Oklahoma City Streetcar

The streetcar was first conceived in a 2005 regional transit study known as the Fixed Guideway Study. The concept lay dormant until local Oklahoma City businessman, inventor, and political activist Jeff Bezdek promoted the project to the Oklahoma City Council to be considered as part of Metropolitan Area Projects Plan 3 (MAPS 3) program.[10] Bezdek launched a strategic campaign called the Modern Transit Project to generate public support for the initiative.[11] Polling indicated that the streetcar plan had a majority of support from likely voters.[12] The Oklahoma City Council incorporated the concept into the MAPS program.

The system is financed through MAPS 3, a sales tax-financed public works program. The initiative was approved in 2009 via a majority vote by the citizens of Oklahoma City.[13]

On September 29, 2015, the Oklahoma City city council approved the awarding of a $22 million contract to Inekon, of the Czech Republic, for the purchase of five streetcars,[14] as well as spare parts and training.[15] However, after Inekon failed to meet a one-month deadline for submitting required financial-guarantee information, project staff recommended switching to Brookville Equipment Corporation, another manufacturer that had also bid for the order.[16] On November 10, the city council voted its approval for the staff to begin negotiations with Brookville for the streetcar contract.[16] In March 2016, the city reached a final agreement with Brookville to purchase five streetcars, with an option for a sixth, at a cost of $24.9 million.[17] The low-floor design is Brookville's "Liberty" model.[18] In May 2016, the city council approved adding a sixth car to the order,[19] and in February 2017 approved expanding the order to seven cars.[20]

In December 2016, the city council awarded a $50 million contract for rail installation to builders Herzog and Stacy and Witbeck, with construction planned to begin in early 2017 and continue for about two years.[21] The formal groundbreaking for the project took place on February 7, 2017.[1] The project was expected to cost a total of $131.8 million in 2017,[1] but this had increased to $136 million by 2018.[22]

The first streetcar arrived on February 12, 2018 (and was unloaded onto the rails the following day),[23] and by March 12, three of the seven on order had arrived.[24] Three different color schemes are used, with three cars in a "redbud" color, two in blue and two in green,[24] along with white for a portion of each car. By the end of September 2018, six of the seven cars had been received.[22]

The streetcar system is one of the conventional type using steel rails embedded into city streets, with modern vehicles powered from overhead electric wires. The streetcars are planned to be in use with everyday traffic. Initially, five vehicles were slated to be ordered. A sixth car was slated to be purchased through MAPS 3 with options for six more vehicles beyond the initial purchase. The streetcar vehicles are required to operate wirelessly for several hundred feet under the existing Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway bridges that separate downtown Oklahoma City central business district from the Bricktown entertainment district.[29]

A streetcar in the "redbud" (magenta and pink) paint scheme on NW 11th Street in Midtown, on the northernmost part of the Downtown Loop route

The streetcar is operated by Embark through a contract with Herzog Transit Services provide day-to-day operations and maintenance.[4] The system has two routes, with the 4.8-mile (7.7 km) Downtown Loop covering the full line and the shorter Bricktown Loop covering a 2-mile (3.2 km) portion of the line, in the Bricktown district.[5]

The Century Center stop, on Sheridan Avenue, which is along a section without overhead trolley wire

  Downtown Loop
  Bricktown Loop

Loop between Bricktown and Midtown

Major expansion of the Oklahoma City Streetcar system beyond the first phase is already being planned. A steering committee made up of local mayors, city councillors, and other civic leaders approved plans for major expansion from the MAPS 3 system northward up the major thoroughfare Classen Boulevard to the planned 63rd Street commuter rail station stop and southward from downtown along Walker Avenue to the Southwest 25th Street (future) commuter-rail stop in Capitol Hill. Additional plans have also been discussed for streetcar expansion to Oklahoma City University through the historic Plaza District northwest of the initial starter line.[43]

The Oklahoma City Streetcar project as part of the MAPS initiative is overseen by a committee appointed by the mayor and city council of Oklahoma City. The original promoter of the streetcar system, Jeff Bezdek, is appointed to committee along with several other volunteers from the original Modern Transit Project initiative.[44] Recommendations from this committee are formally made to the MAPS 3 oversight board which then makes recommendations to the Oklahoma City Council to be potentially enacted as policy.[45]

• Streetcars in North America

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Oklahoma City Streetcar.

• Oklahoma City Streetcar website
• Streetcar project on City of Oklahoma City's website
• Route map (on Embark website)