Journalist: Lina Quinones (TCC)
Today on the House floor, the chambers hear HB OSU-515, an act relating to public transportation infrastructure within Oklahoma, or otherwise known as the “Cowboy Commuter Act” of 2025. This will create a new law where Oklahoma will be expanding public transportation. There were three (3) parts to the expansion this bill wanted in Oklahoma.
The first part is in cities that have a population that exceeds thirty-five thousand (35,000) residents to start this expansion. Within the bill transit infrastructure there were buses, vans, trains, and other various forms of transportation
The second part is for Oklahoma to begin to develop an Intercity Hybrid Rail System. This system will connect large cities (Tulsa and Oklahoma City) to metropolitan areas (Edmond, Broken Arrow, etc..).
Lastly Oklahoma will also need to start a Commuter Rail System that is state-wide. This will connect the major urban areas around the state (e.g., Oklahoma City, Stillwater, and Tulsa), and as well as cities and towns that will continue to grow. (Lawton, El Reno, McAlester, Durant, etc.)
This caused major controversy within the house, many representatives were split with this bill. Two of them gave a few words on this topic.
The first House Representative that was interviewed was Rep. Covey (OU). She stated “I’m in strong support of this bill. I think a rail system to connect the two [Tulsa and Oklahoma City] is highly needed.”
Throughout the interview she expressed that the traffic and commuter between these two cities was extremely heavy. But this was not the only issue she mentioned, Rep. Covey (OU) continued to talk about how little there is to get to the big cities. Many Oklahomans cannot afford the gas that it takes to commute to these cities, and even some Oklahomans cannot afford cars that are needed to make this trip.
Rep. Covey (OU) communicates that this rail system that HB OSU-515 wants to build will be cheaper for Oklahomans. Since “train fare is much more affordable and economically fair.” Rep. Covey (OU). She continued, since many people would be using the train and be paying the fare. The funding will be essentially paying itself overtime.
Rep. Covey (OU) finds any concerns regarding this bill are very minor because of how well the bill handles funding and again the train fare will be put back into the rail system.
But on the other hand of the Representative Longoria (SWOSU), she had major concerns regarding the bill. Rep. Longoria (SWOSU) stated that, “We have major funding issues and the idea that towns that have more than 35,000 residents have to expand their public transportation, which they can’t afford.”
This Representative continues down this path of her concerns with this bill with how the buses and the trains that will need to be built, if this bill passes. That Oklahomans have to generally rebuild the road, since buses and trains are large vehicles of transportation essentially having to rebuild the road.
Representative Longoria (SWOSU) is also concerned about the emissions that will come out of the change that will be used stating that these trains will “destroy the look of our beautiful community we’re building”
She also has concerns with how often people will use these trains, if people do not use this rail system, how well it will pay for itself as previous Representatives have stated it would.
Representative Longoria (SWOSU) also states “we are a car first community in Oklahoma as a whole everyone drives a car.”
In response to the positive reviews that this bill seems to receive, Representative Longoria (SWOSU) stated that “They should consider maybe the space that Oklahoma actually provides as part of this bill. Everyone likes the idea of public transport. Public transport historically isn’t as safe as driving your own car, there’s historically not enough room for it, and maybe they aren’t taking this into consideration.”
After hearing about both Representatives on both sides of this bill they both made valid points and whether this bill should pass. As the representatives went back inside, they had a vote this vote went in favor of the bill passing.