Thanks to urban planning, the major city streets are placed in a grid layout. Almost all major intersections are one mile from each other, and exactly in a straight line. That makes it much easier to find places than in cities where streets go every which way. The major exception is downtown, which is slanted at almost a 45 degree angle to the rest of the grid.
By bike
Tulsa has an extensive interconnected paved bike trail system. Rivertrail follows the Arkansas River from downtown Tulsa south to the suburbs. The Katy Trail runs west to Sand Springs. The Osage Trail is a rails-to-trails route that begins at the OSU-Tulsa campus and travels north 15 miles to Skiatook. The Creek Trail connects Rivertrail and continues east through Broken Arrow to the NSU-Broken Arrow campus. Riders accustomed to flat terrain may find Tulsa's rolling land to be a bit more challenging, particularly during the heat of summer. If you are looking for a good workout, the Creek Turnpike Trail follows the land's original contours. Rivertrail is probably be best choice for the rider seeking an easy route.
Four bike loan depots, located along Rivertrail, allow riders to borrow a bike for free for up to twenty-four hours.
Tulsa has an active bicycling community.
By car
Several freeways and bypasses can be used to easily get around the Tulsa Metro area: I-244, I-44, US 169 Mingo Valley Expressway, aka "Pearl Harbor Memorial Expressway", US 75, Hwy 51 Broken Arrow Expressway, The "B.A.", Creek Turnpike.
The streets and avenues are planned on a 1 mile by 1 mile grid system, with the main arterials running on each mile. In the core of the city, named avenues run north/south and are named after US cities, generally in repeating alphabetical order for example, Winston-Yale-Allegheny-Braden. In the mid-town area the names are taken from colleges and college towns. North/South is divided by Admiral Blvd. Name streets East of Main are cities east of the Mississippi River, vice versa for name streets west of Main. In the parts of the city farther from downtown, north-south streets are numbered. It is important to recognize that the specific format of the north-south numbered street names is North/South 145th East/West Avenue.
Numbered streets run East/West with Main Street and the Arkansas River as the dividing line. Watch out for Place, Street, Avenue designation, e.g. 47th Place, 47th Street, or Florence Place, Florence Avenue. It is important to recognize that the specific format of the east-west numbered street names is West/East 71st Street North/South. In some parts of the city, numbered streets intersect, so the distinction is important. Although rare, one east-west numbered street may even intersect with a street of the same number running north-south.
Downtown streets were originally platted parallel to the Frisco railroad tracks. When Tulsa expanded beyond the bounds of its original plat, the expanded areas were platted in alignment with the points of the compass. Thus the "twisted" area down-town represents the original extent of Tulsa ca 1907.
By bus
Tulsa Transit (http://tulsatransit.org/) provides bus service for the Tulsa Metro area. Cities served are Tulsa, Sand Springs, Sapulpa, Jenks, and Broken Arrow. The central station is at 319 S. Denver downtown. They do not run that often, especially to the outer towns like Broken Arrow. Unlike major cities in the Northeast, the city bus is not a major form of transportation in the city. It is usually a means of travel for those who are without their own motor vehicle.