METRO (Formerly Metro Area Transit - MAT)

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

Moderators: Coyote, nebugeater, Brad, Omaha Cowboy, BRoss

a42887
Home Owners Association
Posts: 60
Joined: Mon Jan 08, 2007 11:08 am

Post by a42887 »

Anyone know if this would help the two-hour plus ride to go a whole whopping 3.5 mile distance below:

(I sent an e-mail asking for route guidance from MAT):

Start and End:
I am starting at 108th & Mill Rd and ending at 108th & L.

Response:
Catch route # 22 at 6:24 at 108th and N Mill Rd and ride to the Westroads Transit Center. From Westroads catch route #2 at 7:00 and ride to the Midtown Transit Center (43rd and Douglas). From Midtown Transit Center catch route # 55 at 7:57 and you will arrive at 108th and L St at approximately 8:34.  Total time: 2 hours 10 minutes.

(How sad is that to begin with?)
User avatar
Stargazer
County Board
Posts: 4106
Joined: Sat Dec 09, 2006 11:06 am
Location: Bennington

Post by Stargazer »

Eh... take a good book (or jump on the Big Papio Trail south and catch another route... would be nice if they actually added those bike racks some day, huh?).
Shoot for the Moon... if you miss, you'll land among the stars.
User avatar
Swift
Planning Board
Posts: 2904
Joined: Thu Oct 28, 2004 2:13 pm
Location: NYC

Post by Swift »

They're installing the bike racks (supposedly) once the pedestrian bridge is finished.

This is a good example of how deficient North-West lines are in Omaha. Although this isn't uncommon thing for cities to experience (there's almost no East-West lines in Manhattan, for example), it is ridiculous. You'd probably be able to get their faster just walking--figuring in the average walking speed of 4 mph.

This is one of the reasons I think that the LRT lines we put in should run primarily East-West (with a few exceptions) and the buses should run primarily North-South. If you have a bus line running North-South along every major number street, and you have a LRT line running East-West along most of the major streets (one line for Cuming/Maple streets, one for Dodge, one for Farnam/Pacific streets, one for Leavenworth/Center streets), then the entire city is pretty much covered.
User avatar
GaryFL
Home Owners Association
Posts: 209
Joined: Mon Oct 04, 2004 7:30 pm
Location: Midtown!

Post by GaryFL »

Further update: MAT recently changed its route system, to service a new transit center on the Metro CC campus.

The lunch shuttle is still running.
Bluebird
New to the Neighborhood
Posts: 12
Joined: Mon Dec 17, 2007 9:07 pm

MAT Bike Racks??

Post by Bluebird »

Anyone know the due date of the MAT bike racks? The bike commuting community sure would welcome some progress reports in news releases!
StreetsOfOmaha
City Council
Posts: 6865
Joined: Sun Feb 08, 2004 4:46 pm

Re: MAT Bike Racks??

Post by StreetsOfOmaha »

Bluebird wrote:Anyone know the due date of the MAT bike racks?
No, because there's no way of knowing the date when all current MAT executives will be dead.
"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
User avatar
thenewguy
County Board
Posts: 3729
Joined: Fri Oct 19, 2007 9:50 pm
Location: Council Bluffs

Re: MAT Bike Racks??

Post by thenewguy »

StreetsOfOmaha wrote:
Bluebird wrote:Anyone know the due date of the MAT bike racks?
No, because there's no way of knowing the date when all current MAT executives will be dead.

haha
Go Cubs Go
User avatar
OmahaJaysCU
Planning Board
Posts: 2164
Joined: Tue Aug 30, 2005 6:00 pm

Re: MAT Bike Racks??

