Omaha Streetcar Discussion

[skinzfan23]

Just to be clear, those renderings of the cars are just to show the different styles, not the color combinations.

The colors will probably be similar to buses where they can do "wraps" that change the design or color. I know when I was in Minneapolis 2 years ago, they had a wrap that was advertising Omaha.

[omahahawk]

I guess I don't mind some advertising on cars if it helps pay the bills. However, it would be nice if that could be done in a way that wasn't totally tacky or over the top. The example you provided isn't too bad.

[Garrett]

They were pretty explicit in the last press conference that there would be no advertisement wraps on the cars.

[Toto]

They were pretty explicit in the last press conference that there would be no advertisement wraps on the cars.

Why, that seems like easy revenue? Unless you end up with boner pills or weed shops wanting to advertise.

[Bomaha]

I personally prefer the Stadler design. Also, more of a getting our foot in the door with Stadler with the eventual hope of utilizing them for DMUs down the road with a regional rail system with Lincoln.

[omahahawk]

They were pretty explicit in the last press conference that there would be no advertisement wraps on the cars.

Sweet, that is definitely the way to go if possible.

[Renovator2559]

I like the white/blue/green color scheme the most but the nearly floor to ceiling windows on the blue/white one look amazing

Good observation, I do like the larger windows for sure, as well as the design of the front of the blue white, as the window design of the blue green looks like a retrofitted bus chassis on tracks

As for the circle blue green color schemes, maybe they can use that color pallet but come up with a design that flows with the curves, outlines of the Windows better, instead of looking like a sticker plastered in.

A similar design to the red and white but with blue green colors ?

They were pretty explicit in the last press conference that there would be no advertisement wraps on the cars.

Why, that seems like easy revenue? Unless you end up with boner pills or weed shops wanting to advertise.

Honestly wraps are in a way a nuisance to me when I take the metro bus. I always have to take a few extra seconds to recognize that the bus coming, is metro and not a third party bus.

Blue and white for bus colors may be generic for my taste but come on it's better to be consistent blue white and perfectly fine if ORBT or the streetcars are different in color

[mgoett]

Ha! thanks for the laugh Toto

[strangerthings]

Mostly I hope they go with a vehicle that has high reliability and ease of maintenance along with the best interior design for rider experience. As far as appearance is concerned, I tend to prefer a simple, clean look, something like a graphite grey or white car with small color accents. Big windows are definitely a plus. Don't necessarily need something that could be adapted for wraps either. I would just simply prefer some type of small nose art, like an airplane. Something that would make a car individualistic as others have stated for a certain district or aspect of the city.

I would select CAF from the perspective of KC and Cincinatti having ordered. Similiar climates and similar enough built environments so the growing pains have already been figured out for you. KC will probably be doing East/West at the same time Omaha launches their next extensions so you could hit some real economies of scale. That is what KC and Cincinatti did for their initial lines.


CAF also makes LRTs, Metros, Regional Rail, and Intercity vehicles. LRT for Houston and Viewliners for Amtrak are some US recent examples.

Wraps and In-Vehicle Advertising.... KC does this but the ads are always art centered so they never feel like ads per say. The City picked white vehicles specifically for their ability to allow for any color of wrap.

https://kcstreetcar.org/wp-content/uplo ... s-2023.pdf

This guide has a ton of great information and if you scroll down examples of what KC did. IMHO very tasteful and elevates the rider experience. Every new wrap gets widely broadcast by Local TV News and Print Media.



Examples:

FIFA AD


Women's Soccer Team Ad


KC Chiefs Ad


COVID/Health Ad

[Coyote]

Omaha Streetcar:
Route expected to be complete in phases leaves room for growth



A lot of news with the Omaha Streetcar this week. We are getting a clearer picture of two important things, how the route will be built and how officials will pay for it.

[ita]

City of Omaha may sell $50 million in streetcar bonds to Mutual of Omaha

Christopher Burbach
The Omaha City Council approved an ordinance this week that paves the way for the potential sale of $50 million in streetcar bonds to Mutual of Omaha.

The ordinance, which Mayor Jean Stothert recommended to the council, establishes a lease-purchase program for building and equipping the streetcar system, and for selling up to $50 million in lease-purchase bonds to a private institutional investor. The money will go toward such costs as buying streetcars, as well as building and equipping an operations and maintenance building and streetcar tracks, according to the ordinance.
...
The ordinance does not name Mutual of Omaha. It also sets up a program for offering similar bond sales to other local investors, Deputy City Attorney Jennifer Taylor told the council.

