Tulsa Transit Offers Free Rides For 2 Months

Starting Friday, July 15, you can ride Tulsa Transit buses for free. It's part of an effort to improve air quality during Ozone Alert days.

In an effort to reduce Ozone-forming emissions from cars, INCOG partnered with Tulsa Transit to allow people to ride the bus for free.

"We thought this opportunity to partner with Tulsa Transit really fits under our drive less. When we tell people to drive less, we say carpool, take the bus, walk, bike," says Clinton Johnson with INCOG's Regional Sustainability Program.

He says it can be dangerous for people to walk or bike in this extreme heat, which is why they wanted to offer a good alternative.

"When it's 105 I tend to feel a little bit guilty about promoting walking and biking, so it's really great to be able to partner where people are given a free option to take a bus," says Johnson.

Tulsa Transit hopes that these free bus fares will boost ridership and get more people to ride the bus year-round.

"When you hop on the bus for free, it gives us an opportunity to show you, you can utilize the bus for many different reasons," says Tulsa Transit General Manager Scott Marr.

He says the goal is to get as many people riding the bus now as before the pandemic.

"Our goal is to get back to pre-covid ridership numbers. Pre-covid ridership numbers had us at about 200,000 boardings per month," says Marr.

He says Tulsa Transit is working hard to get people from point A to point B. They're also adding new routes soon.

"In August we're adding a route on Riverside for the first time. We've never had a bus on Riverside so we're excited for that," Marr says.

The free fares end September 15th. It's all paid for by a $200,000 EPA Grant.

Clinton Johnson encourages people to stay aware of when an Ozone Alert is taking place. He says you can text AIR to 74121.