Tulsa State Fair Providing Free Shuttle Rides For Fairgoers

The Tulsa State Fair will be in full swing Thursday, close to a million people are expected to converge on the city during the 11-day stretch.

With the crowds comes congestion, and parking is never easy. There are some new services, but also a few new fees fair-goers will want to keep in mind.

This year, if you want to park on site you'll need to bring your wallet, but if you don't want to pay, there's an extended shuttle service that you can take advantage of.

The Tulsa Fairgrounds were quiet Wednesday, but Thursday, the empty parking lots will quickly fill up.

Sergeant Jacob Thompson with Tulsa Police said, “We try to have enough parking for everyone to come out, but the reality is the crowds get so big that we can only accommodate enough cars on grounds.”

This year it will cost you to park on the grounds. It'll be $10 to park inside the horse track or in the south and west lots; but for free transportation you can hop on a shuttle.

9/5/2014 Related Story: Free Parking Limited At 2014 Tulsa State Fair

There are three locations where you can park your car and take the shuttle for free:

• TPS Headquarters on 31st Street.
• The Promenade Mall at 41st and Yale.
• Hale High School on 21st.

The parking lot at Hale High School is the fastest to fill up, so you might want to try the other two satellite parking lots. They might be a bit further away but they will still have the shuttles every fifteen minutes.

Tulsa State Fair Shuttle Map

The shuttles start at 5 p.m. on weekdays and 10 a.m. on weekends. They run through 11 p.m., but on Friday and Saturday they go until midnight.

Sarah Thompson with the Tulsa State Fair said, “You might wait 30 minutes looking for a parking spot, and by the time you went to the shuttle satellite location, rode the shuttle and got dropped off at the gate, it's probably a lot faster.”

“They will be patrolled. All the officers on duty are aware of those locations and the extra patrols in those areas.” Thompson said.

Another word to the wise, don't park in the grass. If you do, you will get towed.

“If you have a friend that lives close to the fairgrounds, park at their house, on their driveway and you can walk over,” Thompson said.

For the early birds headed out to the fair, when the shuttles are not running, the horse track parking area will be free; that's before 5 p.m. on weekdays.

There will be shuttles with accessibility at TPS Headquarters and Hale High School, but not the Promenade Mall location.

Not every shuttle with be accessible, but there will be attendants at each location so they can call in a shuttle that is accessible if need be.