I-480 Transit Center-Long term Vision

[Dusty]

Adding a jumbo-sized TV to broadcast local live events of crowds at CWS, Summer Arts Festival, Farmers Market, etc. We are not just selling attractions/events to people but selling the energy Omaha has to offer.

I forgot to add...this jumbo sized TV would also be broadcasting up and coming events as well. Traveling exhibits, shows, and concerts coming to town. We can pull in the Grow Omaha team to show short clips of restaurant reviews or Brad's construction updates. As I stated before, it's about selling the energy of Omaha.

This will make the transit center a hot place to be. A fun place to walk around while you wait for your transfer bus or friends for a night out.

[Dusty]

For fun, I created another rending showing a hotel added to the North of Dodge and attached to the transit center. The city wants to remove the 30th Street ramps and use infill in that area. This would be a great way to blend it all together.
Again, I'm creating very basic visuals to sell the function. This is why the city would hire professionals to make it look like an architectural masterpiece.



Added these others just to show the possibilities of different aesthetics.
A glass canopy over a boarding zone. Right next to a center to walk in. Hmmm....reminds me of the glass canopy going in at the airport.



How about a grand hall with pedestrian mezzanine? Or skylights for natural lighting? It can be anything we want it to be!

[Dusty]

Just an update.... I'm working on a more professional presentation to sell my vision to city leaders. I got a lot of interest in my first outreach. I really want to drive it home how important this project should be for the city. It's not just about getting people to ride transit. It sets the stage for an economic development boom. With a better network, you will see tons of lots developed with dense infill along all these fixed routes.

A great network will also bring more attractions to Omaha. When I first started this thread Garrett asked me if I would remove cars from I-480/75 North. After thinking about this for a while, I would definitely say yes. I look at it as the transit center is the anchor to the corridor. My vision includes: transit center, riverfront district, and museum district.

By phasing out cars we can convert this space into a transitway. We would build concrete tunnels over the interstate like subway infrastructure. Then bury the tunnels to raise the ground up to street level.

Riverfront District: On I-480 From Harney to Martha. Both sides of canal would be lined with mixed-use entertainment zone.

Once the city tears down I-480 EAST (elevated through downtown), we can redevelop the current junction.

Museum District: On 75 North. Bring all the museum ideas we keep bringing up: Larger Children's Museum, Living History Museum with living sculpture park, Oddities Museum Like Ripley's Believe it or Not. Museum of Illusions, etc. Would also be a mixed-use environment. You can walk the promenade, ride the bikeways, or ride transit from transit center to the museums. Since it's built on the transitway, it would connect to the basements of all the museums.

[OmahaOmaha]

Just an update.... I'm working on a more professional presentation to sell my vision to city leaders. I got a lot of interest in my first outreach. I really want to drive it home how important this project should be for the city. It's not just about getting people to ride transit. It sets the stage for an economic development boom. With a better network, you will see tons of lots developed with dense infill along all these fixed routes.

A great network will also bring more attractions to Omaha. When I first started this thread Garrett asked me if I would remove cars from I-480/75 North. After thinking about this for a while, I would definitely say yes. I look at it as the transit center is the anchor to the corridor. My vision includes: transit center, riverfront district, and museum district.

By phasing out cars we can convert this space into a transitway. We would build concrete tunnels over the interstate like subway infrastructure. Then bury the tunnels to raise the ground up to street level.

Riverfront District: On I-480 From Harney to Martha. Both sides of canal would be lined with mixed-use entertainment zone.

Once the city tears down I-480 EAST (elevated through downtown), we can redevelop the current junction.

Museum District: On 75 North. Bring all the museum ideas we keep bringing up: Larger Children's Museum, Living History Museum with living sculpture park, Oddities Museum Like Ripley's Believe it or Not. Museum of Illusions, etc. Would also be a mixed-use environment. You can walk the promenade, ride the bikeways, or ride transit from transit center to the museums. Since it's built on the transitway, it would connect to the basements of all the museums.

Remove cars from I-480/75 North? That’s crazy? Never going to happen. We love our cars in Omaha. Oddities Museum Like Ripley’s Believe it or Not and Museum of Illusions don’t belong in a museum district. Those are cheesy attractions that belong in places like Branson or Gatlinburg.

[GenX]

Just an update.... I'm working on a more professional presentation to sell my vision to city leaders. I got a lot of interest in my first outreach. I really want to drive it home how important this project should be for the city. It's not just about getting people to ride transit. It sets the stage for an economic development boom. With a better network, you will see tons of lots developed with dense infill along all these fixed routes.

