The Tulsa Forum by TulsaNow

My wife and I are in the early stages of putting together an intercity, curbside bus service between Tulsa and Oklahoma City. We have done our homework and we have a decent idea of what it will take to break even, but we are unsure if ridership will be high enough to support the endeavor.

If you drive between Tulsa and OKC more than once a year and might have an interest in kicking back and letting us do the driving while you have a comfy chair, electric plug, and wifi, we would really appreciate you taking 5 minutes to fill out this potential customer survey. It will help us inform our scheduling, pickup locations, and amenities to focus on. And we appreciate any additional feedback or thoughts on what would make you or folks you know who make this drive regularly more likely to drop the car and let us do the driving.

https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/9DNS5JG

Thank you for your time.

P.S. You can also "like" us on Facebook if you would like to learn more or be in the loop as we move forward: https://www.facebook.com/MotherRoadTravel

Took the survey.

As always, about everything, I have comments....

Wrong bus.  (The black Ford shown on your FB page.)

If not going with a big bus, then Sprinter stretch passenger van...or some intermediate step to larger bus based on M2 freightliner platform...

Fourth picture on this page - white stretch van;
https://www.google.com/search?q=sprinter+stretch+passenger+van&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=t5_4VJvEJsK-ggTPyIHICQ&ved=0CB4QsAQ&biw=1217&bih=653

No more than 3 seats wide, like first picture on that page.  But must have windows!

Appreciate the feedback. We are definitely open to suggestions.

And not trying to be critical - I tend to come across like that at rare moments - I like your idea a lot.  And have some experience with trucks/buses and their relative endurance and economy of operation.  Fords in the F450 to 750 class are strong trucks, but tend to become "rattley" more than some others.


Better add a disclaimer - have been looking at vans and we are planning to get a Sprinter van for cargo use later this year, so I am a little biased.

My only problem with scheduled transit from TUL-OKC is my needs are generally either hard to predict or will be at odd hours.

I just got home from OKC about 45 minutes ago.  My wife is on the Oklahoma Earthbike Fellowship board, their board meeting is on the first Thursday of every month and they are based in OKC.  That means leave Tulsa around 5 or 5:15 and leave OKC to return to TUL around 8:30 to 9pm.

Would I love to be able to sit back and work on email or projects while someone else does the driving?  You bet!  I could even enjoy a beer with my dinner in OKC if I didn’t have to get in my car and drive back 100 miles.  Unfortunately, pooling my needs for that trip with 6 or 8 others is unlikely.

Other times I may go to the city on business, and that might be with an hour’s notice.

I wish my travel were more predictable where I could take better advantage of mass or shared transit.

If you can get enough input to give you a realistic idea of peak travel times to make this feasible, I wish you all the success in the world.  If you had the capital to fund four buses so you could have one leaving the terminal on either end every hour on the hour, people might get accustomed to your schedule, plan their trips around it and ditch their car.  Of course, that assumes they have suitable transportation on to their ultimate destination from your stop.

Adequate parking will be necessary at each end.  I would leave a car there just to be able to use that type service, if it were secure enough.  Luckily, my schedule could be flexible enough to adapt +/- an hour or two.

I think you hit the nail on the head with the schedule idea.  OSU has the BOB routes from Tulsa to Stillwater that seems to work well - good template to copy. 

I think there’s already a park and ride lot off the east of 35/44 at 122nd St. in OKC, isn’t there?  It’s the last exit before the entrance to the Turner.

Thanks all. Irregular schedules are difficult to overcome. We are considering whether to start small and grow, or try to support a lot of trips each day from the get go so folks know there is always an option coming soon. But unless ridership blows us out of the water, I doubt we will be able to support more than every 2 hours (except possibly during rush hour).

The survey touches on downtown curbside vs. park-and-ride options. It is definitely an area we could use feedback from potential customers. And there is an ODOT operated park and ride lot in OKC that would be perfect. Tulsa does not have a similar facility, so finding a proper location for that option is on our radar.

Yeah.  Kind of 'secluded' - just hanging out there by itself...not sure I would trust it over a weekend.  Gotta go by tonight, so may take a closer look at that.  Something like Fine Airport parking would be good....  

Or something like The Courtyard Marriott - always lets us park across from the train station (OKC) when we take the Heartland Flyer to Ft. Worth.  They say they are going to charge me $3 a day, but never have when it came down to it.  I try to stay with Courtyard's as much as possible in part because of that attitude.  Plus, they aren't all that bad for a hotel....   Wouldn't park to take the train if that wasn't available - don't trust the train station parking.

With there being sentiment in government for innovative mass transit ideas, seems like there might be some transportation grant money or operational funding.  Oh wait, there’s that $600 million state budget shortfall again.  :’( 

Are there any national transportation grants possible?  Would OTA be of any help or are they really bent on more toll payers on the road rather than consolidating them?

GO Riteway is a shuttle service that I have used in WI that does very good job (I don't like their vans much - Ford where I go.)  Different scope than what you are talking about, but there may be some things of interest about their operation.  It works very smoothly and professionally.  Got bound up in a blizzard in MKE one time and they jumped through their collective backsides to get a 1/2 a plane full of people to Chicago....which was it's own issue - O'Hare.


In particular, they have very customer friendly booking/reservation system that really impresses me.  (Maybe I'm just easily impressed, though...)

OKC train station would be pretty good location to stop - or very near - but definitely got to have a parking situation.... I don't know of a Fine Parking equivalent in OKC, but an arrangement with them might not be the worst thing in the world.  Conan, how about ending your trips near the airport??

Think about that...they want more cars!  Especially at that Luther work zone now so they can slow everyone down for at least 30 minutes!!

They have only reworked that about 14 times in the last 7 years or so.... geez...!!

For anyone interested in the effort to provide this alternative transit option to Oklahomans, Fox23 did a story and video about our presentation to the Tulsa startup community.

http://www.fox23.com/videos/news/plan-to-bring-shuttle-service-from-tulsa-to-okc/vDQQ62/

Snacks and Booze would be a plus......

Video wouldn't play, but underneath there was one sentence that said, "The plan is based on Uber."


True??

First, odd the video is not working for you. Here is the text article: http://www.fox23.com/news/news/local/tulsa-group-wants-shuttles-tulsa-okc/nkznd/

Second, "based on Uber" is probably going a bit far. Like Uber, we are applying technology to an older business model in ways that lower costs and make it more feasible for new customers. Like Uber, ticketing will be handled entirely online and via app. Like Uber, we expect to have referral codes for folks to get free rides and to encourage others to try out the service. And like Uber, we expect to attract a customer base that does not use traditional bus/taxi services.

Unlike Uber, the service will be point-to-point because it would take too long to pick up each individual rider. And unlike Uber, we are not connecting bus drivers to customers. We will own/lease the vehicles ourselves.

Happy to answer any other questions. And our FAQ is available here: https://www.facebook.com/notes/motherroad-travel/frequently-asked-questions/935246673174967

If you are a potential customer, please take our 5 minute survey that helps us show investors the level of demand in the market and makes sure we offer times/amenities/locations that are best suited to you: https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/CustomerDemand2.

Ok...that's what I thought when I first went through the stuff.  When I hear Uber, the mental picture is random drivers in personal cars and that was not what your site was talking about at all.

Will try the link at different place later.