METRO (Formerly Metro Area Transit - MAT)

Trains, Planes, and Automobiles (and Streetcars!).

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StreetsOfOmaha
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Post by StreetsOfOmaha »

I'm excited to know what this transit center might entail. Between this and the new Downtown transit hub (in conjunction with the proposed work on 16th Street), Metro has an exciting opportunity to "reinvent" itself by offering riders and potential riders 1st World transit amenities; things like ample shelter, system maps, route information, trash and recycling receptacles, bike racks, lighting, etc.

I look forward to seeing designs.
"The right to have access to every building in the city by private motorcar in an age when everyone possesses such a vehicle is actually the right to destroy the city."
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iamjacobm
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Post by iamjacobm »

Metro FINALLY got on Google Transit.
StreetsOfOmaha
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Post by StreetsOfOmaha »

I just heard about this, too. Excellent news!!!
"The right to have access to every building in the city by private motorcar in an age when everyone possesses such a vehicle is actually the right to destroy the city."
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Seth
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Post by Seth »

Wow, that's awesome!  They're own trip planner is pretty kludgey.

I'm still skeptical, but they do seem to be slowly improving.  I've also noticed they're adding route numbers to some of the bus stop signs.  If they help start a late-night weekend circulator route, I might consider them as a serious transportation option.
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Post by the1wags »

I found out tonight while riding the bus to my first Avs game of the season that ALL of RTD's services are free on New Years after 6 PM. Bus and light rail. I had never even thought of this in Omaha. What would it take for MAT to do this?
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skinzfan23
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Post by skinzfan23 »

the1wags wrote:I found out tonight while riding the bus to my first Avs game of the season that ALL of RTD's services are free on New Years after 6 PM. Bus and light rail. I had never even thought of this in Omaha. What would it take for MAT to do this?
Chicago does much the same with the "L" being free to ride on New Years as well
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Post by BusMan »

the1wags wrote:I found out tonight while riding the bus to my first Avs game of the season that ALL of RTD's services are free on New Years after 6 PM. Bus and light rail. I had never even thought of this in Omaha. What would it take for MAT to do this?
It would take a third party sponsoring the night ($$$) like MillerCoors does in many cities across the US. Won't happen in Omaha because MAT won't allow alcohol ads on the buses.
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Seth
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Post by Seth »

BusMan wrote:MAT won't allow alcohol ads on the buses.
What about drunk bums?
StreetsOfOmaha
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Post by StreetsOfOmaha »

That is a really good idea.

I wonder why Hauptman, O'Brien, Wolf, & Lathrop doesn't add this to their free cab-ride home program. If a percentage of the people who would take the cab ride took the bus instead, they would save a lot of money, and/or get a lot less people to drive drunk.

Anyway, seems like any number of local businesses could sponsor this.
"The right to have access to every building in the city by private motorcar in an age when everyone possesses such a vehicle is actually the right to destroy the city."
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Omababe
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Post by Omababe »

StreetsOfOmaha wrote:If a percentage of the people who would take the cab ride took the bus instead, they would save a lot of money, and/or get a lot less people to drive drunk.
Knowing how people behave, if the free taxi is available, nobody's gonna take the bus!

Besides, would the bus go where people drink and where people live?

Would it still be running at or after closing time?
StreetsOfOmaha
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Post by StreetsOfOmaha »

All valid points.

I think that a 1 to 2 hour wait for a free cab ride is excellent incentive to take the bus.
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Seth
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Post by Seth »

StreetsOfOmaha wrote:All valid points.

I think that a 1 to 2 hour wait for a free cab ride is excellent incentive to take the bus.
Yeah, unless it's a 1 to 2 hour wait for a free bus.
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Post by bigredmed »

Say some drunk got a free bus ride and then got dropped off at 118th and Miracle Hills or 132nd and Center, but lived at 120th and Candlewood.   He staggers down a slippery road and trips and hits his head.  The alcohol makes him bleed faster than normal, and he gets a serious intracranial hemorrhage.   This causes him to stagger into traffic and get run over.

Now the lawyers get sued because they set this up.  Metro gets sued, but gets dropped because of sovereign immunity and because the bus driver did what they were supposed to do.  

The lawyers have a big tort risk because they could have used the cabs they have used in the past.  

The cabs would have had one person looking at the guy the whole time and the driver could have called for help after the first injury, or avoided it all together by taking him to his apartment building directly.  

