The new BRT line is A-OK with me

My first brush with Oklahoma City’s new BRT — Bus Rapid Transit — didn’t start with promise.

A bus was waiting as I drove onto OKC EMBARK’s Lake Hefner park-and-ride lot along NW Expressway about 11:30 Monday morning. So, I parked, exited my car and started to walk about 30 yards to the platform only to watch as the bus pulled away.

I went back to my car.

My mission this morning was purely exploratory to see how efficiently Oklahoma City’s new BRT route that launched Sunday could move someone who parked and rode into downtown OKC.

I had read the waits for the next BRT buses were only 12 to 15 minutes, so I stuck around, and after about 10 minutes returned to the platform. The bus-tracker monitor said the next bus would arrive in 4 minutes.

The monitor was accurate, and the BRT bus pulled up as predicted.

The great thing about catching public transit — or a plane or a train for that matter — when the equipment is new is that you get that ‘brand-new car smell’ before it’s worn out by use. Or was I just imagining?

And the BRT cost is perfect all through December at the low, low price of free.   The City of OKC officially launched the BRT line with a special ceremony early Monday morning.

The Northwest line is one of at least three BRT routes planned by the city, with two others in the works for the south side and the Northeast corridor. MAPS 4 dollars are paying for the new BRT routes, according to this story from The Oklahoman.

Anyway, the bus was clean and new with about 5 people already aboard in the back seating area. I took a seat in the middle, and we headed toward downtown OKC.

We wound through the neighborhood just west of INTEGRIS Hospital, past the platforms outside the hospital and turned onto NW Expressway.

That’s when things got interesting. The bus began filling up.

Each eastbound stop seemed to add four to six more people, and when we turned south on Classen Blvd. so many people climbed aboard at the first couple of stops that most new newcomers were forced to stand and hold on to the straps and poles.

By coincidence, my seatmate for a portion of the route was Cody Boyd, a friend of mine who actually works for EMBARK and was headed to a downtown restaurant for lunch.

I stayed aboard until we reached the Downtown Transit Center. Total time for the inbound stretch from Lake Hefner lot was 38 minutes. Not bad, considering how many people got on — and off — along NW Expressway and Classen Blvd.

After departing the bus, I walked a couple of blocks to my favorite OKC sandwich spot — Hobby’s Hoagies — where I ordered lunch and grabbed a table. After finishing my sandwich, I hiked back to the Transit Center where two BRT buses were waiting.

One bus pulled out before I got to the platform and headed south to complete the downtown loop. I boarded the northbound bus, and we were off on the return trip to the Lake Hefner stop.

On this trip the bus was less crowded, traffic was favorable and we arrived at the park-and-ride lot in 31 minutes. I thanked the driver and took his photo as he walked out of the bus onto the platform for a few seconds.

So, the BRT route gets a big thumbs up from me, even though it doesn’t lend itself to my daily transportation needs.  Here’s another first-day perspective, that of OKC Free Press founder/editor Brett Dickerson.

Monday was the second time I was a first-day rider of a new OKC public transportation route. I rode the OKC Streetcar on its first day in December 2018 and liked it, as well, although the Streetcar only takes a slow loop through downtown.

I wrote my thoughts on the Streetcar in this blog post a couple of years ago.

But the BRT line is more than a tourist ride and looks to fill the travel needs of a large number of people on OKC’s northwest side.

It’s a transportation route with a purpose.