Omaha Mass Transit

Omaha is a fast growing mid-sized city in the heart of the country.  The city itself has just over 400k residents and the metro is about double that size.  Currently, Omaha is a very car-centric city and congestion is a minimal problem.  You can travel anywhere in the city in under 20 minutes.  As Omaha continues to grow, we will eventually hit a sprawl wall.  Congestion will increase and the city will need some form of public transportation system to alleviate the added stress to the city's infrastructure.

Our city needs to start planning and thinking about how it will deal with future problems brought on by growth.  There is presently no need for any type of public rail infrastructure in the city.  However, once the metro area passes the 1 million population barrier, the city should expect rapid growth, as the city will suddenly appear on large multinational corporations' radar.  The 1 million population mark will bring an influx of jobs and people that Omaha's current infrastructure will be unable to handle. 

I've taken the liberty to draft 2 different plans for public rail in Omaha.  The first plan is a heavy rail (subways) based concept.  The second utilizes existing rail corridors and light rail while minimizing the use of heavy rail (subways).

NOTE: Both concepts utilize 'alternate routes'.  These are routes that would NOT be built, but could be if one of the original proposed routes was deemed to costly or impractical.  For example, on the 1st proposed plan, the Pink Line is an alternate route for the Red Line.  If the Red Line was deemed impractical, than the Pink Line would become 'Plan B'.


The following maps are from July 2010:

Rough Master Plan for Subway/light rail/heavy rail

Heavy Rail (probably underground):
Red Line
Green Line
Yellow Line
Blue Line

Alternate Lines (Light Rail that uses existing railway corridors):
Light Green Line
Pink Line

Special Commuter Train AND/OR Park & Ride:
Purple Line

NOTE: Where lines cross would be transfer station

Each marker represents station.

Tell me what you think, how would you improve it?



View Omaha Mass Transit in a larger map

Omaha Mass Transit Plan 2:

Rough Master Plan

Light Rail Based w/ some Heavy Rail
Takes advantage of existing rail lines.
Centered around Transit Center at old BNSF Station

Light Rail Lines:
Blue Line
Green Line
Red Line
Cyan Line

Heavy Rail (Subway) Lines:
Yellow Line
The Loop (Purple)


View Omaha Mass Transit 2 in a larger map

In my first idea for a mass transit system in Omaha, I focus on using subways.  I also do this in the 'Loop' and Yellow Lines in the 2nd idea for mass transit.  For the Subway Stations in both ideas, I think it would be worth investing in something grand like Washington D.C.'s subway stations.  I figure if the public and a brave politician decide that a heavy rail (subway) system would be a good idea for a future Omaha, than it will be worth spending a little extra on something that's nice to look at. 

Typical D.C. Subway Station