Tulsa Mayor G.T. Bynum tours a new electric bus before a news conference at Tulsa Transit on Tuesday. Four electric buses are being added to the metro bus fleet.
Tulsa Transit General Manager Ted Rieck rides a new electric bus Tuesday.
Randy Cloud, director of maintenance for Tulsa Transit, takes a turn at the wheel of a new electric bus on Tuesday.
Tulsa Mayor G.T. Bynum talks about the addition of four electric buses to the Metropolitan Tulsa Transit Authority's fleet on Tuesday. Standing behind Bynum are Lauren Cochran Scoville with bus manufacturer Proterra and Tulsa Transit General Manager Ted Rieck.
Tulsa Transit General Manager Ted Rieck boards a new electric bus on Tuesday.
Tulsa Transit adds 4 electric buses to their fleet
Tulsa Transit and city leaders unveiled a new electric bus on Tuesday that is among four that will be added to the metro bus fleet.
The bus was made available Tuesday for city officials and members of the news media to see and ride.
“We’re excited to not only modernize our fleet … but also help the environment,” said Ted Rieck, general manager of the Metropolitan Tulsa Transit Authority.
“The electric buses really don’t pollute at all,” he said.
“I know many of the bus drivers are excited about the vehicles. They accelerate a lot faster than a traditional bus,” Rieck said, adding that the new buses’ braking system will last much longer than brakes on a traditional bus.
The electric buses are 40 feet long and can travel roughly 200 miles on a full charge.
The buses take roughly 4.5 hours to recharge.
“Adding electric buses to the transportation fleet is an effort to continue to stay green, lower emissions and provide a quieter commute for riders,” the city said in a news release.
“You think about where we’ve come in the last five years for public transit in Tulsa, … and it’s exciting,” Mayor G.T. Bynum said.
In addition to having relatively new natural gas buses, “now we will become a city with electric buses,” he said.
The buses cost about $569,000 each, with batteries that cost about $260,000 each, said Randy Cloud, director of maintenance for Tulsa Transit.
The buses have an expected 12-year lifespan, he said.
The new electric buses will not be on specific routes but will run periodically in all areas of the city, he said.
Currently, Tulsa Transit services 199 square miles of Tulsa and surrounding areas, including Broken Arrow, Jenks and Sand Springs. It operates fixed route and paratransit bus services.
The city has 62 buses and 44 lift vehicles in operation, according to the Tulsa Transit website. The four new electric buses will replace older buses, Cloud said.
The Metropolitan Tulsa Transit Authority was formed in August 1968 by the city of Tulsa.
It was set up as a public trust to continue the operations of the private bus service that had been run by the Missouri, Kansas & Oklahoma bus company, MK&O Lines.
Tulsa Transit is overseen by a seven-member board of trustees. It has an annual operating budget of $18 million and has 180 employees.