A great network will also bring more attractions to Omaha. When I first started this thread Garrett asked me if I would remove cars from I-480/75 North. After thinking about this for a while, I would definitely say yes. I look at it as the transit center is the anchor to the corridor. My vision includes: transit center, riverfront district, and museum district.

By phasing out cars we can convert this space into a transitway. We would build concrete tunnels over the interstate like subway infrastructure. Then bury the tunnels to raise the ground up to street level.

Riverfront District: On I-480 From Harney to Martha. Both sides of canal would be lined with mixed-use entertainment zone.

Once the city tears down I-480 EAST (elevated through downtown), we can redevelop the current junction.

Museum District: On 75 North. Bring all the museum ideas we keep bringing up: Larger Children's Museum, Living History Museum with living sculpture park, Oddities Museum Like Ripley's Believe it or Not. Museum of Illusions, etc. Would also be a mixed-use environment. You can walk the promenade, ride the bikeways, or ride transit from transit center to the museums. Since it's built on the transitway, it would connect to the basements of all the museums.

Remove cars from I-480/75 North? That’s crazy? Never going to happen. We love our cars in Omaha. Oddities Museum Like Ripley’s Believe it or Not and Museum of Illusions don’t belong in a museum district. Those are cheesy attractions that belong in places like Branson or Gatlinburg.

Yeah, removing cars from there is never going to happen. It’s a vital transportation link. That idea is about as silly as the whole transit center vision itself. Be realistic, this is a foolish idea.

[CompSci99]

Just an update.... I'm working on a more professional presentation to sell my vision to city leaders. I got a lot of interest in my first outreach. I really want to drive it home how important this project should be for the city. It's not just about getting people to ride transit. It sets the stage for an economic development boom. With a better network, you will see tons of lots developed with dense infill along all these fixed routes.

A great network will also bring more attractions to Omaha. When I first started this thread Garrett asked me if I would remove cars from I-480/75 North. After thinking about this for a while, I would definitely say yes. I look at it as the transit center is the anchor to the corridor. My vision includes: transit center, riverfront district, and museum district.

By phasing out cars we can convert this space into a transitway. We would build concrete tunnels over the interstate like subway infrastructure. Then bury the tunnels to raise the ground up to street level.

Riverfront District: On I-480 From Harney to Martha. Both sides of canal would be lined with mixed-use entertainment zone.

Once the city tears down I-480 EAST (elevated through downtown), we can redevelop the current junction.

Museum District: On 75 North. Bring all the museum ideas we keep bringing up: Larger Children's Museum, Living History Museum with living sculpture park, Oddities Museum Like Ripley's Believe it or Not. Museum of Illusions, etc. Would also be a mixed-use environment. You can walk the promenade, ride the bikeways, or ride transit from transit center to the museums. Since it's built on the transitway, it would connect to the basements of all the museums.

Remove cars from I-480/75 North? That’s crazy? Never going to happen. We love our cars in Omaha. Oddities Museum Like Ripley’s Believe it or Not and Museum of Illusions don’t belong in a museum district. Those are cheesy attractions that belong in places like Branson or Gatlinburg.

Yeah, removing cars from there is never going to happen. It’s a vital transportation link. That idea is about as silly as the whole transit center vision itself. Be realistic, this is a foolish idea.

This isn't West Omaha we are talking about. Some cars, not alot, could definitely be taken off the road as some residents in the areas along 75 and 480 could benefit from not having vehicle expenses. If transit in this area was truly accessible, reliable and penetrated deep into North and South O and the surrounding areas, it is not "foolish" to think people would take advantage of such a system and ditch their expensive cars. The only people who would see an idea like this as "foolish" are those who are privileged enough to not be burdened with a tough financial situation made worse by car dependency and culture. I doubt you live in an area that would be primarily served by the transit center, so your negative opinion is not needed. (:

[Nosebot]

Definitely think we shouldn't get ahead of ourselves with this one until we know how well the streetcar does.

[Renovator2559]

Yeah, removing cars from there is never going to happen. It’s a vital transportation link. That idea is about as silly as the whole transit center vision itself. Be realistic, this is a foolish idea.

