Hey (all),

While we all have our opinions/ideas/plans on how/when a mass transit plan should happen in OKC, it is clear that there exist no real plans within the walls of our local government to make such a system a good investment for people like you and I--the ones paying for the much complained about piecemeal rig that we have now.

From everything I've seen, the ideas and arguments on this forum better tackle the needs of our everyday citizens than any existing or planned program the local government has produced. Not to mention the rig that we are paying for now -- and what are we getting for our investment thus far?

What do you think about the establishment of a local focus group to analyze and design a transit system that would actually address most of the problems versus waiting for another taxpayer-funded system that just costs us more money (again)?

I think that if enough people got involved that we could have enough diversity in ideas to bring about the most efficient and cost-effective solutions, versus having a small group behind closed doors designing a system that "looks good on paper" and very well may take into account the desires of big $$$...it's our tax dollars and I don't know about you, but if I'm gonna pay taxes for this stuff, it better offer some good return for the investment.

I really believe that we have the talent here to not just build another transit system, but to build a better one that other cities look back to and ask how we got so much for what we spent. It's gonna take more than one or two of us to do it though.

If you are interested in seeing this thing done right and can contribute any amount of time, then please leave your name here and let's do this.


For those of you that responded to my post deep in another thread (http://www.okctalk.com/okc-metro-area-talk/12277-union-station-20.html#post177729), thanks. I felt it might be better to start this thing on some fresh footing.

sgray, I appreciate your enthusiasm and willingness to help, but it's also clear you haven't done your homework. There are several of us public groups working on a plan because the city hasn't been stepping up to the plate. I encourage you to start by reading the other mass transit thread:

http://www.okctalk.com/okc-metro-area-talk/13807-mass-transit-update-important.html

I've even posted meeting locations and dates of meetings we've had to try and get as much of the public there as possible. It's obvious city leaders don't care much about it and their old guard continues to ignore the real issues. For the past 2 years Mass Transit has ranked #1 and #2 issues concerning citizens while the city has done virtually nothing. Some of these public groups (Urban Neighbors, ULI, and I believe Sustainable OKC might have done some stuff) have got the ball rolling and got the city council and Metro Transit talking, attending workshops, etc. Heck, I was on FOX morning news for a 10 minute segment talking about it last month.

You are on the right track, but we need to garner as much public and media attention on the issue as possible so that city leaders can no longer ignore the situation. Complaining on public message boards only does so much, but it at least keeps the topic in people's minds. When the next public meeting is held, as always I plan on posting the info here. Blair Humphreys and others have even designed a starter "green line". There are other plans out there as well. Sorry if I sound defensive, that's not my intention, but there are those of us who have been working hard on this issue that are not city leaders (yet).

Metro is correct that there has been a lot of thought and planning accomplished and accumulated by citizen working groups involved in trying to move modern public transit forward in Oklahoma City. There have also been funded professionally produced studies on the subject that were done under suspect conditions and circumstances, the conclusions and recommendations of which are questionable. What is still lacking, as Metro also points out, is political leadership.

After we get 11/04 behind us, I believe there will be a critical mass of creative OKC political leadership that can begin to make real progress on planning the future of OKC public transit. At that point, it will become very important to bring together and focus the voices of the groups and individuals presently discussing and developing public transit goals and concepts and stragegies.

metro,

Indeed I have done my homework, because I already read the entire thread that you mentioned prior to my posts, as well as all other threads relating to this issue. I have even posted there when I felt it was relevant. I have seen your mention of the reports presented to various officials.

I think we are talking two separate issues here--1) the idea OF a mass transit system and 2) the plan FOR a mass-transit system.

The work that has and is being done by individuals and organizations to promote the need OF a system has been great. Both the ones you mentioned and the work by others, such as ontrac.

What I have not been able to find are a detailed analysis of the potential ridership. Where the movement of people are actually originating and terminating and by what means. I have seen where people have drawn maps of a possible rail, streetcar, or bus/trolley line-- but that doesn't show the 'riders'...it doesn't show where actual people are coming from to ride the thing.

You can put a line or a loop wherever you want, but that doesn't mean that it's efficiently serving your ridership. This is where I believe OKC can stand out. As I said in my previous posts, it's got to be a system thats designed around the movement data rather than by where we 'think' people will come from.

Now understand that I really do appreciate the sketches and discussion from (all) thus far...any contribution is better than just complaining, but those 'lines' and 'loops' ultimately must be defined by the modeled data. For example, if it means that a particular line/loop needs to deviate from a specific course to serve the needs of 86,483 more riders that previously we could not 'see', then we will have made the system that much more available and maximized every dollar spent.

While the push "OF" a system can and should be voiced by everyone, we need to come together on the plan "FOR" the system. In the end, it will be a much better implementation.