Public Transportation Drop

[Greg S]

Just to be clear, I am in favor of our Streetcar. Just found this interesting:

https://www.3newsnow.com/passengers-hop ... h47IQ2HP4U

[ricko]

Just to be clear, I am in favor of our Streetcar. Just found this interesting:

https://www.3newsnow.com/passengers-hop ... h47IQ2HP4U

I can’t speak to the other cities mentioned, but one of the biggest variables in the ridership decline in the DC area is the work-from-home/remote work movement. It has not only hurt the Metro (which, 10 years ago sold 750K fares a day—-one of the busiest subways in the country), but also businesses in the downtown/federal government/Capitol Hill districts, although there are signs that things are beginning to (very slowly) return to normal, since government employees have been asked to return to work. The private sector is still open to remote work, and has been since before Covid.

[Greg S]

Just to be clear, I am in favor of our Streetcar. Just found this interesting:

https://www.3newsnow.com/passengers-hop ... h47IQ2HP4U

I can’t speak to the other cities mentioned, but one of the biggest variables in the ridership decline in the DC area is the work-from-home/remote work movement. It has not only hurt the Metro (which, 10 years ago sold 750K fares a day—-one of the busiest subways in the country), but also businesses in the downtown/federal government/Capitol Hill districts, although there are signs that things are beginning to (very slowly) return to normal, since government employees have been asked to return to work. The private sector is still open to remote work, and has been since before Covid.

I completely agree. I would imagine the "work from home" movement is what impacted this the most. Companies are starting to move workers back to the office but I doubt we will ever get back to where we were. My company does more flext work. I currently do 2-3 days in the office and remaining 2 or 3 at home. Our lease comes up in a couple years and they have started asking how we'd respond if they don't renew and we work from home full time, or downsize our space and work in the office even less or share space.

I work for a government contractor in Bellevue. We have several defense contractors in our building near Twin Creek. One of them already moved out to smaller space. Another now that their lease is up is downsizing their spaced in our building so we are not alone in our thoughts.

If I am watching all this as a civic leader I am really ramping up housing/residential development for downtown.

[ricko]

If driving and parking your car in an urban environment is more convenient and quicker than public transportation, then people will continue to use their cars. That’s just reality. People in cities like Chicago and New York are less likely to drive because it doesn’t make sense. When I lived in Chicago, the last thing I wanted was to be burdened with a car and the expense of owning one. My friends in Manhattan, who are blessed with a sizable income, don’t want the hassle of car ownership, and use public transportation and Uber to get around. I wouldn’t dare drive my car there.
When I was a kid growing up in Omaha, city buses were packed during rush hour, but Omaha and the nation became much more affluent over time, and the infrastructure reflected that——I saw that transformation in real time. It was a big deal for a middle-class family in the 1950’s and 60’s to have one car and one TV.

It’s going to take a while for middle-class and affluent people in Omaha to accept public transportation as a viable option; they just aren’t used to it. It’s too bad the streetcar doesn’t at least go further West, with a huge parking garage at the end of the line; or better yet, a line along 24th from Ames to Q St. (you know, a streetcar line that people would actually use). People won’t use it if it’s not convenient, or necessary. Even if you wanted to use the streetcar as planned, where would you park? The Washington Metro Transit Authority made sure to build massive parking garages at the ends of each line, without which, I don’t think many people from the burbs would bother.

[Renovator2559]

It would be a waste of resources to extend the streetlines to west omaha with the sparsely populated sprawling giant clogged streets of west O. Only if there are sufficient pockets of mixed used development projects, would it be viable to extend streetcar lines west.

The reason why people do not take transit in west omaha is because west omaha suburbs are poorly laid out, poorly zoned, with ugly strip malls surrounded by ugly parking lots, extra wide streets that are designed to discourage pedestrian use.

West omaha is a place to run errands and get out, because the overall environment is much more stressful to drive through and deal with all the noise since cars are jammed packed and funneled through the giant arterial roads, which connect the giant blocks of west omaha. (Yet people still have the belief that widening their streets and adding just another lane will solve their traffic woes)

Its not that public transit is seen as lower class, its simply the fact there is a stigma on using buses, but the same stigma does not apply to trams or streetcars.


If the west omaha suburbs were built like German suburbs, with proper residential/commercial single and multifamily zoning, then transit such as this example would work and people would not hesitate to take a streetcarline/tram

[TransitOriented]

If the west omaha suburbs were built like German suburbs, with proper residential/commercial single and multifamily zoning, then transit such as this example would work and people would not hesitate to take a streetcarline/tram

Are you saying we should demolish thousands of homes to rebuild better neighborhoods? What is your proposal to improve our current situation? Please don't reply with a youtube video.

[ita]

I am going away from the current conversation a bit. Omaha is in a different position than those systems referenced in the article. Those are heavily infrastructure laden systems. We currently have bus service only. OMetro, from what I can tell, runs a tight ship. Notwithstanding, having just become a regional transit authority with its own taxing powers, they recently increased their property tax levy to help increase] service. From my understanding, over the years routes have been reduced and/or removed altogether. Additionally, ridership levels are getting back up to prepandemic numbers.

Regarding the streetcar, the funding plan, depending on developer TIF, seems like it will pay for this initial route and maintenance and will not be dependent on fare costs. We'll see how it pans out, but I am fairly optimistic that once it's running, it will "pay for itself." Additionally, I personally, would not be adverse to paying for future maintenance with property taxes, if needed, once it's proven its utility/development spurring potential.

[Garrett]

If the west omaha suburbs were built like German suburbs, with proper residential/commercial single and multifamily zoning, then transit such as this example would work and people would not hesitate to take a streetcarline/tram

Are you saying we should demolish thousands of homes to rebuild better neighborhoods? What is your proposal to improve our current situation? Please don't reply with a youtube video.

Not necessarily. Loosening the zoning code to allow greater mixed uses in the neighborhoods we already have or will develop in the future would be a good start. No one should be forced out of their homes, and people should be allowed to continue to maintain the type of home they want, but also neighborhoods should continue to change as they age. Incorporate small 4 unit buildings into single family neighborhoods. Adjust streets as opportunities arise. Redevelop a lot of the major corner shopping centers that are starting to decay into walkable neighborhood centers with mixed uses. Let neighborhoods continue to evolve in common sense ways rather than being eternally static.

[Garrett]

Anyway, as for the numbers.

SF and DC in particular are struggling with transit because of the work from home culture. Ridership in most cities is still at around 70-80% pre pandemic ridership. But what a lot of agencies are seeing is increased demand for middle of the day ridership as well as nights and weekend ridership. I think expanded weekend service was just rolled out in NYC because of the demand. So transit agencies are now sort of reorienting themselves away from super high commuter use to a greater recreational use of their systems.