No one is removing cars from i480, Dusty has already mentioned that the transit center is two levels, and cars would be allowed to pass below with potential of commuter rail in the long term future to follow the i480 path. I think Dusty is bringing good ideas, the city will have to see if its financially feasible. We are not like cities that go into debt spending recklessly, we have a great credit rating for a reason. Still its good to have brainstorming ideas of the use of this area more effectively.

Let's not forget that you live in west omaha and nothing on that side has worked, we do not want to implement any ideas from the west side in the urban core. The west side is grey, strip mall, parking lot galore, congested traffic mess.

While the Salesforce transit center is nice, unfortunately the decline of SF, has led this expensive $2.2B transit to be almost empty. Which shows that if your city is poorly run, unsafe, not even good transit can make your city return to its former vibrant life.
https://www.sfchronicle.com/projects/20 ... it-center/

Definitely think we shouldn't get ahead of ourselves with this one until we know how well the streetcar does.

Our city planners know what they are doing, we all know that the first streetcar route is imperative before anything more involved. The streetcar will be watched closely, if it is successful; expansion and transit expansion will be considered.

Still its not a bad idea for people to brainstorm ideas, prior to any of these ideas getting remotely close to being considered or implemented.

[Dusty]

I think some are forgetting I'm proposing a long-term vision. I'm not saying to build this tomorrow. Something of this magnitude will take years of planning and fundraising. It could be 10-15 years in the future. This is plenty of time to rebuild the Farnam/Harney bridges, get the streetcar up and running, and revamp Metro's network to support it. Once built, it would still have cars passing through underneath it. I'm just saying the city could remove cars and convert to a transitway if they wanted to pursue that.

Traffic studies have shown a decrease in vehicles on I-480 year after year for the last decade. The city has mentioned a number of times it is under-utilized and want to find creative ways to pull Midtown and downtown back together. At one time, the city suggested removing all traffic and converting it to a greenway. The city has also been very clear on bringing multi-modal options to the urban core. Once you build a better transit network and infrastructure, people will become less dependent on a car. This just mean car traffic on I-480 will drop even more.

[Renovator2559]

I'm just saying the city could remove cars and convert to a transitway if they wanted to pursue that.

Traffic studies have shown a decrease in vehicles on I-480 year after year for the last decade. The city has mentioned a number of times it is under-utilized and want to find creative ways to pull Midtown and downtown back together. At one time, the city suggested removing all traffic and converting it to a greenway. The city has also been very clear on bringing multi-modal options to the urban core. Once you build a better transit network and infrastructure, people will become less dependent on a car. This just mean car traffic on I-480 will drop even more.

That's good to see that traffic has gone down based on studies, what is causing the drop in traffic for i480? Also, what was the reception of the city leaders to a transit way? What other ideas were discussed?

Well the best candidate for conversion of a bicouplet, as the city has discussed, is the i480 spur from Creighton to CHI

Converting the north south i480/75 to be a transit way with no cars, poses a few problems. This is US highway 75 a major freight thoroughfare to Minneapolis, it's not solely a basic spur. Removing a portion of a highway is not generally something that is done and the State is responsible for its highways. Also, highway 75 is an alternate route to i29.
Highland milk at Cuming street off the ramp 75, would be opposed to their major thoroughfare for freight being shutdown. Also 75 is a strategic highway for Offut Airforce Base

[Dusty]

If you look at the past, cars were not allowed to pass through where the interstate is built. It was a city block with single family homes. The interstate runs through the backyards of the homes that were demolished. There was a great street network there. It's still there but dysfunctional and worn down. 28th and 29th street run parallel to the interstate. This is the original street network before the middle was gutted for I-480. The just need a facelift to get them back to glory. For example, 29th is 1-way part of the way, then 2 way, then becomes a dead end before Martha because the interstate ramp blocks the flow.

I'm not stopping car access, I'm removing the expressway down the middle at 70-90 mph. You can work the street grid at 28th, 29th, 24th, or Park Ave. All of these run the same path as the interstate. When you go through the I-80 junction it would exit like you are entering a neighborhood. The section from Martha to Vinton would be rebuilt as a mixed use development with some street grid back. I would even build a few parking garages near 28th and Martha. This way you can drive and park here. From there you can walk right onto the Riverwalk district.

As for express options to the airport.... we have a great network in place, but it's missing an access point. If you draw a line connecting I-80, I-680, and I-29 it creates an express ring road around the metro. We often call them beltways or loops, but an unofficial network is there. I'm suggesting to build two bridges to strengthen the express loop.

