While the Aero bus rapid transit line is expected to launch late this year, changes to Tulsa Transit’s fixed routes will come Sept. 23.
Starting then, drivers will only stop at designated bus stops, not wherever riders flag them down.
"It’s going to make our system more on time and reliable, and the main reason is safety," said Tulsa Transit Planning and Marketing Director Liann Alfaro. "Our bus drivers are not being able to focus completely on the driving. I mean, they do a great job, what they do, and they’re very safe at what they do, but this is going to make it even safer."
Tulsa Transit is in the process of putting up 1,800 new bus stop signs every quarter mile along its routes. The new signs include codes riders can text to get arrival times.
Some have plastic bags on them until the changes go into effect to limit confusion. Alfaro said leave them be.
A survey found many riders were being forced to go into downtown for transfers just to come right back out on their next bus. To solve that, buses destined to cross paths outside of downtown will do so at smaller clusters of shelters known as "sub hubs."
"One of the largest sub hubs we will have will be at the Woodland Hills Wamart, and we’ll have six buses that will probably meet there within 10 to 15 minutes of each other," Alfaro said.
Tulsa Transit is making fixed-route buses more predictable, too. They’re switching to what’s known as clock headway, with service every 30 minutes on some routes and every 60 minutes on others.
"And after looking at other transit agencies, we have found that the clock headway just seems to be a lot easier for customers to understand, and people that have never rode the bus system before, they understand the clock headways a lot better," Alfaro said.
Some fixed-route buses currently run every 45 minutes. Alfaro said the changes in frequency will improve connections with Aero when it launches.