Post by OmahaJaysCU »

StreetsOfOmaha wrote:
Bluebird wrote:Anyone know the due date of the MAT bike racks?
No, because there's no way of knowing the date when all current MAT executives will be dead.
honestly, they are about as dead as their terrible bus system...

they need to just start over.
Bluebird
New to the Neighborhood
Posts: 12
Joined: Mon Dec 17, 2007 9:07 pm

Don't get too excited

Post by Bluebird »

That article in Getting Around is the result of my email to that reporter. The OWH had a brief article about being awarded the grant the previous September or October, then nothing. And I have spent all this time trying to get some information. I've repeatedly asked MAT and once asked the mayor's hot line. The replies I get are non-informative.

It shouldn't take too long to spend $120,000, especially for a thing like this since every city from San Antonio to Quebec has all ready done it, but they tell me they have to study the matter first. They have to study insurance issues, driver training, written procedures, rack specifications, etc. But they won't provide a schedule or progress report. Any business would have that all worked out with deadlines and someone would drop dead if it didn't get done, but if you're the government and you don't want to do it... :(
StreetsOfOmaha
City Council
Posts: 6865
Joined: Sun Feb 08, 2004 4:46 pm

Post by StreetsOfOmaha »

Yeah, in its current state, MAT is completely content to just "study" indefinitely every progressive change that almost all other major cities have put into effect.
"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
User avatar
nativeomahan
County Board
Posts: 5316
Joined: Fri Nov 12, 2004 2:46 pm
Location: Omaha and Puerto Vallarta

Post by nativeomahan »

M.A.T. = More Automobile Travel
User avatar
GaryFL
Home Owners Association
Posts: 209
Joined: Mon Oct 04, 2004 7:30 pm
Location: Midtown!

Many MAT Bus Routes To Change Soon

Post by GaryFL »

According to my contact, the system is going to be undergoing a bit of an overhaul.

The one route I know about, the 17 (because I take it to work at Ameritrade) will no longer go all the way to downtown. It will now run only to the new MCTC Transit Center on the Metro Community College campus. I suspect a lot of these changes are to better utilize all the fancy new transit centers MAT has recently built.

The changes are supposed to take effect at the end of March. I have yet to see an announcement on the MAT website, but they'd have to announce it pretty soon.
DTO Luv
City Council
Posts: 9678
Joined: Sun Jun 06, 2004 4:22 pm

Post by DTO Luv »

Has anyone been reading in the City Weekly about the guy doing a story on only using MAT to get around? It's a 4 part series and the 4th part is next week. I would suggest picking one up and the back issues and reading it. It's pretty eye opening.
DTO
User avatar
Brad
City Council
Posts: 1033312
Joined: Sat Feb 28, 2004 6:03 pm
Location: Omaha, NE
Contact:

Post by Brad »

Demand prompts MAT bus changes

http://www.omaha.com/index.php?u_page=2 ... d=10294672
Responding to increased demand and the need to reallocate buses, Metro Area Transit is revamping several routes and discontinuing routes with low ridership.

MAT will eliminate all or parts of six routes, while 12 others will be revamped to add different stops or reduce the time passengers have to wait for a bus during peak travel times.

Most of the changes will take effect Sunday. Some changes took place late last year.

The eliminated bus routes include the downtown lunchtime circulator bus and a route that took riders from downtown Omaha through the Vinton Street area into south Omaha.

One new route will be added for the 30th and Harrison Streets area to improve riders' ability to connect to other buses at the MAT transfer center at Metro Community College's South Omaha campus.
In addition to the Metro transfer center at 27th and Q Streets, transfer centers were opened last year at Westroads Mall, 102nd and Nicholas Streets, and at Benson Park, at 72nd Street between Ames and Military Avenues.
bbinks
Parks & Recreation
Posts: 1343
Joined: Thu Sep 14, 2006 4:10 pm

Post by bbinks »

I'd like to know how much more west Omaha needs to grow before MAT goes past 120th.   With todays' traffic, they at least need to go to 144th.
User avatar
Big E
City Council
Posts: 8017
Joined: Thu Jan 27, 2005 11:12 am

Post by Big E »

bbinks wrote:I'd like to know how much more west Omaha needs to grow before MAT goes past 120th.   With todays' traffic, they at least need to go to 144th.
Better hope gas hits about $14/gallon for the people in that part of town to start riding a bus.

