News

YP Bus Challenge Update

Published: 2/18/2010

With the one-year anniversary of the YP Bus Challenge quickly approaching, we wanted to take a moment to relay some news about what's been happening since. A few key updates:

* Members of our committee will be meeting soon with City Council members, the Mayor's office and the Omaha Planning Department to present findings from the Bus Challenge Final Report. This follows a presentation made to Metro Area Transit's (MAT) board last August. View the report.

* Responding directly to your feedback, MAT is now re-evaluating its Web site and online "Trip Planner" feature. We hope to pass along more details about their progress soon.

* "Pass to Class" - a partnership between MAT and Metro Community College (MCC) -- has now resulted in a remarkable 41,000 rides since October 2009. Learn more about the program.

* MAT has committed $20,000 to the University of Nebraska at Omaha (UNO) Student Government's Sustainable Transportation Initiative, which hopes to replicate MCC's Pass to Class success by offering free ride passes to UNO students.

* Stay tuned for announcements from MAT about a "Bus to Work" and from Metro Area Planning Agency about an "Alternative Transportation Challenge" - both coming this spring.

What's next? We have a long way to go to make Omaha's public transportation system all that it should be, and the only way we'll get there is by keeping the conversation going. Please consider any or all of the following next steps:

Contribute to the discussion at RallyOmaha.com. From where you sit, how do we improve public transportation in Omaha?

Keep riding the bus, and share your experiences (good, bad and ugly) via RallyOmaha.com, Facebook and Twitter.

Be part of our Transportation Committee! Newcomers are welcome. For more details contact Gerard Wellman.

Attend the Young Professionals Summit on March 4, at the Qwest Center and ask others how they would improve public transit in Omaha.