Audio Story

Ashton Kay

When Sayed Mustafe moved to Omaha, he was shocked to learn about the state of public transportation here.

Sayed Mustafe

"So where I lived, it was like, Kabul Afghanistan, everything was pretty much organized for a third world country, but when I came to America I never expected this mess- like- to ride the bus for three hours and then wait another 2 hours for the next bus."

"It took me like 3 hours just to go to a grocery store and come back."

"I was really disappointed about the facilities and bussing system in Omaha."

Kay

The bus system is the current extent of the public transportation that the city offers.

This bus system includes both the ORBT(orbit) rapid transit which runs along Dodge Street and goes only as far west as Westroads, and the Metro Transit buses, which cover more of the city, but suffer from logistical problems.

Brian Neely

"The bus system in Omaha can be very inconsistent sometimes- well- a lot of times, and I think that makes it hard to get around it makes it hard to want to rely on the bus system."

Kay

Brian Neely is an Omaha resident who has throughout his life used Omaha’s public transportation.

He says that despite the benefits that the bus system provides, it suffers from a number of crucial issues such as lack of benches, shelters, and routes.

Brian Neely

"There's a lot of people who work not necessarily just in restaurants, just like any customer service job, work nights and not all of them have access to cars."

"Like I know some people I work with were like buying Ubers and stuff every day and like, that shouldn't be a thing so."

"The sidewalks are like not even fixed up. There's like overgrown trees."

"And so like I have to walk in the street to get around this construction and like potentially put myself in danger."

Kay

According to a 2023 article in the American Journal of Public Health, pedestrian traffic deaths have risen 54% in the past decade and have disproportionately affected minority communities.

The authors attribute this statistic as a result of redlining as roads built in these redlined minority communities are inherently more dangerous for walking.

The historical disinvestment into these communities has resulted in modern disinvestment into their transportation infrastructure.