Midwest City residents urge more frequent buses and route changes to better reach jobs and schools

Several Midwest City residents told the City Council and Municipal Authority at a public comment period that local bus service needs more frequent runs and route changes to connect neighborhoods with jobs, colleges and health care.

William Ginn, who gave his address and said he has ridden the No. 15 about once every two weeks for 25 years, urged "more frequent service to from Midwest City on weekdays" and recommended route changes that would let him disembark nearer his home to avoid a half-mile walk from the nearest stop. "It's quicker for me to walk half a mile from the nearest stop to my home," Ginn said.

Tegan Malone, identified herself as a Midwest City resident and president of the Oklahoma Earth Bike Fellowship and said the route that serves older parts of the city currently runs "every 80 minutes," a headway she said makes the service difficult to use for work and school trips. Malone formally requested that city staff assemble a work group including the Oklahoma Alliance for Public Transportation, Rose State College and neighboring Del City to study frequency and route changes, park-and-ride locations and partnerships with health providers such as SSM Health.

"Sometimes there's not two cars in a household. How do these kids get to work? How do we make sure that they're learning how to become productive adults and citizens in our community?" Malone said, urging council members to "look at our transportation goals for the upcoming decade."

Walter Jacks, a Del City resident who said he rode the No. 15 on two recent runs to count riders, told the council those two non-rush round trips carried about 85 Midwest City riders per run and argued the route serves "the livelihood for over 500 people" daily. "It makes all the sense in the world to take that bus from the Tinker Diagonal up Sooner Road and down Reno," he said, suggesting cost-sharing with Del City if routes are adjusted.

Hiawatha Bolden, representing the Alliance for Public Transportation, said adding stops that serve employers such as Tinker and new health centers would help students and workers who lack vehicles. An unidentified commenter urged council members to consult regional planning documents about Routes 15 and 19 for demographic context.

No formal council action on transit was recorded during the public comment period; multiple speakers asked staff to study route frequency and alignment and to report back with options. The comments concluded before the Municipal Authority portion of the meeting began.