The first of seven modern streetcars for the MAPS 3 Oklahoma City Streetcar line has been delivered, another milestone before service is expected to begin late this year.

MAPS 3 is a $777 million capital improvement program to improve the quality of life in Oklahoma City. It is funded by a 1-cent sales tax initiative that began in April 2010 and ended in December 2017. The streetcar line is one of eight projects being funded by the program. 

“It’s an exciting step in the process to have our first modern streetcar delivered to our maintenance facility,” said MAPS 3 Program Manager David Todd. “We expect to begin testing the streetcars on the Bricktown Loop this summer, so people will see them on the street pretty soon.”

The other six streetcars will be delivered one at a time about every three weeks. They’re delivered by truck from Pennsylvania, where they’re built by Brookville Equipment Corp.

EMBARK will operate the OKC Streetcar as part of the City’s public transit system.

The streetcar will have two route options: a 2-mile Bricktown loop, and a 4.8-mile mainline serving the rest of the central urban core.

The OKC Streetcar will serve 22 stops with five streetcars, which ride on rails flush with the street. The streetcars use overhead wires for electric power on part of the route, and batteries for the rest.

Each streetcar can carry 104 passengers, and each stop will be served every 12 to 15 minutes.

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The streetcar will use City streets in the same way as other vehicles, obeying traffic signals and other rules of the road. EMBARK is developing a safety campaign to educate drivers, pedestrians and cyclists how to avoid accidents once streetcar service begins.

Each OKC Streetcar stop is ADA-accessible for easy boarding with signage, real-time arrival information, covered shelters and a ticket vending machine.

The project budget is $131 million and includes a storage and maintenance facility completed last year.

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Herzog-Stacey and Witbeck is building the rail line. Consultants include ADG, Jacobs Engineering, AECOM and SOJ. EMBARK contracted Herzog Transit Services to manage OKC Streetcar’s day-to-day operations.

MAPS 3 funds eight projects: Downtown Convention Center, Downtown Public Park, Modern Streetcar/Transit, Oklahoma River Improvements, Oklahoma State Fairgrounds Improvements, Senior Health and Wellness Centers, Trails and Sidewalks.