They can't hide behind the argument that the drunk should have known better, because its assumed that in his condition, he was doing the best he could by calling for the bus.  It would be the expectation that they would act in the best interest of the people they were serving (drunks everywhere), and use the wisdom gained from previous years to act as a good steward for the drunk.
StreetsOfOmaha
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Post by StreetsOfOmaha »

bigredmed wrote:Say some drunk got a free bus ride and then got dropped off at 118th and Miracle Hills or 132nd and Center, but lived at 120th and Candlewood.
You're right; a person would have to be smart enough not to live in the suburbs to avoid such a scenario.  :;):
"The right to have access to every building in the city by private motorcar in an age when everyone possesses such a vehicle is actually the right to destroy the city."
Lewis Mumford, The Highway and the City, 1963
bigredmed
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Post by bigredmed »

StreetsOfOmaha wrote:
bigredmed wrote:Say some drunk got a free bus ride and then got dropped off at 118th and Miracle Hills or 132nd and Center, but lived at 120th and Candlewood.
You're right; a person would have to be smart enough not to live in the suburbs to avoid such a scenario.  :;):
Back under your bridge, troll.
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Post by Zilla »

Why does EVERY thread have to gravitate towards Urban vs. Suburban??  Good lord....   :roll:
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Big E
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Post by Big E »

Zilla wrote:Why does EVERY thread have to gravitate towards Urban vs. Suburban??  Good lord....   :roll:
Zilla's signature, without the slightest [i]hint[/i] of irony, wrote:Proudly oppressing the rest of Omaha with my suburbia lifestyle since 1999.
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Last edited by Big E on Fri Jan 06, 2012 3:11 pm, edited 2 times in total.
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Zilla
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Post by Zilla »

I guess I should modify my signature depending on what the topic of the thread is?  Again I say....   :roll:
Equal Opportunity Hater.

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Linkin5
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Post by Linkin5 »

Zilla wrote:I guess I should modify my signature depending on what the topic of the thread is?  Again I say....   :roll:
Yeah, because that was what BigE was alluding to.
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TitosBuritoBarn
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Post by TitosBuritoBarn »

bigredmed wrote:Say some drunk got a free bus ride and then got dropped off at 118th and Miracle Hills or 132nd and Center, but lived at 120th and Candlewood.   He staggers down a slippery road and trips and hits his head.  The alcohol makes him bleed faster than normal, and he gets a serious intracranial hemorrhage.   This causes him to stagger into traffic and get run over.

Now the lawyers get sued because they set this up.  Metro gets sued, but gets dropped because of sovereign immunity and because the bus driver did what they were supposed to do.  

The lawyers have a big tort risk because they could have used the cabs they have used in the past.  

The cabs would have had one person looking at the guy the whole time and the driver could have called for help after the first injury, or avoided it all together by taking him to his apartment building directly.  

They can't hide behind the argument that the drunk should have known better, because its assumed that in his condition, he was doing the best he could by calling for the bus.  It would be the expectation that they would act in the best interest of the people they were serving (drunks everywhere), and use the wisdom gained from previous years to act as a good steward for the drunk.
It's not a new idea. We had this in Ames where I went to college. Officially they referred to the program as the Moonlight Express, but to students it was known as "the drunk bus". Typically they run door-to-door service but sometimes will run normal routes if ridership is light. It has been very successful. Every couple of years a drunk student manages to get themselves killed, but never in a way involving the Moonlight Express.

http://www.cyride.com/index.aspx?page=1312
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Post by bigredmed »

TitosBuritoBarn wrote:
It's not a new idea. We had this in Ames where I went to college. Officially they referred to the program as the Moonlight Express, but to students it was known as "the drunk bus". Typically they run door-to-door service but sometimes will run normal routes if ridership is light. It has been very successful. Every couple of years a drunk student manages to get themselves killed, but never in a way involving the Moonlight Express.

http://www.cyride.com/index.aspx?page=1312
Yes, and in a place like Ames or Gainesville, it would work pretty well as they are compact small towns with focused housing (most students live close to ISU in Ames.)   In a larger city like Albuquerque where they have had a good bus system since at least the 1980's, it might work in the older part of the city near the UNM. But out in the west mesa, or in the north valley, I would bet that even their bus system would flail.

Our poor joke of a bus system would bomb big time.
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Post by Coyote »

More took free holiday ride home
Kevin Cole WORLD-HERALD STAFF WRITER wrote:The Hauptman, O'Brien, Wolf and Lathrop law firm said it provided a record 3,248 cab rides during its Holiday Safe Ride Home program. "We only hope that the number continues to grow because, in our practice, we see the effects of drinking and driving all the time." The Nebraska State Patrol said it arrested 121 drunken drivers; the Omaha Police Department, 84; and the Douglas County Sheriff's Office, 25.
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iamjacobm
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Post by iamjacobm »

Ok someone is going to have to explain this to me.

http://www.wowt.com/home/headlines/Bus- ... 75801.html
The city of Omaha is removing several bus stops along 16th Street and will have to shut down some of the surrounding streets and lanes.
There was no mention as to if they are replacing them at the current location or moving the transit center to 16th and Cass or just taking out the shelters.  Would be nice for more info on this.
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BRoss
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Post by BRoss »

iamjacobm wrote:Ok someone is going to have to explain this to me.

http://www.wowt.com/home/headlines/Bus- ... 75801.html
The city of Omaha is removing several bus stops along 16th Street and will have to shut down some of the surrounding streets and lanes.
There was no mention as to if they are replacing them at the current location or moving the transit center to 16th and Cass or just taking out the shelters.  Would be nice for more info on this.
From what I remember, they were going to take the bus stops off of 16th Street to get rid of the bus traffic on there and move them to 24th Street (I think around Capitol).
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iamjacobm
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Post by iamjacobm »

HR Paperstacks wrote:
iamjacobm wrote:Ok someone is going to have to explain this to me.

