"Mayor: Tulsa to get new taxicab stand"... its about damn time.

[brunoflipper]

Nice
http://www.tulsaworld.com/news/article.aspx?subjectid=16&articleid=20110307_16_A1_CUTLIN215257

Mayor: Tulsa to get new taxicab stand

By KEVIN CANFIELD World Staff Writer
Published: 3/7/2011  2:23 AM
Last Modified: 3/7/2011  5:58 AM

Mayor Dewey Bartlett this week will announce the establishment of the first of what city officials hope will be a series of taxicab stands in the city's entertainment districts.


The stand will be at 18th Street and Boston Avenue. The only other taxicab stands in Tulsa are at the airport and bus stations.

Bartlett will make his announcement at a press conference scheduled for 1:30 p.m. Wednesday at the new taxicab stand.

"From the beginning, the concept has been, let's link our entertainment districts and give people who go out Fridays and Saturdays a better way to get around," said Theron Warlick, a city planner.

Warlick said the idea was born out of discussions with local business owners who had heard all kinds of rumors about the city's taxi regulations.

One "rumor was that they (taxicab stands) weren't allowed in Tulsa," Warlick said. "So it started by me just chasing down that rumor and I found out, no, they are allowed."

Reggie Dobson, owner of the Mercury Lounge, 18th Street and Boston Avenue, was part of those discussions.

As a frequent user of cabs - and a man who has called a cab or two for his patrons - he was amazed to learn that the city had so few taxicab stands.

"If the option was there when they have been drinking, and they see a cab, they might take it," Dobson said. "Why the option isn't there is ridiculous."

Beginning Wednesday, that option will be available in front of Pink, 112 E 18th St., in part because Dobson and other business owners in the area initiated the process with a letter to the city's Public Works Department.

It states two reasons to construct the taxicab stand: 1) to create easy, point-to-point service to the entertainment districts; and 2) to ensure that restaurant and bar patrons have a safe way to get home.

"My personal opinion is they're already kind of sitting down here, whether it's legal or not I don't know," Dobson said. "But I know it has happened already, so why not go ahead and work with it and establish some legitimate way of going about it."

The city has an ordinance governing taxicab stands, but it provides few specifics regarding where stands should be placed or how they should be designed.

Michael Schrader, a city traffic engineer, said those issues will be worked out over time.

"As we install these, we're going to have to collect data, we're going to constantly re-evaluate this to see what works and what doesn't," Schrader said.

At 18th Street and Boston Avenue, the taxicab stand could not be simpler: a curb painted yellow and a sign clamped to a telephone pole, all the work of Dobson with design approval from the city.

Jason Rahhal, manager of Checker/Yellow Cab, likes the idea.

"It's just a way to be able to pick up customers coming out of bars," he said. "This way, you don't have any confusion; plus, it gives the cab driver a place to sit without being hassled."

Warlick, the city planner, said it is not the city's intention to dictate where the stands are put up. That, he said, must be worked out among business owners with assistance from the city.

Tulsa restaurateur Blake Ewing expects they'll be no tussling as he pursues getting a taxicab stand in the Blue Dome district.

"You're not going to find opposition to this," he said. "This is just a really good thing."


Taxi stand rules
The city's ordinance regarding taxicab stands provides the following rules:

    * Taxicabs or paratransit vehicles waiting at designated stands shall be in a single line, facing in the direction required by applicable traffic regulations.

    * Any passenger shall have the right to select any taxicab or paratransit vehicle, regardless of its position in the line. Upon the departure of any vehicle from the line, other vehicles entitled to use such stand shall move forward.

    * No number of taxicabs or paratransit vehicles greater than the maximum allowed shall attempt to use any designated stand.

    * No designated stand shall be reserved for any one holder.

How to get a taxicab stand
Business groups or business associations interested in establishing a taxicab stand should e-mail the city's Planning Department at planning@cityofTulsa.org

Read more from this Tulsa World article at http://www.tulsaworld.com/news/article.aspx?subjectid=16&articleid=20110307_16_A1_CUTLIN215257

[brunoflipper]

as an aside on 18th and boston, if someone would just buy that damned "pourhouse" building and do something with it i'd be thrilled... its now got plywood in the windows and looks like a derelict piece of smile.

[carltonplace]

Pourhouse building has sold

[Townsend]

Pourhouse building has sold

Congratulations.  Whatcha gonna do with it?

[brunoflipper]

Will be leveled, conforming building to be built as a pizza palace

[Conan71]

Will be leveled, conforming building to be built as a pizza palace

??

[tulsa1603]

Will be leveled, conforming building to be built as a pizza palace

I went through that building with a client to try and figure out possible uses and renovation schemes for it.  What a mess.  I've never seen so many botched up floor level changes, crummy add-ons, and deferred maintenance issues in my life.  A shame that it's being torn down, but there really isn't much historic fabric there to work with and it would definitely cost more to renovate than start over.   The good news is whatever gets built there would almost certainly have to be up to the curb as the building takes up the entire lot as it is.  The rear portion of the lot is almost a triangle, so there isn't really enough room in the back to build anything.

[brunoflipper]

palace was in italics for a reason...

[brunoflipper]

yeah, that deal went tits up shortly after i posted...