(Tulsa, OK) -- Ridership is booming on the Heartland Flyer. Amtrak's passenger rail service between Oklahoma City and Fort Worth is up by 17 percent over the past ten months. Tulsa City Councilor Rick Westcott, a proponent of extending service to Tulsa, says high gasoline prices are one reason.  He also says it shows people in the central part of the state have a legitimate alternative form of transportation and that we need it here in our area.  Westcott says not having rail service in this part of the state means you're leaving out more than one-million people. An Amtrak study on extending service to Tulsa is due out in the next few weeks.