Embark (transit authority)

Embark
Slogan Forward Together.
Founded 1966 (from 1992 as Metro, from 2014 as EMBARK)
Locale Oklahoma City
Service area metropolitan area
Service type bus service, paratransit, express bus service
Routes 22
Hubs Downtown Oklahoma City
Operator Central Oklahoma Transportation and Parking Authority
Chief executive Jason Ferbrache
Website embarkok.com

Embark (styled all caps as EMBARK) is the public transit authority of the COTPA (Central Oklahoma Transportation and Parking Authority) trust, the largest transit agency in the state of Oklahoma. Embark has 20 interconnecting routes covering the Oklahoma City Metropolitan Area, including a weekday Express route to Downtown Oklahoma City from Norman, and the "Oklahoma Spirit Trolleys", a trolley-replica bus network.

History

The Central Oklahoma Transportation and Parking Authority was established on February 1, 1966 by the Oklahoma City Council to continue transit service as private operator Oklahoma Transportation Company, which provided bus service to the community, as City Bus Company, had announced it would discontinue transit service due to low ridership. There were initially only 18 buses, all leased from OTC.[1]

The system was rebranded as MassTrans in 1975[2] and used that name until 1992, when it was rebranded as Metro Transit,[3] though the official name remains in use as well.

COTPA was reorganized in 1989, when the city established a Transit Services division to provide senior management through an inter-local operating agreement. COTPA also bought Union Station which serves as headquarters to this day.[4]

In September 2013, it was announced Metro Transit will change its name to Embark which will take effect on April 28, 2014, which will include a new bus route system.

On October 15, 2015, Embark announced that they will be offering free Wi-Fi on all buses, on all routes.[5][6]

In August 2016, Embark has received the award for "North America’s Outstanding Public Transportation System” by the American Public Transportation Association for systems providing less than 4 million annual passenger trips. [7]

An unusual aspect of Embark is the Link program, which is a combination of owl service and paratransit service. Since regularly scheduled routes operate only until about 8pm local time, and not at all Sundays, Link provides nominally fixed route service from 7 pm until 12 midnight Monday through Saturday, and Sunday from 7 am until 7 pm. The four routes may however, deviate by as much as three-quarters of a mile from the fixed route if the customer notifies Embark by 4 pm the day before (or by 12 noon Saturday for Monday service). An additional fee will be charged in that instance, but customers using the fixed stops will be charged the normal fare.

Fares

No fare to kids below 7 with fare-paying rider; limit 3. Line 50, the Downtown Discovery, is $0.50 for regular or $0.25 for special patrons.

Oklahoma City Local Fare

Regular: $1.75 - Special Patron: $0.75

Express Service

Regular: $3 - Special Patron: $1.50

One express route serves Norman on Monday through Friday only. Service in the City of Edmond will no longer be provided by Embark effective June 30, 2009. The City of Edmond's new Citylink service began July 1, 2009.

Passes

All passes are for both local & express, and for unlimited travel.

30-Day Passes - Regular: $50 - Special Patron: $25
1-Day Passes - Regular: $4 - Special Patron: $2
7-Day Passes - Regular: $14 - Special Patron: $7