-Big E
Stable genius.
User avatar
Swift
Planning Board
Posts: 2904
Joined: Thu Oct 28, 2004 2:13 pm
Location: NYC

Post by Swift »

The 15/55 goes out to Oakview.
The 97 goes to 156th and Q.
bbinks
Parks & Recreation
Posts: 1343
Joined: Thu Sep 14, 2006 4:10 pm

Post by bbinks »

Sorry,

I should have been more specific, in regards to the Maple and Fort areas.
Swift wrote:The 15/55 goes out to Oakview.
The 97 goes to 156th and Q.
User avatar
Swift
Planning Board
Posts: 2904
Joined: Thu Oct 28, 2004 2:13 pm
Location: NYC

Post by Swift »

Yeah, I could see Maple using a bus line out to about 156th or so.

But out there, Fort isn't really dense enough to warrant a line.
User avatar
gisbuxfan
Library Board
Posts: 471
Joined: Thu Jan 04, 2007 9:12 pm
Location: Grand Island, NE
Contact:

Post by gisbuxfan »

bbinks wrote:I'd like to know how much more west Omaha needs to grow before MAT goes past 120th.   With todays' traffic, they at least need to go to 144th.
I'd really like to see a bus line as far west as Village Point Mall along Dodge St., a stop near the Wal-Mart/Lowe's on 180th and Center, and to Target/Wal-Mart on 168th and Maple.
Vince Furlong
Home Owners Association
Posts: 168
Joined: Mon Mar 21, 2005 2:01 pm
Location: Soon to be in your neighborhood

Let's add another few percentage points with WiFi !!

Post by Vince Furlong »

USAToday piece below encourages MAT to make another good investment......Vince
======================

CINCINNATI — Tim Harrington sits aboard the express bus from Mason, Ohio, to Cincinnati, his computer propped in his lap. He logs on, picks through his e-mail and begins his workday during the 30-to-40-minute rush-hour trip.

His commuter bus and buses in more than 20 other cities now offer wireless Internet, according to an informal survey by the American Public Transportation Association (APTA).

The service surfaced about four years ago. Mountain Metropolitan Transit in Colorado Springs first offered WiFi on buses in 2004, the APTA says. It is now available across the USA in cities such as San Francisco, Reno, Austin and Seattle.

Not everyone's on board. A spokesman for the Washington (D.C.) Metropolitan Area Transit Authority said there are no plans to initiate wireless service.

Wireless service is also on some commuter trains. The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority added it to its 45-mile rail line between Worchester and Boston in January. Deputy Chief of Staff Kris Erickson said it's "probably the most well-received enhancement that we've ever done."
FIND MORE STORIES IN: Washington | Internet | San Francisco | Boston | Seattle | Cincinnati | Austin | Salt Lake City | Dayton | Colorado Springs | Reno | Department of Transportation | Mason | King County | Public Transportation Association | WiFi | Enquirer | Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority | Utah Transit Authority | Worchester

New York City's Metropolitan Transportation Authority announced an agreement last September to wire the city's 277 subway stations in the next six years. The first should be wired in two years.

The Utah Transit Authority began offering Internet service on 60 of its buses in January. In February, San Francisco unveiled the "Connected Bus." Cincinnati started its three-month wireless pilot program in March on a single route.

APTA President William Miller predicts wireless Internet will become a service riders expect. "When I was a kid, you never thought of having an air-conditioned bus," he said.

Outfitting a bus with wireless capability costs about $1,000 to $2,000, transportation officials said.

In Cincinnati, Southwest Ohio Regional Transit Authority's Metro bus system, working with Dayton, Ohio-based HarborLink, paid $1,500 per bus for installation and nothing for the monthly service. In King County, Wash., wiring and installation on each bus cost $1,000, said Mike Berman of the county Department of Transportation's Metro Transit Division.