Throwback Tulsa: A look back at riding the bus in Tulsa
B9478 bus
An MK&O city bus travels down Peoria Avenue at 33rd Street in Brookside. Brookside Bank, later Bank of Oklahoma, appears in the background. Also shown is the Ricsha restaurant. MK&O operated the local bus system from 1957 until August 1968, when the city took it over. Beryl Ford Collection/ Tulsa Historical Society & Museum
D6179 bus
A view of Missouri, Kansas and Oklahoma (MK&O) bus garage at 207 S. Detroit Ave. in 1948. MK&O operated as an intercity and interstate bus company and won the Tulsa city bus franchise in 1968. Beryl Ford Collection/Tulsa Historical Society & Museum
D6331 bus
Tulsa City Lines bus #2536 goes by Crit’s Wee-Wash-It Laundry, 741 W. Fifth St., on April 1, 1957. Beryl Ford Collection/Tulsa Historical Society & Museum
D7973 bus
An undated photo shows an MK&O bus with a sign promoting radio station KFMJ at the intersection of Third Street and Boston Avenue in downtown Tulsa. MK&O operated the bus system from 1957 until August 1968. In 1957, bus ridership was 11 million a year. By 1967, it had fallen to 3.7 million. Beryl Ford Collection/ Tulsa Historical Society & Museum
B8433 bus
A Tulsa City Lines bus is shown on Easton Street, west of Greenwood Avenue. The Chicago-based company had the Tulsa franchise from 1937 until 1957. Beryl Ford Collection/Tulsa Historical Society & Museum
B6986 bus
Drivers vote at their Union Hall during a Tulsa City Lines bus strike. The company had the Tulsa franchise from 1937 until 1957. Frequent strikes frustrated passengers and forced the city to license private “jitney” vehicles to transport riders. Beryl Ford Collection/Tulsa Historical Society & Museum
Tulsa City Lines Bus
Original photo caption (published May 17, 1936): Tulsans ride to town — Tulsa City Lines has struck a popular chord since it placed buses of the latest type on nearly all their city lines. Within a very short time such buses as shown above will generally be used in service. They are attractive, fast and comfortable and as easy riding as a luxurious touring car. World file
New Bus Station 1
Mayor Susan Savage uses a jack hammer to break ground on the Denver Avenue Metropolitan Tulsa Transit Authority bus station on May 15, 1997. Looking on from left: Tulsa Transit General Manager Mark Pritchard, City Councilor David Patrick, County Commissioner John Selph and City Councilor Joe Williams. World file
Demolition for Bus Terminal, 1
The building that formerly housed Panache restaurant and catering business near Third Street and Cheyenne Avenue is demolished on June 12, 1997. The Tulsa Transit downtown bus station was built on the site. World file
New MTTA station
Construction on the Metropolitan Tulsa Transit Authority bus station between Third and Fourth streets on Denver Avenue is shown on April 24, 1998. World file
New Bus Substation
People check out the mural as they walk through the Denver Avenue bus station while workers make the finishing touches in 1998. The 4,700-square-foot, art deco-style building cost $3 million. World file
Bus Route
Buses idle at the downtown bus station in Tulsa in 2012. Tulsa Transit operates 66 fixed-route buses, according to its website. World file
Bus Art
A Tulsa Transit bus is adorned with art of Woody Guthrie by designer Randy Riggs is shown in 2014. World file
Bus Station on Memorial
Guzman Torres with Carter Excavating works on replacing asphalt with pavement in front of the mid-town bus transfer station on June 13, 2001. The station at 33rd Street and Memorial Drive opened in July 2001. World file
bus station ribbon-cutting
Mayor Susan Savage (in blue) leads a group of dignitaries on a ribbon cutting for the bus station at 33rd Street and Memorial Drive, as part of the opening ceremonies of the station in 2001. The station eliminates a downtown trip for some riders. Tulsa World file
PEORIA BUS
Mayor G.T. Bynum speaks during a news conference on July 13 at which the city and Metropolitan Tulsa Transit Authority unveil the new Peoria Bus Rapid Transit Line. The line is one of the public transit projects included in a Vision Tulsa sales tax proposal approved by voters in 2016. The route is to open in 2019 along an 18-mile stretch of Peoria Avenue. MIKE SIMONS/Tulsa World
Sunday bus service
Mayor G.T. Bynum holds a press conference on June 27, 2017, to announce the start of Tulsa Transit Sunday bus service. The service was one of the public transit projects funded by Vision Tulsa in 2016. JESSIE WARDARSKI/ Tulsa World
The Loop
The Loop offers pedestrians free service on Friday and Saturday evenings, with a route that takes it through the Blue Dome, Brady Arts and Deco districts, as well as near the BOK Center and ONEOK Field. Tulsa World file
Bus Rider
Patrick Fox rides the bus home after working in downtown Tulsa in 2011. World file
Tulsa Transit station 2006
Tulsa Transit's downtown bus station is shown in 2006. The transit authority's service area covers almost 200 square miles. It has an annual operating budget of about $18 million and 175 employees. World file
