How much do you really know about Route 66?

Tulsa is the heart of the Mother Road, and home to awesome transit too

While Nat King Cole encouraged us to get our kicks on Route 66, how much do you really know about it? In a special two-part episode, Paul takes you on an audio tour of Tulsa, Oklahoma, the birthplace of Route 66, with MetroLink Tulsa CEO Scott Marr and Director of Planning Chase Phillips.

Up first, we have CEO Scott Marr talking with Paul about Tulsa’s thriving transit system, their new branding, plans for the system, and his career as a transit fixer.

Their microtransit service has replaced poorly performing fixed routes with something people really like–and use! It’s doing so well, Scott is co-mingling it with paratransit to save money and offer better service for everyone.

Maybe the crown jewel in Tulsa is their Aero BRT line. After initial resistance, plans for an expansion along Route 66 to celebrate its 100th birthday in two years, have people jockeying for more stops and extensions.

But there’s a catch.

Scott is facing a $15 million shortfall thanks to inflation and other cost increases. Scott talks with Paul about how he plans to bridge the gap and bring more BRT to Tusla.

Listen to it all on Transit Unplugged

Next week we get some history of Route 66 and an insider’s tour of downtown Tulsa hosted by Chase Phillips. Chase takes Paul all around the historic art deco architecture and even the not-so-secret tunnels underneath the city. This is an audio adventure you don’t want to miss.

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We all have those bucket list things we want to do, and for our host Paul Comfort one of those things was trying stand-up comedy (he’s already done rock star).