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Omaha Has Issues
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maha has issues. In the May 11 general election, residents will decide what to do about them. Some are ubiquitous, others gained notoriety following social upheaval in 2020. Regardless, the way we talk about all of them feels abstract, disconnected from the people they affect.
ILlustration by FRANK OKAY
In this issue, The Reader and El Perico wanted to find people who live with these issues every day and give them a chance to talk. We hope the result centers the voices people need to hear and, combined with our other coverage, informs people on where Omaha is and the options that lie ahead...
Omaha Speeds Up with Rapid Transit, but the City Has a Long Way to Go by Karlha Velásquez Rivas
BL PU IC
ORBT is the city’s new rapid bus transit system. PhotoS by Karlha Velásquez Rivas
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n a recent Sunday, Jeff S., who did not want to provide his last name, sat on a bench at the Westroads Mall bus terminal waiting an hour for the bus home. He got rid of his car five years ago because he couldn’t afford maintenance costs, forcing him to leave his job
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in Council Bluffs because it took an hour and a half to get there from Omaha by bus. Ever since Omaha created its transportation system in 1972, uniting a patchwork of private systems, routes multiplied as the city
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and a half if you’re lucky. Also, the West area is completely unattended, so one has to walk and wait a long time for the bus to arrive.”
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There are currently three types of public transportation available in Omaha: the metro bus system, MOBY, a transportation service for disabled residents, and ORBT, the city’s new rapid bus transit system, which runs along Dodge Street. However, the system remains cumbersome for some who have to transfer up to three times in order to reach their destinations.
The bus schedule is available online at ometro.com, but not everyone has access to the internet.
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“Going to Council Bluffs and Bellevue is terrible,” Jeff said. “Transportation runs every hour
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grew. However, inconvenient schedules and the public’s preference for purchasing automobiles led to fewer passengers and reduced service.
“Before, you could have the schedule on paper,” Jeff said. “I think that because of the whole COVID-19 thing they no longer hand them out. I already know the schedules, but with that and the whole system’s route changes, and how sometimes the buses don’t run on time, if you don’t have a cell phone, you don’t know what happened.”
