Infrastructure
Transportation in Tulsa is aided by a bus network of 97 vehicles and two primary airports, while the Tulsa Port of Catoosa provides transportation of goods and industry through international trade routes. Though internal transportation is largely dependent on automobiles, the city is consistently ranked in the five lowest metropolitan areas for average price of gas at the pump. As reported by the Oklahoma Department of Transportation in 2005, Tulsa's busiest freeway is US 169 with about 106,000 vehicles daily between 51st and 61st Streets, and its second busiest freeway is Interstate 44 with about 88,000 vehicles between Yale and Sheridan Avenues. Currently, there are no mass transit rail lines in Tulsa, though the prospect of passenger rail lines from downtown Tulsa to the suburb of Broken Arrow is being studied as of 2007. Freight railways bisect the city in every direction, and include BNSF, UP, SK&O, and OSRR rail lines.
The Tulsa International Airport, home to ten commercial airlines, seven cargo carriers, and several charter airlines, serves more than three million travelers annually with almost 80 departures every day, contributing nearly $3.2 billion to the economy. In 2007, the airport completed most of an expansion project, which included larger terminal sizes and the addition of restaurants and shops. Riverside-Jones airport, located in West Tulsa, saw 235,039 takeoffs and landings in 2006, making it the busiest airport in Oklahoma. Its operations contribute over $3.2 million to the economy annually. At the head of the McClellan-Kerr Arkansas River Navigation System, the Tulsa Port of Catoosa is the most inland ocean-going port in the United States and connects barge traffic from Tulsa to the Mississippi River via the Verdigris and Arkansas rivers. The port is one of the largest in the United States and contributes to one of the busiest waterways in the world via its course to the Gulf of Mexico.
The Saint Francis Health System owns nine hospitals with a central location at Saint Francis Hospital in the southern part of the city. The facility contains 700 doctors and 918 beds, and with more than 3,000 employees, the network is the second largest healthcare employer in the state. The health system also operates a heart hospital, which was named by General Electric in 2004 one of the most advanced heart hospitals in the nation. St. John Hospital, located in an 11-story midtown center, employs nearly 700 doctors. Other networks, such as Hillcrest Health System, operate a number of facilities in varying sizes. Tulsa is also the site of the Cancer Treatment Centers of America's Southwest Regional Medical Center, one of only four such regional facilities and one of the largest cancer treatment hospitals in the nation. Beginning in 2007, the city elected to renew a five-year contract with EMSA for ambulance service after a period of consideration to switch to the Tulsa Fire Department for providing such services.
(Source: Wikipedia.org)
