[Raphael07]

And, likely with our new mayor, it's less likely than before. She has spoken against using city funds to pay for stuff like that.

[Mort Sullivan]

Originally Posted by Raphael07

And, likely with our new mayor, it's less likely than before. She has spoken against using city funds to pay for stuff like that.

GOOD!

Let's let eMetro and its turd brigade actually improve it's performance, rather than just sucking at the public tit. It's long past time for them to come into the 21st Century.

[Busguy2010]

With Jean Stothert becoming the new mayor, I have become immediately pessimistic about the future of public transit in Omaha for reasons that are obvious to most of us here. I have a feeling that once the Central Omaha Alternatives Analysis is through with, she will do what ever it takes to reduce it to as small of an improvement as she can. She will slash taxes to a point where there won't be enough funding for any sort of desirable improvement. Might as well throw away the time and money we've already spent on what was the greatest opportunity for transportation and city-wide improvement since (forever?) Ah, I hope I'm over-reacting.

[RhettB]

Originally Posted by Busguy2010

With Jean Stothert becoming the new mayor, I have become immediately pessimistic about the future of public transit in Omaha for reasons that are obvious to most of us here. I have a feeling that once the Central Omaha Alternatives Analysis is through with, she will do what ever it takes to reduce it to as small of an improvement as she can. She will slash taxes to a point where there won't be enough funding for any sort of desirable improvement. Might as well throw away the time and money we've already spent on what was the greatest opportunity for transportation and city-wide improvement since (forever?) Ah, I hope I'm over-reacting.

When you say city-wide improvement, are you including those people who do not even have access to e-metro yet?

How about fix the broken wheel first before you make a better mode of transportation.

[billiefan2000]

Originally Posted by iamjacobm

No, that isn't going to be anytime soon. We have a transit study for streetcars and bus rapid transit that will be done this summer.

and of course, these "studies" never accomplish results.

[Busguy2010]

Originally Posted by RhettB

When you say city-wide improvement, are you including those people who do not even have access to e-metro yet?

How about fix the broken wheel first before you make a better mode of transportation.

Yes, I am. People that are not already served by Metro live in an area that simply doesn't make sense to serve with the type of system we already have. Not only is there very low demand for Metro bus service, there's also the great amount of milage it takes to cover these areas. I think anybody in their right mind knows that there's no way people in the suburbs are going to use transit without a completely different approach. And that approach almost definitely includes some sort of rapid bus, limited stop rail transit, or streetcar. Moreso rapid bus and light rail would be attractive to those in the suburbs... My point is in order for us to see any kind of improvement, these new types of attractive transit need to be implemented. And it only makes sense to start small, and in the densest area of town that has the best bus ridership. Then we can start to see demand and growth to better serve the areas not already served by bus.

In a good transit system, buses don't feed buses. Buses and streetcars feed> rapid bus feed> light rail and commuter rail. Until we see some more taxes that go to transportation we won't see any of this. Because as of right now, bus service is almost good enough for everybody that already lives near a bus line, and Metro won't pull service from these areas to serve those few who demand it.

[RhettB]

I would not consider Blondo or Maple West of 120th as suburbs. If I worked downtown, I'd have to walk or drive to the nearest bus stop where I could park and that would be 108th & Fort, and that is a 5-minute drive from my home. I'd try to improve ridership where it is not very accessible instead of making better transit where it already is.

[Busguy2010]

Originally Posted by RhettB

I would not consider Blondo or Maple West of 120th as suburbs. If I worked downtown, I'd have to walk or drive to the nearest bus stop where I could park and that would be 108th & Fort, and that is a 5-minute drive from my home. I'd try to improve ridership where it is not very accessible instead of making better transit where it already is.

Whether or not northwest Omaha is suburbs doesn't really matter in this case. The fact still remains, the area isn't favorable at all for any kind of efficient or desirable bus service.

Let me put it this way. Take Benson Park TC for instance. It didn't used to exist eight years ago, and at that time, 72nd and Military was served by only two buses. For what ever reason, they decided to put in a transit hub, making it a meeting place for four buses. In this case, transit infastructure (the transit center) increased service and connectivity of the area by two times. Now, if you look at west Omaha, Papillion, Bellevue, and what not, you see minimal to no transit infastructure. This can be definitively tied to the layout, density and proximity of those areas. Now say we add a light rail route all the way up Dodge, with stations every couple of miles. Each one of these stations would become a popular destination, thus there would be increased demand for bus routes that run between the light rail stop and neighborhoods farther away. Not only that, but the area around the station would become attractive to business and dense living. They would each essentially become their own Aksarben Village or Midtown Crossing, just from the initial investment of light rail. Now you can see that none of these things currently exists, and as a result, there is very little demand to reach any of these places with a bus. It would be costly and inefficient.

I'm not saying the outlying areas of the city don't deserve better bus service. I know there's very little bus service there, but I also understand theres quite a good reason why. And I'm just saying there's no way to make it better without doing something new that will require city-wide investment. It just seems to me that the people that complain the most about lack of transportation options are the last people to willingly put aside money for it. And for as long as Jean Stothert is mayor, there isn't going to be any push to change that. That's why I'm pessimistic.

[RhettB]

From a financial outlook alone, I feel that any expansion of transit into any rail system is not likely. The taxpayers cannot sustain any expenditure like this at the present time. There are or would be many skeptics as to the cost/benefit of such an financial outlay. Would it be like the bus, and a pay to ride circumstance, or a anyone can hop on for free and let the taxpayer take the burden. And, how long would it take to pay off said investment in upgrading this infrastructure. Dodge is a heavily traveled artery. Where would the 2 lanes for a rail come from?

[iamjacobm]

Originally Posted by RhettB

From a financial outlook alone, I feel that any expansion of transit into any rail system is not likely. The taxpayers cannot sustain any expenditure like this at the present time. There are or would be many skeptics as to the cost/benefit of such an financial outlay. Would it be like the bus, and a pay to ride circumstance, or a anyone can hop on for free and let the taxpayer take the burden. And, how long would it take to pay off said investment in upgrading this infrastructure. Dodge is a heavily traveled artery. Where would the 2 lanes for a rail come from?

Do all the roads we build return on their investment? Do the taxpayers take the burden for all the miles traveled by car? There is a broken mindset in this country that somehow says public transit has to break even while we can sink billions into roads without a second thought.

That being said anything more than busses will never happen in Omaha without federal funding.