Aero, Tulsa's bus rapid transit service, is now running.
Aero covers Peoria Avenue from 54th Street North to 81st Street South, with buses running about every 15 minutes.
Jaquetta Waters, a regular bus rider made a shopping trip on Aero Monday morning from downtown to the 81st Street Walmart.
"It’s faster. They drive faster. They do. Because I guess it’s so many buses that they’ve got now," Waters said.
Getting from 11th Street to 81st Street took less than 30 minutes around 10:20 a.m. Monday. Ashley Holloway’s been riding Tulsa Transit buses for two years and said that’s a big difference.
"It takes an hour, damn near, now to get anywhere you go," Holloway said, adding she waited 17 minutes for the Aero bus.
Aero buses are supposed to run every 15 to 20 minutes on weekdays.
Greg Harris made the trip from 81st Street to downtown and back on Monday. He said one downside he’s noticed with Aero is it’s changed the timing for transfers to fixed-route buses.
"The other buses take about, like, an hour, sometimes, every hour. It’s a little bit more hard. I’m not going to lie about that one," Harris said. "But, yeah, the only bus that I really like right now is this one right here because it comes every 15, 20 minutes, which is — I’m liking that."
Adding to the learning curve for existing Tulsa Transit riders, Aero replaced the old route 105 bus and makes fewer stops.
A one-month test period of Aero service started on Sunday. Rides are free until Dec. 19.
