Spirit Trolleys continue to drive complaints

By Steve Lackmeyer

Published: July 1, 2008

John and Debbie Rowley are just the sort of tourists wanted by Oklahoma City as it seeks to make its downtown a regional attraction.

They traveled by plane to Oklahoma City earlier this month from their home in Petersburg, Ill., to see the Red Earth Festival at the Cox Convention Center.

They spent three nights at the neighboring Courtyard by Marriott, visited the Oklahoma City National Memorial, ate at Bricktown's restaurants and took a water taxi cruise on the Bricktown Canal.

They raved about downtown's attractions, they raved about the Red Earth Festival, they raved about their accommodations and the friendliness of the people they met.

But they've got one complaint — and it echoes concerns I've reported previously voiced by downtown residents: the Oklahoma Spirit Trolleys.

"We stood for 50 minutes at a shuttle stop (the Blue line) that was across from the Cox Center (the Myriad Gardens location),” Debbie Rowley said.

"Finally we and several other visitors to your city walked to our destinations with much disappointment.

"After spending four hours at the Memorial, we once again waited for the shuttle. This time we waited for 40 minutes, but it did arrive. Every place we saw advertising this shuttle, it said it would arrive every 20 minutes. Not so.”

Ouch, that hurts.

As reported before, the downtown trolley service reductions the past few years were followed this year with the city spending more than $350,000 in an addition to public transit aimed at downtown — the Oklahoma River Cruisers.

Downtown residents have complained that the trolley routes and schedules are not reliable — now we're hearing the same thing from visitors like the Rowleys.

So far, no substantial trolley changes are coming for downtown visitors or residents. The Central Oklahoma Transportation Authority's spokesman, Michael Scoggins, said Monday that some tweaks are being planned for the Orange line that serves that Interstate 40/Meridian Avenue corridor that might add a stop at the Oklahoma City National Memorial.

The Rowleys, meanwhile, have no regrets about their Oklahoma City visit, their first in a decade. And they would recommend it as a summer vacation stop to their friends.

Their only warning: Don't rely on the Oklahoma Spirit Trolleys.

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