Tulsa Transit Offering Free Rides To Help With High Gas Prices

The pain at the pump is too much for some and Tulsa Transit is trying to help by offering free rides. The Tulsa Transit Bus System will encourage Tulsans to climb aboard and try the transit for free from May 1 through June 30.

“We go all the way North, West, East, South Tulsa all across the community. Passengers can transfer to other routes, they can utilize it to go shopping, they can utilize it to go to work, or simply to go see a friend,” said Scott Marr. Scott Marr, General Manager at Tulsa Transit, said this decision comes after he saw the rise in gas prices -- and its impact on drivers.

“I spoke with my team, I said, here’s an opportunity that gas prices have really effected everyone across the country differently and here’s an opportunity for us to give free fares to our community and offer a different mode of transportation where they can save money," said Marr.

He also hopes it brings residents back to the buses. Marr said the number of people using Tulsa transit fell by almost half during the pandemic.

“200,000 boarding a month compared to 120,000 now. And they’re continuing to rise, but we’d like to get back to the pre covid numbers and here’s an opportunity to offer free rides to our fixed route passengers to try to get that ridership back up and maybe win back our customers from the past,” said Marr.

Marr said he wants the old, current and new riders to have another option for transportation. “I want to offer our community a safe reliable transportation that they’ll utilize and be proud of the service that we provide in the City of Tulsa," said Marr.

Marr said figuring out the bus system can be a challenge for some. “I often hear is passengers that don’t ride the bus is they simply don’t know how to use it. So, our goal is to educate everybody on how to use the Tulsa Transit Bus System.”

Riders can download the SPOT app to track their bus in real time. More information about the app can be found at http://tulsatransit.org/the-spot-app-is-here/