But the city intends to sell all $50 million of this bond issue to a single buyer. And all indications point to that being Mutual, which pushed for the streetcar in connection with the $600 million headquarters skyscraper it is building downtown.

City officials worked with Mutual of Omaha’s investment desk and others to set up the $50 million bond issuance, Taylor told the City Council Dec. 12 in a public hearing on the ordinance.

Rick Hrabchak, Mutual’s chief financial officer and chief investment officer, testified in favor of the lease-purchase bond ordinance at that meeting. He did not say that Mutual would buy the bonds, but he spoke highly of them.

This is interesting. MoO decides to build a new tower downtown only if the city is able to deliver a streetcar. City moves forward with the streetcar and sets up a financial structure to allow for private investors to buy bonds to help fund it. MoO allegedly buying said bonds, and not an insignificant portion of the total build budget. Bonds are paid back by TIF created by development projects in the streetcar TIF district. So, if Mutual is paying TIF on their HQ and the block east, if they end up developing it, they will be paying back themselves?

Anyway, I think it's a good sign the MoO is willing to invest in the streetcar. It helps show that the previously estimates for development are dependable and it indicates that MoO is really all in. I think it will be pretty crazy that MoO will be potentially behind $1.5 billion in private development in the urban core just including Midtown Crossing, their new HQ, possible redevelopment of their old HQ site. Development of the lot east of the HQ is likely to take that number to nearly $2 billion.

[Louie]

Seems like they are really trying to form a mutual partnership with the city


Ill see myself out

[PotatoeEatsFish]

I like the white/blue/green color scheme the most but the nearly floor to ceiling windows on the blue/white one look amazing

Good observation, I do like the larger windows for sure, as well as the design of the front of the blue white, as the window design of the blue green looks like a retrofitted bus chassis on tracks

As for the circle blue green color schemes, maybe they can use that color pallet but come up with a design that flows with the curves, outlines of the Windows better, instead of looking like a sticker plastered in.

A similar design to the red and white but with blue green colors ?

They were pretty explicit in the last press conference that there would be no advertisement wraps on the cars.

Why, that seems like easy revenue? Unless you end up with boner pills or weed shops wanting to advertise.

Honestly wraps are in a way a nuisance to me when I take the metro bus. I always have to take a few extra seconds to recognize that the bus coming, is metro and not a third party bus.

Blue and white for bus colors may be generic for my taste but come on it's better to be consistent blue white and perfectly fine if ORBT or the streetcars are different in color

I disagree, I think we need all green Runza buses

[thenewguy]

honestly, Runza could sponsor one and i'd be ok with it. Kind of like when the chasers wear the Runza uni's at werner park

[nebport5]

How about just for the buses that already smell like Runza.

[omahahawk]

In yesterday's OWH there was an article about street closures for utility relocation for the streetcar. I could not read it all because I no longer have a subscription. It mentioned several streets and about half a dozen locations that were soon to be blocked off for this. Clearly this type of work is not being done for kicks. To me this means this thing is finally real and this would be the unofficial start of construction. If anybody who is able would be kind enough to highlight the article here it would be much appreciated. Thank you.

[skinzfan23]

The article stated that they’re moving gas lines underneath Farnam for the streetcar, and it will last for approximately the next 12 weeks

[Busguy2010]

I'd say it's the official start of construction and there's no reason left to think this thing isn't going to happen. Utility is probably the most annoying phase of construction, and if they expect it to last only 12 weeks, I'd say it's a pretty good bet we'll see maintenence facility construction and a fair amount of track laid this year.

[thenewguy]

how do street cars far when it is icy/snowy? honest question, since i'm a proponent of the street car.

we went to NFM over the weekend and took dodge down to 72nd. There were 2 semis in the east bound lane that got stuck at around 39th. I assume a street car is going to be heavier and won't stop like auto traffic, so momentum would be in their favor...but was a curiosity i had at the time, no less.

[Louie]

how do street cars far when it is icy/snowy? honest question, since i'm a proponent of the street car.

we went to NFM over the weekend and took dodge down to 72nd. There were 2 semis in the east bound lane that got stuck at around 39th. I assume a street car is going to be heavier and won't stop like auto traffic, so momentum would be in their favor...but was a curiosity i had at the time, no less.

With it being heavier, I wonder if downhill slowing/stopping is trickier.