http://www.wowt.com/home/headlines/Bus- ... 75801.html
The city of Omaha is removing several bus stops along 16th Street and will have to shut down some of the surrounding streets and lanes.
There was no mention as to if they are replacing them at the current location or moving the transit center to 16th and Cass or just taking out the shelters.  Would be nice for more info on this.
From what I remember, they were going to take the bus stops off of 16th Street to get rid of the bus traffic on there and move them to 24th Street (I think around Capitol).
According to the DT Master Plan it is supposed to get moved under 480 on 16th.  This article didn't mention anything like that.
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Busguy2010
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Post by Busguy2010 »

I don't think this is any indication of them preparing to remove the buses from 16th street yet.  There hasn't been any progress on the proposed transit center under I-480 and there also havent been any notifications on the Metro site.  Although I do wonder why they would remove the shelters when the street won't be reconfigured soon.   Anyway, I always thought the idea was to remove 16th street as a major transfer area, not to remove all routes all together.  Whenever the 16th street improvements are made I anticipate there will be one or two routes that still run on 16th; it would be bad on Metro's image to not have any direct service.
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Post by Coyote »

Metro Transit now announces its operation of an Event Circulator linking downtown events, the Old Market, hotels, other attractions and numerous parking options. The goal is for people to park and have the flexibility to easily travel to multiple activities while visiting downtown Omaha.

This Saturday is especially exciting, with "The Battles on Ice" at TD Ameritrade Park and "The Home & Garden Expo" continuing at the CenturyLink Center. Metro recommends attendees arrive early and stay after: Board the circulator and explore downtown shops and restaurants!

For those not attending either event, come downtown by bus or car, board the circulator and enjoy yourselves, too!

Circulator Service*:
•Date: Saturday, February 9th, 2013
• Hours: 10:30 AM – 9:00 PM
• Route: one-way loop traveling east on Cuming; south on 10th; west on Jackson and north on 16th; bus stops will have Event Circulator signage
• Frequency: 10 minutes
• Fare: 25¢ cash
• Hoodsign Reads: Event Circulator



Image

*All Metro buses are Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) accessible and heated, too!
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Big E
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Post by Big E »

Hey, that only took ten years!
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Post by jessep28 »

This increases the parking options for that lady who was complaining in the Shamrock OWH article comments. I wonder if they will do this for say Creighton games or major concerts on the weekdays?
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iamjacobm
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Post by iamjacobm »

http://www.omaha.com/article/20130607/N ... 79910/1685
The first increase in state funding in six years could mean new buses, tax relief or expanded transit services in Omaha and Lincoln.

The Nebraska Legislature last week voted 32-5 to override Gov. Dave Heineman's veto of increased funding for the state's Public Transportation Assistance Program. An additional $2 million had been allocated for each of the next two fiscal years.
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Post by Coyote »

Cities Consider Dropping Bus Service
WOWT wrote:Those who depend on the bus in areas like Ralston, Papillion, and La Vista may have to find some new ways to get into Omaha.
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iamjacobm
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Post by iamjacobm »

I am usually not downtown around 5, but I was today.  Every north side of the street was PACKED with people using the bus, almost all of them looked "white collar."  Also downtown in general was crawling with people between 4 and 6 when I was down there.  A corner is being turned and all these new apartments are just going to add to it.
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BRoss
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Post by BRoss »

iamjacobm wrote:I am usually not downtown around 5, but I was today.  Every north side of the street was PACKED with people using the bus, almost all of them looked "white collar."  Also downtown in general was crawling with people between 4 and 6 when I was down there.  A corner is being turned and all these new apartments are just going to add to it.
Well that is certainly some good signs about future growth downtown. If it can keep that momentum, land downtown will be too valuable to just sit on. And who knows, that could lead to our next skyscraper!  :music: (Or at least I can dream that...)
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RNcyanide
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Post by RNcyanide »

Maybe we could have the street car discussion again.
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BRoss
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Post by BRoss »

RNcyanide wrote:Maybe we could have the street car discussion again.
As well as light rail!!  :yes:
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RNcyanide
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Post by RNcyanide »

HR Paperstacks wrote:
RNcyanide wrote:Maybe we could have the street car discussion again.
As well as light rail!!  :yes:
A monorail around downtown and along Dodge, Center, and 72nd would be awesome.
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BRoss
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Post by BRoss »

RNcyanide wrote:
HR Paperstacks wrote:
RNcyanide wrote:Maybe we could have the street car discussion again.
As well as light rail!!  :yes:
A monorail around downtown and along Dodge, Center, and 72nd would be awesome.
I was thinking something more like this:
https://mapsengine.google.com/map/edit? ... QCoyFbfWIc
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Post by Alec12321 »

My friend who goes to UNO and another who goes to MCC just both told me that they get free bus passes… Have students always been able to get free bus passes? Is there more to the story? I just think that should add quite a few people onto the bus system if it's a recent thing.
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RNcyanide
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Post by RNcyanide »

That would be fantastic!!!
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iamjacobm
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Post by iamjacobm »

That is a few years old now.  It is only free to and from the school though, not the entire system.
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