Four bidders vie for Oklahoma City streetcar

Four companies are vying for a contract with Oklahoma City to advance the city's MAPS 3 streetcar proposal by supplying five streetcars for the initial 4.6-mile, 22-station project.

The companies include: Brookville Equipment Corp., CAF USA, Inekon Group a.s., and China’s XEMC.

Sources tell Railway Age the contract could include an option for eight additional streetcars.

Last September the City Council approved advancing the $130 million plan as part of the city’s MAPS 3 project addressing numerous transport issues. City engineers last August expected up to 10 bids for the project.

The lower number of bids, though certainly adequate competition, may reflect the city’s desire to secure dual-mode streetcars, or Onboard Energy Storage Systems (OESS), a still largely untested technology within the U.S., though in use elsewhere, but in growing demand as U.S. municipalities evaluate the rail mode.

 The City Council may select a finalist as early as the end of next month council could choose a supplier by the end of January. Once streetcar route designs are finalized, in about a year, the city would issue authorization for the manufacturer to begin building the streetcars.