Tulsa, OK is a hidden gem of Americana. It's the birthplace of historic Route 66, home to amazing Art Deco architecture, and has a burgeoning transit system that connects the community together.
Route 66 is one of the most iconic highways in America. Open roads, fast cars, Americana, kitsch. It’s all there on Route 66, and The Mother Road as it’s called, got its start in Tulsa, OK. This month on Transit Unplugged TV we take you for a tour of Tulsa starting with the famous Buck Atom Cosmic Curios and wrapping up with some stand up comedy from Paul Comfort himself.
In between…
▶ Chase Phillips, Dir of Planning for MetroLink takes Paul for a tour of downtown, including the “secret” tunnels under the city.
▶ See the Outsiders house where the movie was filmed. The book was written by Tulsa-native S. E. Hinton while she was in junior high school and published when she was 18.
▶ In How Do I Get There, Paul and MetroLink CEO Scott Marr take the BRT line to Oral Roberts University and the giant praying hands and on the way tells us more about the BRT line and their microtransit system.
▶ We get a tour of MetroLink Tulsa (rebranded while we were there from Tulsa Transit), its facilities, and a ride on its very popular BRT line.
▶ We check out the food at The Mother Road Market, where you can get almost any food you can imagine.
▶ We visit the Southwest Transit Association (SWTA) conference where Paul shared leadership insights to the crowd of transit leaders.
▶ We learn about Black Wall Street and the Tulsa Race Massacre of 1921 at the Greenwood Rising Museum, highlighting one of Tulsa’s most important and historic neighborhoods.
▶ We see behind the scenes at MetroLink’s CNG refueling center and maintenance facility.
▶ Naaja Jefferies tells Paul the ins and outs of the MetroLink microtransit service.
