The APT has become a dues paying organization. For more information, send an email to postmaster@okapt.org. Elections were held during the summer of 2010 and the APT’s new Board officers are shown on the Board page. The APT has also been awarded a grant that will be used to modernize the website. At the November Board meeting, your APT Board of Directors unanimously approved two documents from the Oklahoma Health Equity Campaign administered by the Oklahoma State Department of Health. The purpose of these documents is to show how interrelated transportation is with good health in our state. The two documents are presented on the State Efforts page as PDFs.
The APT held its first “Express Yourself” Town Hall Meeting at the Ronald J. Norick Library on Thursday, December 9, 2010. The purpose of the meeting was to let APT members and the public come and begin a discussion of the state of transportation in the Central Oklahoma area. Below are the notes from that meeting. If anyone has any questions or comments, they are welcome to send them to the APT Webmaster, Joe Mecham, at jsmecham@cox.net or webmaster@okapt.org. This information will also be posted to the Discussions page of the APT’s Facebook page.
“Express Yourself” Town Hall Meeting
APT
9-December-2010
Moderated by Josh Beasley, YWCA, Chief Development and Communications Office
Comment Card #1
Since there isn’t an existing Metrorail system in OKC, why not beef up the bus system: more busses traveling at more times including holiday and Sunday service? Also, why can’t the bus service run until midnight? Why not let the bus system be maxed out with units, service headways, 7-day service, and expansion to other communities? There is more that can be done with the current system while we wait on light rail systems being deployed. Where are the business owners in all of this?
[Summary: more routes, more hours, more days; bus vs. light [metro] rail; business buy-in.]
Comment Card #2
To what extent has COTPA explored reducing the service are to the approximately 80 square mile area that Rick Cain mentioned at the Mayor’s Transportation Development meeting earlier this year? Would it be wiser to limit the service area to this area, which will allow for a greater frequency of service within that service area? Use a “think tank” process to come up with an optimal solution for transit within a smaller, focused service area. Would a grid system be more efficient and advantageous than a hub system? A grid system would be disadvantageous to persons who are blind or low vision and use the bus because of the lack of familiarity with an area.
Comment Card #3
There is agreement with advocacy to the City Council to gain the momentum to move the city another way. Move toward coalition building towards solutions.
Comment Card #4
Is there a way to contact major employers to make arrangements for them to support transportation for their employees? Meetings have been held and nothing has come to fruition.
Comment Card #5
There should be circulators to get those unable to walk to the main route to the main route. Those transitioning from nursing facilities have little ability to get around when they have no other means of transportation. Finance is a big issue.
Comment Card #6
What has COPTA done to procure any available federal funding for shelters and possibly printed system maps to help riders? The system map is out and has won an award. There is a charge for the map – $1 per copy. The printing cost is local funds, not federal. There are funds for bus stop improvements in COPTA’s coffers. The issue is complicated and the local match has not been asked for because of the funding situation in the city. All the shelters with the exception of approximately 10 are owned and maintained by Tyler Advertising at no cost to the city.
Comment Card #7
What is the date to make it mandatory to have drivers of fixed routes call out intersections and time points? Could the PA system be used since seating is not always available in the priority seating area in the front? How can the failure of the drivers to announce the stops be reported? Answer: Monday, December 13, 2010! Drivers will use the PA according to Mark Pritchard with COPTA. Contact Mark Pritchard at mark.pritchard@okc.gov or at 297-3419 (direct). Within 12 months, METRO Transit will have a voice annunciator system utilizing GPS to digitally call the stops.
Summary (Lauren White, Chair, APT
What has been said during this meeting is what the APT has felt needs to be said so that others may chip in comments. These comments will be used to frame APT events for the upcoming months. Dialogue and support for transit has grown over the past two years. It is now time to continue and move this process forward. Public transit is high profile in OKC. Success is dependent on everyone talking and working towards solutions. This has to occur across all age groups. These types of meetings will occur on at least a quarterly basis.
As always, stay tuned for more news from your APT.