1. From Council Bluffs I-29- Build a bridge from N 25th exit to Omaha side to connect to Locust. This is the back door to the airport. No need to cut through the Urban Core. Side note: It would real close to that Historic Rail Bridge.

2. Build a bridge from I-680 over to Omaha to connect to the back side of 16th street industrial area. This would create better access for trucks to enter the industrial area including the new airport business park.







You still can have your express options to downtown and airport by car. It's done by strengthening the loop around the metro. Once you go inside the loop, you will have car access, but have to work the grid at posted speed limits. It's a multi-modal approach for the Urban Core. We design by moving people. That is done by having a strong transit network, a network of protected bike lanes, better sidewalks, and yes ...cars.

Extra note here....If you use the interstate to create a transitway, it will give you a more robust network. Express buses and regional options to bigger cities. That could be charter buses or rail options. You could even throw in an underground cycle track/ pedestrian tunnel to run from Martha to the transit center.

[mgoett]

We already have 480 and 680 across. I do not see how putting another bridge connecting Council Bluffs to Omaha benefits Nebraska. North Downtown should remain North Downtown.HOW ABOUT A REAL expressway with no lights and on off ramps connecting Storz to 680 and Sorenson on and off ramps connecting to highway 36.

[mgoett]

Another point. 480 looks like |expletive|. Another interstate Bridge will look like |expletive|. Now maybe the train Bridge could be rehabbed. I would rather run an expressway straight through thr ballfeilds and mud tanks. Heck it might even be scenic.

[mgoett]

Highland milk; 29th and Martha are a long distance apart. Where do you plan on putting those garages. That is a good distance from the river. Parking garages look like |expletive| anywhere. Unless your 20 years old then that walk will kill ya..

[Athomsfere]

Expressway? We don't need any expressways added.

Tear out 480, add transit alternatives. Add a I-80 bypass for through traffic through Sarpy county...

[Renovator2559]

I'm not stopping car access, I'm removing the expressway down the middle at 70-90 mph. You can work the street grid at 28th, 29th, 24th, or Park Ave. All of these run the same path as the interstate. When you go through the I-80 junction it would exit like you are entering a neighborhood. The section from Martha to Vinton would be rebuilt as a mixed use development with some street grid back. I would even build a few parking garages near 28th and Martha. This way you can drive and park here. From there you can walk right onto the Riverwalk district.

As for express options to the airport.... we have a great network in place, but it's missing an access point. If you draw a line connecting I-80, I-680, and I-29 it creates an express ring road around the metro. We often call them beltways or loops, but an unofficial network is there. I'm suggesting to build two bridges to strengthen the express loop.

1. From Council Bluffs I-29- Build a bridge from N 25th exit to Omaha side to connect to Locust. This is the back door to the airport. No need to cut through the Urban Core. Side note: It would real close to that Historic Rail Bridge.

2. Build a bridge from I-680 over to Omaha to connect to the back side of 16th street industrial area. This would create better access for trucks to enter the industrial area including the new airport business park.

Again this is US Highway 75, you can't just overwrite the state's highway system, they are not controlled by the city
There's no such thing as a posted 70-90mph, the speed limit is 50mph. (This is not Texas)
I constantly pass by the pedestrian bridge over highway 75 as one of my alternate walk and bike routes, during the day and the night, highway 75 is always busy. The i480 east to west portion is not busy.

Omaha is already light on highway miles in the core, this is not Kansas City with a spiderweb of highways.

I live in the core, so the driving part is not my concern, I wouldn't mind narrowing highway 75 to a boulevard, like in the northern part of of 75 and lowering the speed more. A compromise is a much more viable solution. Even them, would 75 be left sunk in and be separated from the street grid? Or does the state go through the high cost of raising 75 to the street grid?

Diverting traffic to already congested and trafficked i680 is not a good idea, i680 already has many choke points of congestion in many parts of the day.

Also ideally Iowa's i29 is a backup, Omaha needs it's own north south, exit points like highway 75. Unless you can come up with reports of US state highways being destroyed, then there's a remote posibility

Park Avenue is not a proper north and south, it is a tiny street; it ends when it meets Dodge by the gas station.
24th street is not really straight, and cars have to do an awkward turn into Dodge then onto 25th street because a portion of these streets are still one way

Cuming Street/Abbott Dr already poses many problems to pedestrians crossing ND to Millwork Commons. Having a link into i29, will divert even more traffic into this area; leading to even more traffic congestion and making it harder for pedestrians to cross from ND to Millwork Commons.

