Omaha, NE — Trolley Plan Fading

Rail Transit Online, July 2002

A nearly $1-million transit study of the downtown Omaha area appears to be leaning away from a light rail or streetcar line proposed by former mayor Hal Daub.  During a series of public meetings held recently, Metro Area Transit (MAT) officials have implied that the rail route, from north Omaha through downtown to Rosenblatt Stadium, would be too costly.  They appear to favor the use of smaller buses linking residential neighborhoods to hubs that would, in turn, be connected to each other with express buses.  However, MAT claims the trolley proposal is still on the table but hasn’t taken center stage because it was previously studied by the city.  According to MAT Executive Director Gary Ruegg, the current analysis is aimed at looking at other options.  Meanwhile, Daub continues to lobby local and federal agencies and business leaders on behalf of the streetcar plan, believing it would aid the city’s economic development.  Daub, now a practicing attorney, said he won’t allow the rail alternative to die.  “The (federal study) grant requirement is to come up with a plan,” Daub told the Omaha World-Herald.  “And, with all due respect, this money should not be spent telling us why not and how we can't.”  Ruegg said rail would be mentioned more prominently during public meetings this summer, adding that the study is designed to obtain “…a fair evaluation (and not) to say that we're going to put a trolley in.  Our primary task is (better) transit.”  Current Mayor Mike Fahey says he’s not opposed to further consideration of a streetcar but believes it’s too costly right now.  An estimate made in 1999 puts the capital cost, including a dozen stations, at $50.7 million plus up to $1.5 million annually to run it.