Omaha Streetcar

The Omaha-Council Bluffs streetcar era began operations in 1868. By 1890, the metropolitan area had 90 miles (140 km) of tracks — more than any city except Boston. The Omaha Traction Company was the dominant private streetcar provider of the time; it was engulfed in repeated labor disputes.[1][2] By 1955, the city closed its streetcar system in favor of buses.[3]

In 2009, the City of Omaha and Heritage Services developed a Downtown Omaha Masterplan to improve the Omaha downtown area by 2030.[4] The transportation element of the Omaha Master Plan was completed in 2012, and included a Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) and other non-car transit as part of the transportation blueprints.[5] In 2013 as part of a central Omaha transit analysis, SB Friedman Development Advisors forecast central Omaha development impacts from improved transit.[6] The Friedman analysis compared streetcar projects from Portland, Seattle, and Tampa to BRT alternatives from Cleveland & Kansas, estimating the streetcar increases development by $1 billion & the BRT alternative by $262 million.[6] However, the Friedman analysis ignored Portland's $725 million, Seattle's $1 billion, & Tampa's $165 million in direct subsidies to developers calling into question if streetcar economic impact differs from other modes of transportation.[7] The central Omaha transit alternatives analysis was completed in 2014, narrowing down the alternatives to a BRT or streetcar system along Farnam and Harney or a Farnam Contraflow route.[8]

During her re-election campaign in April 2017, Mayor Jean Stothert said voters should decide the streetcar's future, hoping to put it on the November 2018 ballot, "I've always wanted the people to be the final decision," the mayor said. "That's nothing different."[10]

Rep. Don Bacon was unsuccessful in obtaining an $8 million earmark for the project in 2021.[11]

In 2022, a revised plan was announced by Mayor Jean Stothert and the Greater Omaha Chamber of Commerce's Urban Core Committee.[12] At the December 6, 2022, Omaha City Council meeting Thomas Rubin, CPA, CMA, CMC, CIA, CGFM, CFM, a transit industry senior executive, consultant, and auditor with four decades experience in transportation and an Omaha native provided a presentation.[13][14] Rubin states the Omaha Rapid Bus Transit (ORBT) excels over the proposed streetcar line on almost all standard transportation measures: going over three times as far west to serve more potential riders and destinations, faster operating speed, and more trips/day – and at a far lower cost that does not require hundreds of millions of dollars of additional taxpayer capital.[15] Rubin also highlights, per HDR analysis, the Omaha streetcar achieved most of the development potential already since ORBT began operations two years ago with two-thirds of the growth development ability of the proposed streetcar in the development corridor under study.[16] On December 13, 2022, the Omaha City Council approved the issuance of $440 million in bonds to fund the streetcar. $360 million is projected to be paid back with property taxes through tax increment financing, and $80 million from a lease purchase agreement.[17] Subsequently, investor Warren Buffett, an Omaha resident and owner of Berkshire Hathaway, published a letter to the editor in the Omaha World-Herald to oppose the street project. He cited its cost and inflexibility compared to a bus system.[18]

The streetcar would run on a three-mile (4.8 km) route from Cass to Farnam on South 10th Street, Farnam west to 42nd Street, and back to 10th Street on Harney. The streetcar was originally expected to be operational in 2026, and free for all riders.[19] On June 12th, 2023 streetcar officials stated plans to hire an outside company to run the streetcar, as Omaha has no one capable, and moved the beginning of operations to spring 2027.[20] While future expansions north, south, and west in Omaha and Council Bluffs, Iowa, have been proposed, Omaha city planning stated an alternatives analysis has yet to be completed on any proposal and would take a total of 8 to 10 years once started. [21][22]