[GenX]

Again this is US Highway 75, you can't just overwrite the state's highway system, they are not controlled by the city

US 75 and I-480 are not state highways, they’re federal highways.

[Renovator2559]

Again this is US Highway 75, you can't just overwrite the state's highway system, they are not controlled by the city

US 75 and I-480 are not state highways, they’re federal highways.

Of course it's part of the federal highway system. However each state is responsible for designing, maintaining of their US route portions, so in a way the state is the responsible party.

[Dusty]

In the end of the day, I am presenting concepts the city can work towards. Ideas that will lessen our dependency on cars, bring economic development, and increase tourist revenue. The technicalities and timeline are a blank slate. There are many steps to achieve to make any of these concepts a reality. But if you don't aim high, they will never happen. As the saying goes " It's better to aim high and fall short than aim low and succeed."

The I-480 transit center is the grand prize Metro and the city need to be striving for. Building up a better transit network, better service, better infrastructure. If you don't have something to work towards, Metro will continue to keep copying their peer cities for guidance. They will be stuck at 1 % ridership forever. This is why I want to push and challenge them to strive for more. I want Omaha to be at 25% ridership by 2050. They will not get there by the current methods or copying other poor performing cities.

As for removing cars from 480...this is just a scenario. There could be a lot of outcomes. Traffic studies will guide us through the process. We could reduce a car lane, we could move all cars to one side as a 2 way street, we could remove all cars and push them onto the street grid. It's hard to know what car traffic will be based on future. Time will tell. In the meantime, we can continue to make small improvements to the network like: converting 1 way streets to 2 way, reconnecting some missing links in the street grid, fixing hard turns to flow better, painting crosswalks, etc.

The transit center will be the anchor to the corridor. Step 1 is improving our transit services to work towards this. The other projects will come in time. The vision/plan could change a lot in the next 10-15 years. I'm throwing this transit center concept on Metro's vison board. Something to work towards one step at a time.

[Renovator2559]

Overall good ideas and I like your analysis. So far it appears that raising up highway 75 and converting to a boulevard, would allow for multi-modal transit options along the way. Not only that, so much valuable land can be recovered by the restoration of the street grid, as you mentioned.

I think one of our challenges that we have on ridership, is that some bus routes have low bus schedule frequencies, that people see the bus schedule of these bus routes as inconvenient. If the bus frequencies of these routes were more frequent than there would be more riders. But then again, that also requires more busses, drivers, and an increase of expenses. Which I understand is not an easy decision for METRO to just squander funds, otherwise we face the same issues that Des Moines DART faces of using emergency funds to fund DART to prevent the deficit.


You are right, we need a transit center. Lincoln just recently announced the construction of a multi-modal transit center.

I just posted on the Lincoln section:
https://eomahaforums.com/viewtopic.php?t=24898

With Lincoln building a transit center, this will give fuel for the city of Omaha to consider building a multi-modal transit center.

[OmahaFan]

You have to sell mass public transit to the conservatives out in West Omaha that’s how you increase bus ridership. Most Omaha residents out there think public transit is dirty and crime ridden. They just don’t feel safe on them.

[meliketrains]

You have to sell mass public transit to the conservatives out in West Omaha that’s how you increase bus ridership. Most Omaha residents out there think public transit is dirty and crime ridden. They just don’t feel safe on them.

I'm not sure how on board I am with trying to appease NIMBY West-O folks. Their participation is somewhat meaningless, as development would begin in the core and expand westward through incremental upgrades. By then, the system will have proved itself, assuming no major scandals. Of course, many will probably bemoan the taxes or whatever else to fund this, but they'd do that regardless.

[nebugeater]

You have to sell mass public transit to the conservatives out in West Omaha that’s how you increase bus ridership. Most Omaha residents out there think public transit is dirty and crime ridden. They just don’t feel safe on them.

I'm not sure how on board I am with trying to appease NIMBY West-O folks. Their participation is somewhat meaningless, as development would begin in the core and expand westward through incremental upgrades. By then, the system will have proved itself, assuming no major scandals. Of course, many will probably bemoan the taxes or whatever else to fund this, but they'd do that regardless.

Way to build a team.....

[meliketrains]

You have to sell mass public transit to the conservatives out in West Omaha that’s how you increase bus ridership. Most Omaha residents out there think public transit is dirty and crime ridden. They just don’t feel safe on them.