The Utah Transit Authority reports the number of unique wireless users on its buses increased from about 500 in January's start-up to 2,500 by the end of March.

David Parra, a computer engineer, uses the service on his 55-minute daily commute to and from Salt Lake City.

"Having the WiFi has made a huge difference for me," he said.
Bluebird
New to the Neighborhood
Posts: 12
Joined: Mon Dec 17, 2007 9:07 pm

Post by Bluebird »

What was the reference to racks on busses? Did you mean Omaha or Chicago? If Omaha, what route??
User avatar
guy4omaha
Parks & Recreation
Posts: 1200
Joined: Wed Feb 25, 2004 4:06 pm
Location: The Big O

Post by guy4omaha »

I started riding Route 94 from the Lakeside Hospital Park-N-Ride location to downtown back in October. Because I'm a nerdy EOmahaForums type, I count the passengers everyday (can't help myself). This route was averaging 23 passengers in October. It has slowly but steadily climbed since. These past couple of weeks I am counting 28 or 29 on average. One day this past week I had my highest daily count so far at 33. So this Park-N-Ride Express Route seems to be really catching on.

As for me personally, I can do my usual after work and on weekend errands and go 2 sometimes three weeks on a tank of gas. I have been able to read a couple of books on the bus to help me with work. Plus the nap I sneak in on the ride home gets me home a little less grumpy. And so far my snoring hasn't caused any declines in ridership.
My son got a 27 on his ACT. No this score is not as high as what Jeff's son achieved. But one has to remember the paternal gene-pool my son has to overcome. On a PGPAB [Paternal Gene-Pool Adjusted Basis], my son's score is a 37 and Jeff's son's PGPAB ACT score is 19.
User avatar
thenewguy
County Board
Posts: 3729
Joined: Fri Oct 19, 2007 9:50 pm
Location: Council Bluffs

Post by thenewguy »

it's too bad that bus ridership in Council Bluffs has so many crazies...that's something i love about bigger cities: everyone rides, and no one cares.  Here: even i get a little nervous (and I'm not even a little guy).  Oh well, maybe once gas hits $4/gallon, we'll see a nicer blend of people.
Go Cubs Go
Vince Furlong
Home Owners Association
Posts: 168
Joined: Mon Mar 21, 2005 2:01 pm
Location: Soon to be in your neighborhood

Post by Vince Furlong »

Wondering what you mean by "crazies", NewGuy?

On another tangent, it would be interesting to get crime statistics/amount of time and money spent by police
on car involvement vs. public transit involvement in police matters.

If you look at police reports, huge amounts of stuff is related to automobiles......

drive-bys
drunk driving
no proof of insurance
car accidents
license/registrations
....can you add more?

Vince
StreetsOfOmaha
City Council
Posts: 6865
Joined: Sun Feb 08, 2004 4:46 pm

Post by StreetsOfOmaha »

Good points, Vince.
"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
User avatar
Big E
City Council
Posts: 8017
Joined: Thu Jan 27, 2005 11:12 am

Post by Big E »

Vince Furlong wrote:If you look at police reports, huge amounts of stuff is related to automobiles......
Not to mention this assclown:

Image

http://www.omaha.com/index.php?u_page=2 ... d=10313385
omaha.com wrote:He was arrested Wednesday night after allegedly crashing a car through two backyard fences in suburban Omaha - while running from a Douglas County sheriff's deputy who had stopped chasing him.
Stable genius.
User avatar
Brad
City Council
Posts: 1033312
Joined: Sat Feb 28, 2004 6:03 pm
Location: Omaha, NE
Contact:

Post by Brad »

Big E.... You left out the best part of that story:
CHRISTOPHER BURBACH WORLD-HERALD STAFF WRITER wrote:Baker injured his head in the crash, said Martin Bilek, chief deputy of the Douglas County Sheriff's Office. Deputies took Baker to Lakeside Hospital to have the wound treated. As officers were putting him back in the cruiser outside the hospital, Bilek said, the handcuffed Baker, with six staples in the back of his head, took off running. He didn't get far. He tripped on his pants legs and fell face-first on the pavement, Bilek said.

