OKC will get $10M in grants from Biden administration to improve bus system. What will change?

Ahead of service changes to Oklahoma City's bus routes, the city's transit operator received two grants totaling more than $10 million for planning future improvements.

One of the grants is a $5.8 million federal grant to undertake planning for future improvements, and the other is a $4.3 million formula funding grant to purchase nine brand-new natural gas buses.

Service changes to all bus routes are expected to take place starting this fall, with the goal of standardized frequencies and expansion to new areas. With the new funding, Embark Community Engagement Officer Cody Boyd said planning and design will be conducted for improvements to the downtown transit center and an expanding of the maintenance and operating facility.

"This helps us finally start looking at these facilities that are near the end of their lives, and we know will be inadequate for the future of transit," Boyd said. "We can start planning now on how we might construct those, expand those, in the future."

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The grant was received from the Rebuilding American Infrastructure with Sustainability and Equity (RAISE) program, which was expanded by President Joe Biden's infrastructure law and will fund more than $2.2 billion projects throughout the US and two of its territories this year.

Of that, $36.68 million will go to three infrastructure projects in Oklahoma, including $25 million to the Choctaw Nation for bicycle and walking paths and solar lighting along several roads in Durant.

“Using the funds in President Biden’s infrastructure law, we are helping communities in every state across the country realize their visions for new infrastructure projects,” U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said in a news release. “This round of RAISE grants is helping create a new generation of good-paying jobs in rural and urban communities alike, with projects whose benefits will include improving safety, fighting climate change, advancing equity, strengthening our supply chain, and more.”

What new grant funding will accomplish in OKC's transit system

The RAISE grant will strictly be funding planning services rather than any actual construction, but Boyd said this will help Embark get ahead in planning and increase chances of receiving funding later when it's time to begin the project.

Boyd said with the Northwest bus rapid transit route beginning service this fall, and two more routes being planned through MAPS 4, an expansion of the maintenance and operations center will be needed.

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"We're going to need a larger facility for parking buses, and a larger garage and shop facility for servicing those vehicles," Boyd said. "And to accommodate staff growth as we hire more bus operators, more mechanics, etcetera."

For the downtown transit center, which Boyd said is now more than 20 years old, future improvements are still extremely conceptual but will be fleshed out during this planning process.

In addition to all of this, Embark also received a $4.3 million formula funding grant from the Federal Transportation Administration to purchase nine brand-new CNG buses, as the operator is working on phasing out its diesel fuel buses.

"We're very excited," Boyd said. "We've had pretty good success from competing for some of those discretionary grants. I think it's a good sign that the FTA thinks that we're a good investment when it comes to transit. So good things happening and more good things to come."

What changes are coming to OKC bus routes?

Embark has been studying and gathering community input on what the future of its bus system should look like.

Through community outreach, Embark found that people are supportive of a move to a grid system with easier transfers between lines, as opposed to the current hub and spoke model. The community also wants high frequency corridors, later evening service, expanded weekend service, better on-time performance and better connections to northeast OKC.

Moving to a grid system will require a lot of investment, so that will come later. For now, each bus route will see some small changes to the schedule to improve transfers, Boyd said.

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The northwest side will see the most significant changes, with an extension of Route 8 out to Northwest Expressway and Council.

"There's a Walmart out there, there's a lot of shopping amenities, but also residential ... that will be able to have bus services for the first time," Boyd said.

See what changes could be coming your bus route in this interactive map.

What other improvements could be made in the future

Right now, the downtown transit center is the main place to transfer between bus routes.

Long-term, Embark hopes to place "mini hubs" throughout the city to create a more grid-type system.

"Obviously needing to transfer downtown at the transit center may not be the best, most efficient way for folks who are needing to get around somewhere on the northwest side, southwest side," Boyd said.

If there's money left after planning for the transit center and maintenance facility — Boyd said it will be 12 to 18 months before the planning work can begin — it could be used to start planning for those hubs, Boyd said.

Future goals the operator is looking at include more service on the south and east sides of the city, airport service, complementing bus routes with bus rapid transit routes and increasing service frequency across the board, Boyd said.

"Those are the kind of things that possibly entail changes to routes, but will definitely require more resources in terms of more buses, more operators to meet that frequency domain," Boyd said.

This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: OKC to get $10M in federal grants to improve bus system