I'm not sure how on board I am with trying to appease NIMBY West-O folks. Their participation is somewhat meaningless, as development would begin in the core and expand westward through incremental upgrades. By then, the system will have proved itself, assuming no major scandals. Of course, many will probably bemoan the taxes or whatever else to fund this, but they'd do that regardless.

Way to build a team.....

Explain to me how involving them would help a project like this begin. All you do is invite opportunities for blocking development.

[NEDodger]

You have to sell mass public transit to the conservatives out in West Omaha that’s how you increase bus ridership. Most Omaha residents out there think public transit is dirty and crime ridden. They just don’t feel safe on them.

By then, the system will have proved itself, assuming no major scandals.

Quite presumptuous.

[meliketrains]

You have to sell mass public transit to the conservatives out in West Omaha that’s how you increase bus ridership. Most Omaha residents out there think public transit is dirty and crime ridden. They just don’t feel safe on them.

By then, the system will have proved itself, assuming no major scandals.

Quite presumptuous.

I mean, yes and no. Everything in this thread is "presumptuous." It's predicated on best-case scenario assumptions about what a perfect transport hub might look like if it were to be located at the I-480 area. Listen, I get I'm being divisive, but people should remember the pushback the City received for both Orbt and the new streetcar. A potential project on this scale would certainly ruffle feathers, and frankly, I'm not sure trying to explain the benefits of a train to someone who will never use it is time well-spent. Sure, not every west-o person is like this, but many are. We would have enough trouble getting the project launched in a relatively pro-transit area of the city as is, and it would be years, maybe decades, before west-o ever received a real extension.

[Dusty]

Public transit is for everyone. It's meant to provide transportation but also pull us together as a community. We should never alienate or discredit people based on their location or lifestyle. I have no problems with people loving their cars or having no interest in riding transit. I don't look at people against the streetcar as detractors or the enemy. They are citizens in our community with valid concerns. We need to be more understanding of why they are skeptical.

For most, the only experience of transit is what we have now. Spending more money on poor service can be hard to get behind. I get it! But in the same sense, transit can't improve unless we invest more to make it better. Good transit will attract developments/infill along the fixed route. It will also bring more companies and jobs to the area. Investing in transit is good for the city even if you have no intention of ever riding.

One of the problems is Metro is spread too thin for the resources is has. By trying to appeal to everyone it hurts everyone by creating poor service. What I suggest is rebuilding the network to strengthen the transit core to the city. I define the transit core as I-680 to 10th street, Ames to L St. This comes down to repositioning bus routes. it's important we are building a strong foundation that can be scaled up when we are ready. Once the core is repositioned, you can start applying for feasibility studies for the I-480 transit center. In the meantime, we work on providing great service with this new network. Slowly upgrading bus signage, more shelters, reducing wait times at stops, etc. We have to earn trust with the community.

I wanted to sell this concept so people can see the big picture of what we could have. Show them the trophy at the finish line. Then we can lay the groundwork on how to get there. If you don't aim high, you will forever be stuck with what we have now. It's like we are grabbing the nearest low hanging fruit with no real long-term plan. I want to change that by showing them a long-term vision, but also breaking down how to get there.

[nativeomahan]

I read online today a ranking, based on federal government statistics, of the most mass transit friendly cities in the U.S. No surprise that NYC and San Francisco rank first and second. Of course Omaha is nowhere to be found, but smaller metros like Richmond, VA, Raleigh, NC and San Antonio did make the list. So did Denver and Kansas City, MO.

[Louie]

That ranking is weird. San Antonio has bus only access and the ridership is pretty low, too. The 'safety events' category seems to have a lot of weight on this one.

[nativeomahan]

That ranking is weird. San Antonio has bus only access and the ridership is pretty low, too. The 'safety events' category seems to have a lot of weight on this one.

Two summers ago I spent 4 or 5 days in Denver with no car. We used light rail to get from the airport to Union Station downtown (it was free at the time), then walked to our hotel. We used their bus and light rail system to access various museums, their botanical center and their zoo, as well as the Cherry Creek shopping/entertainment district. We never needed to use a taxi or Uber to go anywhere we wanted to go. We’ve also utilized the trolley system and busses to get around Kansas City, from Westport and the Plaza up to the River Market area. It’s nice to be able to leave the car parked and still get to places tourists (and presumably residents) need or want to be.
The same for our visits to NYC, Chicago, DC, Boston, Richmond, Seattle and San Francisco. It’s great to be able to go see the sights without having to spend money for taxis and Ubers, and god knows it’s easier on the nerves than trying to drive in these cities.