[djc311]

how do street cars far when it is icy/snowy? honest question, since i'm a proponent of the street car.

we went to NFM over the weekend and took dodge down to 72nd. There were 2 semis in the east bound lane that got stuck at around 39th. I assume a street car is going to be heavier and won't stop like auto traffic, so momentum would be in their favor...but was a curiosity i had at the time, no less.

With it being heavier, I wonder if downhill slowing/stopping is trickier.

In the winter they turn into sleds

[Louie]

how do street cars far when it is icy/snowy? honest question, since i'm a proponent of the street car.

we went to NFM over the weekend and took dodge down to 72nd. There were 2 semis in the east bound lane that got stuck at around 39th. I assume a street car is going to be heavier and won't stop like auto traffic, so momentum would be in their favor...but was a curiosity i had at the time, no less.

With it being heavier, I wonder if downhill slowing/stopping is trickier.

In the winter they turn into sleds

I know that streetcars are surprisingly good with traction uphill (better than some buses even), but with ice that could be tricky downhill. Looks like KC has a pretty decent system in place for dealing with those conditions. I'd assume we'd implement similar features: https://kcstreetcar.org/winter-weather/

[Busguy2010]

In a sort of parallel universe fashion, the streetcar will run more when the weather is bad. Thanks for that link. Farnam is probably going to be the safest street in the city.

[skinzfan23]

Thanks for the info, I was wondering how they handled it, but that KC page basically lays it out.

[thenewguy]

yep that pretty much answered my questions

[Stargazer]

From today's street car authority meeting notes. I knew Eric was back in town as part of a new Felsberg Holt and Ullevig office, so no surprise to see him part of the project. What a ride.. from a kid on the forum here, imagining aloud about rail transit in Omaha to big city transit planner, back home to help fulfill what we all dreamed about. Congratulations to Eric Miller on all he's accomplished and looking forward to him leading Omaha towards realizing a street car at last!

[Louie]

That’s very cool

[thenewguy]

i didn't realize he was a pup when he came around here. Congrats Eric!

[almighty_tuna]

Hear hear!! Congrats, Eric!

[skinzfan23]

Thats really awesome. I have been a dreamer on this website as well when I joined 20 years ago back in college...so glad that you took it to the next level!

[Zephyr]

Thanks, all! It has been a long ride, but glad we are here. I have been keeping tabs on the project over the years and am thankful to be back and directly involved in it again.

[MadJack]

Thanks, all! It has been a long ride, but glad we are here. I have been keeping tabs on the project over the years and am thankful to be back and directly involved in it again.

We're lucky to have you in Omaha, Eric!

[Coyote]

Great News, Eric!

[guy4omaha]

What they all said, Eric!

[Erik]

Thanks, all! It has been a long ride, but glad we are here. I have been keeping tabs on the project over the years and am thankful to be back and directly involved in it again.

That is awesome, Eric! We've seen a few young ones grow big into life.

Congratulations

[Garrett]

Reading through a 2008 Best Practices in Transportation study done by the NYC DOT to envision transportation in 2030, and they mention Omaha in a list of cities that had recently proposed modern streetcars. Woof.

[ita]

Omaha streetcar open house set for Feb. 22

Omaha officials are inviting residents to come check out — and ask questions about — the city’s streetcar project at an open house later this month.

The Omaha Streetcar Authority has scheduled the public event for 5-7 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 22, in the Gold Coast Ballroom at the Kimpton Cottonwood Hotel, located along the planned route along Farnam Street just across the street from 6 News.
...
Spain-based CAF USA Inc. submitted a bid of $47.6 million for six streetcar vehicles, spare parts, and special maintenance tools. It’s the same company that provided streetcars to Kansas City and Cincinnati.

According to Nick Stadem, HDR associate vice president and senior project manager, CAF’s bid falls within the project’s estimated budget.

“City officials are now evaluating CAF’s bid to determine the submitted bid’s compliance with advertised specifications,” the release states.

[skinzfan23]

That is good news that the bid is within estimates...always hate when bids come in way higher than anticipated (Bob Kerrey Pedestrian bridge) when that happens, it delays everything quite a bit to make modifications to be within budget.

[almighty_tuna]

Absolutely, skinszfan. It also doesn't open the door for the Sen Linehans of the area to gripe about "boondoggles."

[NEDodger]

…..?

I’d say 30 percent higher than estimates is a steep increase…..