Routes

  • 2 Coltrane (was 2 Miramar/NE 23rd & Lottie before April 28, 2014, when it extended over parts of Route 19 and Route 1)[8]
  • 3 N Kelly (was 3 Park Estates/NE 10th & Lincoln before April 28, 2014)
  • 5 Memorial Rd (was 5 Quail Springs/NW 63rd & Western before April 28, 2014)
  • 7 N May (was 7 N May/NW 63 & Independence before April 28, 2014)
  • 8 N Penn/NW 63rd (was 8 French Market/Wilshire & Lyrewood Ln before April 28, 2014)
  • 9 Reno Crosstown (was 9 Reno/Reno & May before April 28, 2014)
  • 10 N Portland (was 10 N Portland/NW 16th & Penn before April 28, 2014)
  • 11 29th St Crosstown (was 11 Airport/Oak Grove/SW 44th & Independence/S Meridian before April 28, 2014)
  • 12 S May (was 12 OKC Community College/SW 29th & May before April 28, 2014)
  • 13 S Western/I-240 Crosstown (was 13 SW 74th & S Western before April 28, 2014)
  • 14 SE Bryant/Sunnylane (was 14 SE OKC/SE 59th & Sunnylane before April 28, 2014, but was rerouted over Route 20; the old route to the east became part of Route 11)
  • 15 Midwest City (was 15 Midwest City/Reno & Douglas before April 28, 2014)
  • 16 S Pennsylvania (was 16 Exchange/SW 89th & Penn before April 28, 2014)
  • 18 Lincoln (was 18 State Capitol/NE 13th & Lincoln/Musgrave before April 28, 2014)
  • 19 Spencer (was 19 Green Pastures/NE OK County/NE 39th & Hiwassee before April 28, 2014)
  • 22 Martin Luther King (was 22 ML King Blvd/Zoo/Remington Park before April 28, 2014)
  • 23 23rd St Crosstown (was 23 N 23 St Crosstown/NW 10th & Council before April 28, 2014)
  • 23N 23rd St Night
  • 24 Norman (was 24 Sooner Express before April 28, 2014)
  • 38 10th St Crosstown (was 38 Fairgrounds/NW 10th & MacArthur before April 28, 2014)
  • 40 S Walker (was 40 S Walker/SW 104th & Santa Fe before April 28, 2014)
  • 50 Downtown Discovery

Former Routes

  • 1 Garden Day/NE 23 & Bryant (discontinued on April 28, 2014 due to low ridership; eastern loop replaced by extended Route 2)[9]
  • 4 Belle Isle/NW 23rd & Walker (discontinued on April 28, 2014 due to low ridership with the northwenmosat portion transferred to Route 5)[10]
  • 6
  • 17
  • 20 SE OKC/Crossroads/SE 74th & Shields (discontinued on April 28, 2014; replaced by rerouted Route 14)
  • 21
  • 25 S. 44th St Crosstown/S. Meridian (discontinued July 21, 2003)
  • 26 Northwest Expressway/County Line Rd. & Britton (discontinued August 2, 2004)
  • 29 Airport/NW 50th & Portland (discontinued June 25, 2007; Routes 10 and 11 extended to serve the ends of the route)
  • 37 Edmond Express/Oklahoma City (discontinued June 30, 2009)
  • 39 Edmond Local/Oklahoma City (discontinued August 2, 2004)
  • 80 Eastern OK County (discontinued July 20, 2008)
  • 81 NW Area Neighborhoods (discontinued on April 28, 2014)
  • 82 Southwest Area (Became 83 Southwest Area by 2011 due to restructuring; discontinued on April 28, 2014)
  • 82 (served the northeast area; discontinued on April 28, 2014)
  • 83 Southeast Area (Became 84 Southeast Area by 2011 due to restructuring; discontinued on April 28, 2014)
  • 84 Shep. Mall - St Anthony - MetroTech (discontinued on June 30, 2009 due to restructuring)
  • 85 West Area (Eliminated by 2011 due to restructuring)

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2010-07-20. Retrieved 2010-01-21.
  2. ↑ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2010-07-20. Retrieved 2010-01-21.
  3. ↑ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2010-07-18. Retrieved 2010-01-21.
  4. ↑ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2010-07-20. Retrieved 2010-01-21.
  5. ↑ "OKC Transit Gets Smarter - EMBARK". embarkok.com. Retrieved 2015-10-18.
  6. ↑ "OKC Transit Gets Smarter | Mass Transit". Mass Transit. Retrieved 2015-10-18.
  7. ↑ http://www.news9.com/story/32789531/embark-wins-national-award
  8. ↑ https://web.archive.org/web/20131002154725/http://gometro.publishpath.com/schedules. Missing or empty |title= (help)
  9. ↑ https://web.archive.org/web/20131002154725/http://gometro.publishpath.com/schedules. Missing or empty |title= (help)
  10. ↑ https://web.archive.org/web/20131002154725/http://gometro.publishpath.com/schedules. Missing or empty |title= (help)
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