Passenger Rail Set To Connect OKC, Tulsa

[SXSW]

Where would the terminus be downtown?  Share Union Depot with the Okla. Jazz Hall of Fame?  Kick them out?  Or somewhere else ?  The biggest issue with Union Depot is not also having the bus depot there, or is that not a problem?

[TheArtist]

Where would the terminus be downtown?  Share Union Depot with the Okla. Jazz Hall of Fame?  Kick them out?  Or somewhere else ?  The biggest issue with Union Depot is not also having the bus depot there, or is that not a problem?

Look at the downtown master plan that the city paid for and the current administration is ignoring.

[SXSW]

Where does the downtown master plan put it?  As much as I would want it at Union Depot because it's a cool building I wonder if downtown would be better off with a multi-modal transportation center that integrates the buses and future streetcars/commuter rail with rail to OKC.  Charlotte, NC has a great example of this in the middle of their downtown.  The surface lots between Detroit and Elgin along 1st could be a good location, especially if the old brick building there could be part of such a development. 

[carltonplace]

Long term, as acceptance and utilization grows it might be smart to put the terminal in a place that has space to grow and to park (like the TDA owned Evans Fintube site) and provide circulators to downtown, and other points of interest. There is no reason the Depot couldn't function as a downtown station with a park and ride further along.

[SXSW]

I agree the Depot would make a great station but you have two problems: 1) the hub of the bus network is at 4th & Denver several blocks away and 2) the station has been converted into the Jazz HOF and before that offices.  Maybe those aren't huge deals but they are things to consider.  Probably the best scenario would be to repurpose the Depot back into an Art Deco train station and have the parking lot in front as a smaller bus turn-around.  You then have to move the Jazz HOF (maybe to Greenwood?) and the current bus station becomes obsolete and developable.  Once there is a streetcar it would likely run along Elgin in some capacity which is just a few blocks away .  You already have the Boston bridge to get people from the Depot over to Brady.

[RecycleMichael]

http://www.tulsaworld.com/news/local/mayor-vetoes-council-resolution-backing-passenger-rail/article_65dcd000-a3dc-11e3-857b-001a4bcf6878.html

Mayor vetoes council resolution backing passenger rail

By JARREL WADE World Staff Writer

The mayor on Monday vetoed a resolution passed by the City Council urging the state not to sell the state-owned rail line connecting the Tulsa area to Oklahoma City. In a memo to councilors, Mayor Dewey Bartlett explained his decision, saying the resolution reached too far in expressing an opinion for the whole city -- an opinion Bartlett said he does not share.

The resolution passed unanimously through council on Feb. 6 and was proposed by the council's passenger rail task force.
The vetoed resolution urges Gov. Mary Fallin and the Oklahoma Department of Transportation to abandon any possible plans to sell the Sooner Subdivision Rail Line. "I do not agree that passenger trains will only become viable with continued ownership by ODOT," Bartlett said in his memo to councilors. "In my opinion, only private ownership or holding a long-term lease will potentially provide the necessary capital and assumption of risk to accomplish any semblance of passenger rail service for Tulsa."

Bartlett said he would approve of a resolution that expressed only the opinion of the council or one that "states that we encourage ODOT to use their best effort to encourage the development of passenger railway service between Tulsa and Oklahoma City during their negotiations."
Former Councilor Rick Westcott, who heads the passenger rail task force, said the veto would have little effect on public opinion, which he said overwhelmingly supports keeping the rail line in the state's hands.

"He's putting himself out there on a limb all by himself," Westcott said. "At last count, the city councils of Tulsa, Oklahoma City, Norman, Bristow and Sapulpa have all unanimously passed identical resolutions saying that as the elected representatives of their constituents that they advise this rail line not be sold."

[davideinstein]

I somewhat agree with him. He's not anti-rail, he just wants it functioning in a private capacity.

[RecycleMichael]

Government owns roads for bus riders and truckers. Government owns airports for airplane travel. What is wrong with government owning rail lines?

[Conan71]

I agree the Depot would make a great station but you have two problems: 1) the hub of the bus network is at 4th & Denver several blocks away and 2) the station has been converted into the Jazz HOF and before that offices.  Maybe those aren't huge deals but they are things to consider.  Probably the best scenario would be to repurpose the Depot back into an Art Deco train station and have the parking lot in front as a smaller bus turn-around.  You then have to move the Jazz HOF (maybe to Greenwood?) and the current bus station becomes obsolete and developable.  Once there is a streetcar it would likely run along Elgin in some capacity which is just a few blocks away .  You already have the Boston bridge to get people from the Depot over to Brady.

There's no need for a dedicated building, it's not like there would be 8 or 10 departures a day (at least not in the foreseeable future) which would make more sense for it to be a full time terminal.  I think it would be a good split use and would give the Jazz HoF more visibility.

[dbacksfan 2.0]

Government owns roads for bus riders and truckers. Government owns airports for airplane travel. What is wrong with government owning rail lines?

Amtrak.

[SXSW]

There's no need for a dedicated building, it's not like there would be 8 or 10 departures a day (at least not in the foreseeable future) which would make more sense for it to be a full time terminal.  I think it would be a good split use and would give the Jazz HoF more visibility.

The back would need to be reworked and canopies/platforms added but I like the idea of turning this back into a working train station. 

[davideinstein]

Government owns roads for bus riders and truckers. Government owns airports for airplane travel. What is wrong with government owning rail lines?

It drives up cost.

[davideinstein]

The back would need to be reworked and canopies/platforms added but I like the idea of turning this back into a working train station. 

Yeah, it's perfect.

[nathanm]

Amtrak.

Quite pleasant in the places where they don't have to rely on fickle funding sources that won't pay for enough frequency to establish decent ridership. AKA, the northeast corridor.

[Conan71]

Quite pleasant in the places where they don't have to rely on fickle funding sources that won't pay for enough frequency to establish decent ridership. AKA, the northeast corridor.

I think I read somewhere that when Joe Biden was as Senator he used to commute to DC from Delaware on Amtrak, just another average Joe.  No pun intended.

We took the Metroliner from DC to NYC and back about 35 years ago, I was quite impressed with the ridership. But there again, the NE is much more used to mass transit than those of us out in fly-over country.