Owasso council rejects Tulsa Bus line

The Owasso City Council rejected a proposal Tuesday night for a Tulsa Transit express route from Owasso to downtown Tulsa.

The move comes after a summer survey in which 75 percent of respondents said they would support the line, which could have started in March.

When the city surveyed residents three years ago, only 15 percent responded positively to the plan.

But Vice Mayor D.J. Gall pointed out that only 887 people — of 9,500 surveys solicited within the city’s fenceline — responded to the questionnaire this summer. He added that the constituents he spoke to were unaware of the cost of the service.

The proposed service, which Collinsville also was considering, would have been the Metropolitan Tulsa Transit Authority’s second express line, after one that serves Broken Arrow.

The cost of the new single-bus line, which would have made weekday round trips from the local community center, at 301 S. Cedar Street, to the Cherokee Industrial Park and downtown Tulsa, was projected to be $30,015 annually. The city, which was to use Community Development Block Grant funds to pay for the service, had included that amount in the 2009 fiscal year budget.

Voting against the commuter service were Gall, Mayor Steve Cataudella and Councilor Doug Bonebrake. Councilors Wayne Guevara and Jon Sinex missed the meeting because of family and personal emergency medical issues, City Manager Rodney Ray said.

Speaking of the commuter line and citing the massive deficit of the federal government, Gall said he didn’t “think it is a wise use of taxpayer money.”

Respondents to Owasso’s mail and Internet survey had cited savings on gasoline and helping the environment as reasons for using mass transit.

Bus fare would have been $1.50 for a one-way trip, and commuters facing emergencies would have been covered under Tulsa Transit’s guaranteed ride-home program.

All three people who spoke during the council meeting’s public comment portion gave the proposal a thumbs-down.

D.J. Alexander said he was against subsidizing commuters and was for “keeping dollars in Owasso.”

Other residents fretted about possible low ridership and the city’s ability to keep up with costs that could increase.

Cataudella said the plan deserved a shot, adding that it is up to the council to provide opportunities for residents. He said the percentage of positive survey responses had sent the municipality a message and that gas prices likely will go back up.

However, he voted against the commuter line.

Although Bonebrake called the service a “noble” cause, he worried about rising costs over time and what he perceived as a lack of a mandate from city residents, given the low percentage who responded to the survey.

“There is a value to it, but how much can you invest?” he asked.