The deputies took him back into the hospital for some more sewing. Then they took him to jail.
User avatar
Stargazer
County Board
Posts: 4106
Joined: Sat Dec 09, 2006 11:06 am
Location: Bennington

Post by Stargazer »

I guess it should come as no shock... that while the average scum bag story introduces us to a simple  'Bob Smith' or 'Aleshieta Jones'... this one brought us 'Jesse James Baker'.
Shoot for the Moon... if you miss, you'll land among the stars.
User avatar
thenewguy
County Board
Posts: 3729
Joined: Fri Oct 19, 2007 9:50 pm
Location: Council Bluffs

Post by thenewguy »

Vince Furlong wrote:Wondering what you mean by "crazies", NewGuy?

On another tangent, it would be interesting to get crime statistics/amount of time and money spent by police
on car involvement vs. public transit involvement in police matters.

If you look at police reports, huge amounts of stuff is related to automobiles......

drive-bys
drunk driving
no proof of insurance
car accidents
license/registrations
....can you add more?

Vince
The crazies i'm talking about are the kind that sit there, rocking back and forth talking to themselves.  Or sitting on the bench waiting for the bus, searching for smoked cigarette butts on the ground to light up...or the kind that wheel around a duffle bag full of bottles, coats, and whatever else they have, because their case worker and the DMV deemed them unfit to operate a motor vehicle.  It's scary the kind of people you see/hear getting on and off the bus on broadway by no-frills, down by wal*mart, and about anywhere in council bluffs' west end.  Now, i'm not saying that everyone that rides in council bluffs is crazy, but the fact that the ratio is high worries me at this point in time :)  Then again, it could just be coincedence that i see these folks often, because i haven't ever ridden the bus in council bluffs.

And in regards to the guy with the roughed up mug shot: i saw him on tv and thought for sure he got his |expletive| beat by the police :;):  Surely he qualifies for "dumbest criminals"
Go Cubs Go
User avatar
Swift
Planning Board
Posts: 2904
Joined: Thu Oct 28, 2004 2:13 pm
Location: NYC

Post by Swift »

Brad wrote:Big E.... You left out the best part of that story:
CHRISTOPHER BURBACH WORLD-HERALD STAFF WRITER wrote:Baker injured his head in the crash, said Martin Bilek, chief deputy of the Douglas County Sheriff's Office. Deputies took Baker to Lakeside Hospital to have the wound treated. As officers were putting him back in the cruiser outside the hospital, Bilek said, the handcuffed Baker, with six staples in the back of his head, took off running. He didn't get far. He tripped on his pants legs and fell face-first on the pavement, Bilek said.

The deputies took him back into the hospital for some more sewing. Then they took him to jail.
Now I'm not a proponent of eugenics or anything, but this guy reminds me why I think people should be required to take parenting competency tests before being allowed to have children.  :shock:
User avatar
Swift
Planning Board
Posts: 2904
Joined: Thu Oct 28, 2004 2:13 pm
Location: NYC

Post by Swift »

On another note, MAT replaced those crappy white bus stop signs with nice new blue ones. So far I've only seen them along Dodge street in midtown up to about UNO.
StreetsOfOmaha
City Council
Posts: 6865
Joined: Sun Feb 08, 2004 4:46 pm

Post by StreetsOfOmaha »

Cool!  I'd like to see those.
"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
DTO Luv
City Council
Posts: 9678
Joined: Sun Jun 06, 2004 4:22 pm