[Louie]

That ranking is weird. San Antonio has bus only access and the ridership is pretty low, too. The 'safety events' category seems to have a lot of weight on this one.

Two summers ago I spent 4 or 5 days in Denver with no car. We used light rail to get from the airport to Union Station downtown (it was free at the time), then walked to our hotel. We used their bus and light rail system to access various museums, their botanical center and their zoo, as well as the Cherry Creek shopping/entertainment district. We never needed to use a taxi or Uber to go anywhere we wanted to go. We’ve also utilized the trolley system and busses to get around Kansas City, from Westport and the Plaza up to the River Market area. It’s nice to be able to leave the car parked and still get to places tourists (and presumably residents) need or want to be.
The same for our visits to NYC, Chicago, DC, Boston, Richmond, Seattle and San Francisco. It’s great to be able to go see the sights without having to spend money for taxis and Ubers, and god knows it’s easier on the nerves than trying to drive in these cities.

I was only commenting on San Antonio.

[Dusty]

That ranking is weird. San Antonio has bus only access and the ridership is pretty low, too. The 'safety events' category seems to have a lot of weight on this one.

San Antonio is one of the cities on the rise for transit. Their network hasn't changed much over the years. Where they are flexing their muscles is bus shelters. The started an aggressive plan to add 1,000 bus shelters over 10 years. Now their network has over 2,200 bus shelters. Many upgrades to existing shelters to make them ADA compliant.

Metro just approved 25 shelters to replace ones that are falling apart.

[Dusty]

You are right, we need a transit center. Lincoln just recently announced the construction of a multi-modal transit center.

I just posted on the Lincoln section:
https://eomahaforums.com/viewtopic.php?t=24898

With Lincoln building a transit center, this will give fuel for the city of Omaha to consider building a multi-modal transit center.

We need to stay away from building transit centers like Lincoln's new center. They may be multi-modal, but they are still single use. It may be a major improvement for current riders but doesn't do enough to attract new riders who have never been on transit before. The North Omaha transit center is similar in design, just older. Ridership has remained the same with this transit center. This tells you it's a design flaw. As I said before, I want Omaha to reach 25% ridership by 2050. In order to reach these numbers, you have to design infrastructure to attract the masses.

This is done by building mixed-use transit centers. These hubs need to be in the heart of all the action. This will have access to restrooms, entertainment, retail, hospitality, etc. I want to bring back the design of transit tunnels. You build a passageway through a building/garage and build the amenities around it. The tunnel creates protection from the elements for boarding which improves the rider's experience.

I added a newer rendering of the I-480 transit center. It's built with transit tunnels. This leaves the entire center to have shops, restaurants, entertainment, visitors center, bike center, etc. Since most of the bus boarding is done in the center wing, it leaves room to add pocket parks and greenspace to the outside.

Note: I added pictures of Seattle's transit tunnel to help with the visuals. Their tunnel is underground. The I-480 design is street level.

[Renovator2559]

North Omaha transit is not multimodal and only north omahans use it

[ita]

North Omaha transit is not multimodal and only north omahans use it

Does driving, walking and biking not count as transit modes?

[Renovator2559]

Well Lincoln is not calling their project a Bus Station. Lincoln some how wants to call their project multimodal. The question is, does the north Omaha station equal in features as the Lincoln to be built. Some details are unclear with preliminary plans.

[Dusty]

Grow Omaha just featured an article on building a main hub or multi-modal transportation center. This is on the same topic as we have been discussing in this thread.

As I stated before, it doesn't take much for a transit center to claim that multi-modal status. Put one bike staple at bus station and BAM...multi-modal! The key to attracting tons a new riders will be making it mixed-use. As I tell people, think of it as a shopping center with great transportation options for mobility.

https://growomaha.com/multimodal-transp ... n-centers/

[halgy]

The key to attracting tons a new riders will be making it mixed-use. As I tell people, think of it as a shopping center with great transportation options for mobility.

This is also what I want. Waiting on a transfer from the streetcar to a bus (or whatever) is a lot more tolerable if you can do some shopping while waiting. Something like a CVS would be clutch, or some restaurants with takeaway. It makes the transfer a convenience rather than a nescience.