and the big Wichita announcement is.....

[Shortline]

I don't know how much a bus bridge would start inducing ridership. I would very regularly use an OKC-KC train for business especially if it made connections with the River Runner to STL. I will not, however, use a OKC-Newton overnight bus to connect to a sub 3 AM train. Until there is a true extension of the Flyer, with times that work for FTW OKC AND KC, it's not really feasible. Just my opinion.

 

[OlympianHiawatha]

I don't know how much a bus bridge would start inducing ridership. I would very regularly use an OKC-KC train for business especially if it made connections with the River Runner to STL. I will not, however, use a OKC-Newton overnight bus to connect to a sub 3 AM train. Until there is a true extension of the Flyer, with times that work for FTW OKC AND KC, it's not really feasible. Just my opinion.

Up until a couple-three years ago there was an overnight Bus Bridge between KC and OKC using regularly scheduled Trailways/Jefferson but few people used it and it was scuppered. For one thing the bus to OKC arrived at something like 5 am and pax had to cool their heels in the OKC bus station until being taken over to the Heartland Flyer at about 8 am.

 

[dart330]

Unfortunately a stand alone FTW-OKC-KCY train is going to cost nearly four times as much as simply extending the existing equipment up to Newton every night and I don't see that having any chance of happening when left up to KDOT & ODOT. I know a 2am transfer is undesirable, but if you look at the boardings in NEW it is the busiest station in the state of KS even with the middle of the night schedule.

The Jefferson Bus Line from OKC-Tulsa-KC still runs daily, they just don't drop anyone off at the train stations anymore. That 7+ hour ride sounds a lot worse than the 3 hour ride directly from OKC-NEW that was proposed.