By John Dobberstein, Editor
The Broken Arrow City Council has agreed to form an advisory committee to study public transportation options in concert with a consultant hired recently to guide the study.
Public transit options will also be the subject of a public forum slated for Feb. 3 at the Central on Main Ballroom, 210 N. Main St., from 6-7:30 p.m. Residents and stakeholders are also invited to take part in a survey the city has put together to get public input.
The landing page linked above also includes an interactive map where residents can pinpoint areas where they feel there is an opportunity for transit development or improvements.
Kimley-Horn was selected as the firm to guide Broken Arrow on the development of a city/regional transit plan.
The advisory committee chosen to lead discussions will include two city councilors and two members from the Broken Arrow Planning Commission, as well as members of the Union and Broken Arrow Public Schools, Wagoner County, Broken Arrow Chamber, Indian Nations Council of Governments, Tulsa Transit, the Broken Arrow Senior Center, Broken Arrow Neighbors and A New Leaf.
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The city says the goal of the study “is to provide a long-term strategy for enhancing passenger transportation services in the City of Broken Arrow and provide justification toward funding public transportation projects. The plan will be developed in partnership with key stakeholders and potentially implemented over time.”
A timeline for the project ends with a final transit plan and implementation plan in place by June. Tasks along the way will include deciding on a vision for what public transit services might look like, inventorying existing services, survey current riders, analyzing demographic data and prioritizing corridors for transit enhancements.
Among the goals, the city says, is to provide “more reliable mobility options” to move people where they need to go, support economic growth, and improve connections to key destinations and neighborhoods.
Recently, city officials said there are older residents, homeless children and other stakeholders in Broken Arrow in need of transportation options to get to appointments, jobs, school or other places. With the advent of Uber- and Lyft-type services, autonomous vehicles and other technologies, the options that emerge might go beyond traditional buses.
Public transportation options for Broken Arrow have been studied on and off for more than a decade. Just 11 months ago, the Tulsa Transit Authority released the results of its “Broken Arrow Transit Study” and the city hosted a public open house after the two bodies worked to gather opinions and ideas for future.
Currently, Tulsa Transit operates three routes within Broken Arrow. The 902 and 909 express routes drive commuters from park-and-ride locations around Broken Arrow to downtown Tulsa. The 508 route is a circulator in Broken Arrow, which can deviate to locations within the service area.
A “Next Steps” summary of the Tulsa Transit study suggested implementation of an “OnDemand Service” in Broken Arrow to serve residents and visitors, along with enhancing commuter express routes to and from Tulsa and implementing a north/south Highway 169 commuter express service from Owasso and Broken Arrow.
The package was to include real-time arrival/departure information, social media notifications and online ticket payment integration. Fare structures had not been released last year.
The city’s planning department said the difference between the two studies is the Tulsa Transit study was designed for Tulsa Transit specifically and “didn’t look into all forms of public transit and what the city needs as it moves forward as a community,” said media relations manager Aaron McColloch. “That’s why we moved forward with our own transit study.”
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