EMBARK Seeks Public Input on Fares

April 21, 017

EMBARK is hosting a series of listening sessions and a survey to collect input from the public about integrating and simplifying payment options for their different transit and parking services, including: bus, bike share, parking, ferry and the future Oklahoma City Streetcar.

Two public listening sessions will be hosted on Wednesday, April 26. The first will be noon to 1:00 p.m. at Cotter Ranch Tower located at 100 N Broadway Ave # 3113. The second will be 5:30 to 6:30 pm in the Ronald J. Norick Downtown Library located at 300 Park Ave. The same content will be presented at both meetings.

“We’re interested in improving the customer experience, and that includes looking closer at how our customers pay their fare and what other fare options, such as mobile ticketing, would make it easier to use EMBARK services,” says Jason Ferbrache, EMBARK administrator. “We’re also interested in how potential customers interact with us as well. For example, if a commuter drives downtown in their own vehicle and parks in an EMBARK garage, then uses an EMBARK bus and or takes the future Streetcar, we want to hear ideas for making that experience as seamless and convenient as possible.”

Current EMBARK services include local and express bus service, Plus paratransit for persons with disabilities, five parking structures in downtown, Spokies bike share, EMBARK Rideshare and Oklahoma River Cruises. Beginning in late 2018, EMBARK will also operate the Oklahoma City Streetcar.

“There is growing interest in cities nationwide in improving integration of multiple modes of transportation,” says Laura Wolfgram, Project Manager with Four Nines Technologies, a transit consulting firm. “People rely on multiple types of transportation in any given day or week. This is a great opportunity for EMBARK to figure out how the modes can “work together” and make it simpler for the user to pay for and use the services.”

Four Nines Technologies is consulting with EMBARK to evaluate the existing fare structure and present recommendations on changes or options that equitably simplify the purchase of EMBARK parking and transit services.

Additionally, the listening sessions and survey will collect opinions about fare collection technologies that would allow purchases on mobile or tablet devices and reusable cards that can be used across EMBARK’s family of transit services (similar to cards used by monthly parking garage customers).

“As we grow, and plan for the integration of the Oklahoma City Streetcar into EMBARK’s family of services, public input is an essential element to developing solutions that reflect a means for customers to access our services that fit their lifestyle. We’re aiming to create a simpler, faster, and easier experience for accessing our services, while finding a pricing scale that makes economic sense for the services they use,” adds Ferbrache.