Slogan Forward Together. Service area metropolitan area | Locale Oklahoma City Routes 22 | |
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Founded 1966 (from 1992 as Metro, from 2014 as EMBARK) Service type bus service, paratransit, express bus service | ||
Embark (styled all caps as EMBARK) is the public transit authority of the COTPA (Central Oklahoma Transportation and Parking Authority) trust, the largest transit agency in the state of Oklahoma. EMBARK has 20 interconnecting routes covering the Oklahoma City Metropolitan Area, including a weekday Express route to Downtown Oklahoma City from Norman, and the "Oklahoma Spirit Trolleys", a trolley-replica bus network.
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History
The Central Oklahoma Transportation and Parking Authority was established on February 1, 1966 by the Oklahoma City Council to continue transit service as private operator Oklahoma Transportation Company, which provided bus service to the community, as City Bus Company, had announced it would discontinue transit service due to low ridership. There were initially only 18 buses, all leased from OTC.
The system was rebranded as MassTrans in 1975 and used that name until 1992, when it was rebranded as Metro Transit, though the official name remains in use as well.
COTPA was reorganized in 1989, when the city established a Transit Services division to provide senior management through an inter-local operating agreement. COTPA also bought Union Station which serves as headquarters to this day.
In September 2013, it was announced Metro Transit will change its name to EMBARK which will take effect on April 28, 2014, which will include a new bus route system.
On October 15, 2015, EMBARK announced that they will be offering free Wi-Fi on all buses, on all routes.
In August 2016, Embark has received the award for "North America’s Outstanding Public Transportation System” by the American Public Transportation Association for systems providing less than 4 million annual passenger trips.
Link
An unusual aspect of EMBARK is the Link program, which is a combination of owl service and paratransit service. Since regularly scheduled routes operate only until about 8pm local time, and not at all Sundays, Link provides nominally fixed route service from 7 pm until 12 midnight Monday through Saturday, and Sunday from 7 am until 7 pm. The four routes may however, deviate by as much as three-quarters of a mile from the fixed route if the customer notifies EMBARK by 4 pm the day before (or by 12 noon Saturday for Monday service). An additional fee will be charged in that instance, but customers using the fixed stops will be charged the normal fare.
Fares
No fare to kids below 7 with fare-paying rider; limit 3. Line 50, the Downtown Discovery, is free.
Oklahoma City Local Fare
Regular: $1.75 - Special Patron: $0.75Express Service
Regular: $3 - Special Patron: $1.50One express route serves Norman on Monday through Friday only. Service in the City of Edmond will no longer be provided by EMBARK effective June 30, 2009. The City of Edmond's new Citylink service began July 1, 2009.
Passes
All passes are for both local & express, and for unlimited travel.
30-Day Passes - Regular: $50 - Special Patron: $25 1-Day Passes - Regular: $4 - Special Patron: $2 7-Day Passes - Regular: $14 - Special Patron: $7