Post by DTO Luv »

thenewguy wrote: because their case worker and the DMV deemed them unfit to operate a motor vehicle.  
Hey, |expletive| you! :;):
DTO
StreetsOfOmaha
City Council
Posts: 6865
Joined: Sun Feb 08, 2004 4:46 pm

Post by StreetsOfOmaha »

I went to the MAT web site to see if they had any info or pictures of the new signage (of course they didn't), and I was reminded, once again, what a pathetic, sad organization they are.  The web site is pitiful.
"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
User avatar
Uffda
County Board
Posts: 4502
Joined: Sun Jun 12, 2005 9:52 pm
Location: Land o Lakes, FL

Post by Uffda »

OWH recycling news or maybe MAT is recycling news. :shock:
Published Tuesday  |  January 24, 2006
Getting Around: Bike racks will be added to MAT buses
BY MICHAEL O'CONNOR

WORLD-HERALD STAFF WRITER


Commuters and others in the Omaha area soon may be able to ride a bike and a bus on the same trip.

Metro Area Transit hopes to equip nearly all of the 130 buses in its fleet with bike racks. MAT hopes to install them within a year.
http://www.omaha.com/index.php?u_pg=1636&u_sid=2104166

Published Monday  |  April 21, 2008
Omaha's making room for bicycles on buses
BY TOM SHAW
WORLD-HERALD STAFF WRITER

Helmets and Spandex could be a common sight on Metro Area Transit buses this summer.

For the first time, MAT is equipping its 130 buses with bike racks.

Each rack will be mounted to the front of a bus. Each will hold two bikes.
Over the next month or so, MAT will test two kinds of racks and decide which type to buy. The goal is to have all of the racks purchased and installed so that people can use them this summer and fall.
http://www.omaha.com/index.php?u_page=2 ... d=10315460
User avatar
Omababe
Planning Board
Posts: 2470
Joined: Thu Jul 05, 2007 9:47 am
Contact:

Post by Omababe »

thenewguy wrote:The crazies i'm talking about are the kind that sit there, rocking back and forth talking to themselves.  Or sitting on the bench waiting for the bus, searching for smoked cigarette butts on the ground to light up...or the kind that wheel around a duffle bag full of bottles, coats, and whatever else they have, ...
In the Omaha area, you do get a concentration of those with no other transportation options on the bus, the near-homeless, the near-destitute, wandering poor, etc.

Why?

Those of means just don't take the bus, in Omaha that is.

In larger cities, as somebody just said, everybody rides, and no segment of society stands out as the stereotypical bus rider.

Here, the average middle-class gainfully-employed person who regularly rides the bus is the exception and not the rule. Most of them take their cars, or pickup trucks, or SUVs! It's very much a car culture here. Omaha has not seen serious transit for 50 years, that's two generations of private car inbreeding.

Oh well ...
User avatar
Big E
City Council
Posts: 8017
Joined: Thu Jan 27, 2005 11:12 am

Post by Big E »

Omababe wrote:Omaha has not seen serious transit for 50 years, that's two generations of private car inbreeding.
I might have gone with ingraining, but your way is so much funnier. :;):

-Big E
Stable genius.
StreetsOfOmaha
City Council
Posts: 6865
Joined: Sun Feb 08, 2004 4:46 pm

Post by StreetsOfOmaha »

Excellent that this will FINALLY happen!  Even if they're mooching off of the Pedestrian Bridge.  Will the bridge even be served by MAT?  I |expletive| hope so!!!
"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
almighty_tuna
City Council
Posts: 105418
Joined: Tue Apr 13, 2004 1:34 pm
Location: Somewhere between downtown and Colorado
Contact:

Post by almighty_tuna »

StreetsOfOmaha wrote:Excellent that this will FINALLY happen!  Even if they're mooching off of the Pedestrian Bridge.  Will the bridge even be served by MAT?  I |expletive| hope so!!!
There's a bus route which goes along Riverfront Drive.
Post Reply