining the discord but it seems the link isn't working. Do you think you could provide a new one?
Huh, it seems to be working for us. Maybe try again on a different device?
In the exact moment you mention "level boarding" and "enhanced bus stops", you show a video of people stepping up onto the bus at a regular bus stop.
Jokes aside, if the BRT brand helps cities design bus routes with reasonable routing and frequencies, I'm all for "BRT", whether the term is accurate or not.
I tend to repeat on this one but I have a certain dislike of BRTs. It mostly boils down to muddling the definition of BRT (in the US at least) but also forces the exclusive use of a busway to only one type of busses when a busway should be more general alongside being promoted more often IMO alongside having the tendency to improve only specific lines when the standards for busses should overall be higher. Basically, these two systems are a good start, at least, but is more of a showcase on just how bad busses are in Tulsa and OKC compared to those I know.
- Signed, a spoiled German
12:04 The other reason is that it removes conflicts with right turns, the most common type of turns (and typically the main reason for such alignment). In fact, if one side is low access (i.e. few to no driveways), it's often preferable to build the busway aside of the main carriageway and not right in the middle. On that aside, you don't always need an island platform as the stop can also be two side platforms (which admittingly may not be the most user-friendly set up but allows for the accomodation for general busses, not just dedicated BRT busses).
I could see myself using a bus if I could put my e-moped on it. But it’s heavy.
Great video! BRT - if it’s done to build up ridership and spur development - can help to catalyze the ridership demand that would be needed to replace with a light metro system on the busiest routes one day. Yes, even in lower density cities with highways and a high share of car drivers.
Unfortunately the local and state governments - and the public that votes them in - need to make a clear argument in support of public transit being a good for society at large. Not just for the poor and people that have no choice but as a better travel option. The amount of money spend on maintaining and upgrading roads is an order of magnitude greater than what is spent on transit, particularly in these types of cities - and because of that, it’s only going to further encourage driving.
For it to be that, it needs at least frequencies of every 10 mins (15 mins off peak) which would at least meet most definitions of high frequency & it should have been designed as a centre running service. An island platform could be built and provide a comfortable (heated and air conditioned) place to wait in advance of the bus. While nicer than what exists they would only need to build 1 station per stop (as it is an island), so the costs should not be much higher).
The centre running also decreases engagements with vehicles - as left turns can and should be highly regulated. Buses can get first crack signal priority, with any cars needing to make a left turn can follow. Some limited grade separation would be even better & further increase speed - tho that’s definitely going to increase costs with bridges or trenches or tunnels needing to be built. Depending on the route - some of the grade separated features could eventually be integrated into a metro line, so it could be seen as an investment in the future.
In the end, with increased BRT & metro services, the need to spend money on roads can be decreased and some highways can be closed with a demand no longer being required. It’s about the society we want to create.
I don’t believe that frequencies on these BRT lines will significantly increase until the state steps on board with funding.
All Canadian transit systems are funded by their provincial as well as federal and city governments. Most of the transit systems in blue states are funded by their state governments. In red states like Oklahoma, the Republican Party pretends that transit doesn’t exist so transit systems in red states don’t get funded by their state governments which makes it difficult for these transit agencies to provide the funding necessary for the increased frequencies on these BRT lines.
I think I’ll use this line for myself:
“There’s a simple answer to this, and I’m going to try to make it a little bit more complicated.”
I feel a lot of the BRT checklist makes things more complicated and expensive than they need to be. For the cost of a couple center lane stations you can get several more buses and drivers. Same goes for all the fancy payment systems. Despite all the complaints about dedicated lanes, there wasn't a shot where the bus was impeded by traffic or parking; maybe in that context they aren't necessary. In my experience, a bus stop can be a pole in the ground and the bus can be from WWII; if the bus is frequent, dependable and goes between desirable locations, it will be filled to capacity. You should use the list as a shopping menu ,to fix things that are real problems for your specific line, not as a purity test.
Buss? BUSS ? BUSSS BUSSS? NAWW WHAT..
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The BRT buses have smelly people on them. No amount of funding will fix the hordes of vagrants who refuse to shower
Sometimes, but it’s not that big of a deal for the 15 minutes you spend on the bus with them
:)))))))))))))))))))))))
sam hyde talks about you in his newest video (channel: The New Pill: Second Dose)
Huh
@@eryngo.urbanism uh huh, go watch it now :)
Seemed like he was kinda just being insulting, not really sure what the point was
This is the southern United States, lower your expectations.
Respectfully, no
oklahoma isn’t in the south wtfff?
Tulsans call themselves Midwestern but actual Midwesterners don’t consider them Midwestern.
Ah yes my favorite fine dining restraunt 🤌