Secret tunnels aren’t even the coolest things about Tulsa
From Art Deco buildings to hidden gems, Tulsa is cooler than you think
We continue our two-episode series of Tulsa with a guided audio tour of downtown with MetroLink Tulsa’s Director of Planning, Chase Phillips. Starting off along Route 66, Chase takes Paul for a tour of Tulsa’s iconic Art Deco buildings and then under the city through the tunnels built for oil barons to avoid being kidnapped.
But what’s more interesting about this discussion is the crucial role transit is playing in Tulsa’s rebirth. As Paul notes as he and Chase walk through downtown Tulsa, it’s quiet. Not deserted quiet, the quiet you get when there’s no traffic clogging roads and taking up space. People can enjoy a thriving downtown with food and shops–but without all the cars.
In Tulsa it’s transit, especially their BRT (Bus Rapid Transit) line, that’s made it possible. As Chase says in the interview:
“We see the BRT as this connection point for all of our other services. We have microtransit, we also have our existing local bus service. We really see the BRT as being an anchor point for a lot of those other services to feed into.“
More than anything, this episode of Transit Unplugged is about placemaking. Chase’s vision is to use transit as that connector, that anchor, to connect Tulsans to their city and everything in it. From The Gathering Place to its famous tunnels, Tulsa is one city where transit is making a real difference in bringing people together.
Tour Tulsa with us on Transit Unplugged
This week we also give you the first look at the upcoming episode of Transit Unplugged TV featuring Tulsa. Check out the trailer for the episode and buckle up for a ride down Route 66. First you got to hear all about the city, now you get to see it for yourself in all its Americana, kitchy, Art Deco glory.
????Coming up on Transit Unplugged: All about hydrogen fuel cells & hydrogen hubs
Beyond rebuilding ridership and hiring more drivers, the topic on everyone’s mind is how to get to zero emissions transit. Over the past three years the discussion has distinctly moved from lowering emissions to eliminating them.
At first, battery electric buses were getting all the attention, but as more agencies deployed battery electric fleets, some agencies found battery electric buses didn’t fulfill all their needs. So they explored the other zero emission option: hydrogen fuel cells.
Coming up on our March 13th show we have Kirt Conrad, CEO of SARTA in Ohio and Tim Sasseen of Ballard Power Systems talking about how fuel cells work and how the plan to build 7 hydrogen hubs across the U.S. will tackle the biggest obstacle to hydrogen fuel cell adoption: the supply of hydrogen itself.
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