CapitalGuy wrote:I could be wrong, but there is already a mass transit line that goes down Dodge St. And, we still have problems. I'd like the mass transit experts to tell us why we should expect any different from a light rail than we already have for buses. Also remember before you answer that the #2 is already pretty frequent in its circuits. And seriously folks, the light rail pipe dream is nice, but is it really feasible? No. We can't afford it for one. Secondly, it goes down one street. So what do I do when I get off this one-street line? "Duh, you moron, you hop on one of the buses that no one rides now, but they will when we get light rail." Yeah, I was born at night, but not last night. Keep the light rail in Sim City.
I don't understand all the negativity! The precedent has already been set across the country with light rail in cities like Albuquerque, Boston, Denver, Los Angeles, Portland, Saint Louis, San Diego, and a whole slew of others. Even car-infested Phoenix is set to open a light rail line in the near future.
It has been said over and over again that light rail DOES attract higher ridership as opposed to buses (just look at the successes of light rail introduction in many cities, compared with buses). The reason? Buses carry the stigma of being the transport method of lower-income people. This is especially prevalent in Omaha where the buses are seen as a nuisance to other drivers and a waste of money, among other things. Not to mention MAT has made no real effort to make buses widely available to all parts of the metro. And on top of that, most people who own a car would
never be caught dead on a MAT bus, as a general rule.
If we can afford to keep throwing dollars at the bottomless pit of road construction, we most definitely can afford to at least see if light rail will work in Omaha. How many more lanes can be added to Dodge? It is already eight lanes at 90th Street and there comes a certain point where additional lanes will not actually increase working capacity. The optimum number of lanes for a freeway is three or four per direction, and I imagine a similar number would be said for surface roads. Adding another lane to Dodge will allow more traffic to pass through the 72nd-90th corridor only to produce a larger backup at 90th. Widen 90th and Dodge? Okay, fine. Now the cascading effect will push further west and all of Dodge will need to be made eight lanes. See where this is going? The whole thing is illogical.
A light rail line along the Dodge corridor would be the first of an entire system. Cities don't just build one line and call it quits. Look at any major, developed city across the world and you will undoubtedly find a metro/light rail system in place. This system doesn't take over the role of freeways and surface roads, it compliments them. Is it feasible in Omaha? Most certainly. I think light rail could become the new Qwest Center. People said that the Qwest was a waste of money, that it would be a burden on the city forever, and that Omaha had no use for it with the perfectly good Civic a few blocks away. Those naysayers are most probably eating their words now, aren't they? While attending a concert at the Qwest, no doubt.
(As a side note, I suppose I wouldn't be entirely against widening Dodge. The condition being that a bus or HOV lane is constructed in place of a normal-use lane. That way, the inner lanes of Dodge could easily be converted into light rail right-of-way when Omaha decides to get its act together.)
