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All You Ever Wanted to Know About Omaha’s Snow Removal Program, an Interview with Austin Rowser
25 minute read
Introduction
Omaha was hit with measurable snowfall every day from January 8th to January 12th of 2024, with plummeting temperatures to follow. By Thursday of that week, I noticed some roads were clear, yet some still seemed messy. So, I emailed Austin Rowser, Assistant Director of Transportation for the City of Omaha, as I know him personally and had seen him featured in various media stories regarding the City’s snow removal efforts.
In my email, I requested an interview with him as I mentioned seeing what I considered “subpar” street cleaning around the city. In my role as co-founder of Safe Omaha Streets, we believe clean streets can lead to safer commutes, as poorly maintained streets can result in shorter stopping distances, crashes, and financial burdens. Austin promptly replied that he’d “love the opportunity to set the record straight.” We met on the morning of January 29th, and it was an informative and enjoyable interview.
While I’d spent a year on the Vision Zero Technical Advisory Committee with Austin, this would be our first one-on-one conversation, and I was a bit anxious about it. Austin was always knowledgeable and communicative in the TAC meetings, but his presence seemed physically imposing. He’s a former defensive lineman with a poker face and a powerful beard. However, Austin was forthcoming, transparent, and incredibly welcoming; I had no reason to be nervous.
Originally from Utah, Austin moved to Omaha in 2012 from Arkansas, where he attended college. From that time, he ran street maintenance and construction for the City of Omaha, with a few months stint away from the city, until he replaced Todd Pfitzer as City Engineer in February 2023 after Todd was elected to Douglas County Engineer.
Beyond Austin’s day-to-day responsibilities, he also educates others about snow removal. He teaches snow removal classes for the University of Wisconsin’s professional education series and presents at the annual Western Snow Conference most years. Speaking of conferences, Omaha was the host city for last year’s North American Snow Conference, which Austin helped plan. If you’re an equipment and public works nerd like me, you understand why conferences like this are weirdly exciting!
The Scale of Omaha
The first question I asked Austin was,
“Is there something you want people to know about your job that they may not know?”
His answer was immediate,
“I think the biggest thing that’s hard for people to understand is the scale. We work with 5,000 miles of street.”
He compared this amount to the number of road lane miles in Papillion (340 lane miles) and Council Bluffs (675 lane miles). He drove home that Omaha has nearly 10 times as many lane miles as Council Bluffs.
“It’s hard to see that because people tend to see things from the perspective of their neighborhood, or their commute, or where they go to the grocery store, and things are a lot bigger than people realize.”
The Challenge of Changes in Mobility
Trilety:
“There are a lot of challenges for cities now regarding snowplowing, such as fuel prices, increasing insurance for contractors, competition for drivers, the work is hard, etc. What are the specific challenges for Omaha?”
I honestly was not expecting the answer that Austin gave:
“I think this will resonate really well with you and your interests; I think one of the biggest challenges is the change in mobility. We’ve been such a car-focused-city snow removal program for so long, now the challenge has become making sure all of our accessible routes are uncovered and that people can cross the streets.”
He further explained that high occupancy rates in metered parking make plowing more difficult. Back in the day, metered parking may be empty overnight, but now there’s a 24/7 occupancy rate in metered parking, making getting to the curbside more difficult. Beyond these challenges, Austin offered this last one, “And then scale, same as your previous question. I mean if you think about it, we are driving to San Francisco and back.”
“With this change in mobility then, how do you manage those issues going forward?” I asked.
Austin didn’t hesitate to offer up another totally unexpected answer:
“With a lot of the alternative mobility issues, we are at a point where we need a change. We are looking at a special projects crew that does this; you know, in the summer, they have a bucket of work assignments to specialize in, such as soft area right-of-way maintenance, erosion, median type maintenance, and things that are outside the typical realm of pavement maintenance. And then in the winter, we’ll give them an assignment of urban core mobility snow removal so that they can specialize in that and be able to have a group that does it year in and year out. . . it will be beneficial for us.”
We discussed sidewalks and mobility later in the conversation, so keep reading if that’s your jam! And, like I explained to Austin, while SOS is just as concerned about sidewalks and accessibility as we are with roads and drivers, Mode Shift Omaha is the forerunner powerhouse for pedestrians and accessibility issues. We love to assist MSO’s efforts, but we also don’t want to step on any toes. Make sure to check out their website and their walkability team if you haven’t already.
All You Ever Wanted to Know About Omaha’s Snow Program
Normal Winter Weather Vs. Extreme Winter Weather
Beyond learning as much as possible about the city’s snow removal program, I also wanted to talk about the recent 2024 storm in particular. One of the first misconceptions Austin cleared up was that this past storm was not defined as “normal winter weather.” It was defined as “extreme winter weather.”
“I’m proud of the job we did in that last storm. It was an extreme storm, and our snow plan is written for normal winter weather. It says right up front that levels of service are based on normal winter weather, which we define. You know, normal winter weather is roadway temperatures that are above 15 degrees, for winds that are less than 20 mph, and snowfall rates that are less than an inch an hour; that’s normal winter weather.”
He pulled the "Winter Operations Plan and Procedures" manual from his bookshelf and said these different weather types were all defined in that document. When I asked if the public could also access these documents, he asked if I was familiar with the City’s snowplow tracker site because much of the information the public would need is already presented on that site. He was proud of the website and emphatically explained, “It’s a story map, too!”
Until a few days ago, it had been a while since I accessed the Snow Plow Tracker site, but it presents a load of information about the City and its snow removal plans. When you visit the site, you’ll find eight tabs:
Current Operations,
Introduction,
Level of Service Goals,
Defining a Spread Route,
What is a Residential Area,
Sidewalks,
Parking, and
Contact.
You’ll also find a reference to extreme weather under the “Level of Service” tab: Level of service goals do not necessarily apply to extreme winter weather events with
abnormal rates of snowfall,
extreme cold temperatures,
and/or excessively high winds.
Snowfall rates greater than 1” per hour,
freezing rain,
air temperatures below 10 degrees Fahrenheit, and
sustained winds greater than 20 miles per hour qualify as conditions that individually will classify a snowstorm as outside the bounds of normal winter weather.
If you haven’t checked the Snow Plow Tracker site in a while, bookmark it for the next winter storm as it’s a helpful tool.
The Orange Plow or The Pick-up Truck
For anyone who’s lived in Omaha longer than 15 years, you remember a time when the big orange plows were the royalty of the road. I asked Austin when the City switched from using exclusively city-owned plows to contractor-owned trucks.
The use of contractors for snow removal assistance began after the 2007/08 winter. Austin explained that traditionally, the City would clear all the arterial and collector streets first before starting to do residential streets, meaning residential streets wouldn’t be plowed for days after a snow. After the rough winter of 2007/08, the city generated a plan to provide faster service to residential streets based on feedback from a survey of some of Omaha’s residents. That plan included using contract forces to clear residential streets while the city plows cleared the rest. This new policy started in 2009.
I asked Austin how these contractors are held accountable or how the City manages the quality control of these contractors. He explained that the Public Works Department treats the snow removal contractors like any other contractors; they have contract administrators, superintendents, and engineering firms. For example, if an engineering firm is contracted to administer the contracts, they have all the specs, standards, drawings, and details regarding how the city wants streets plowed. Those engineers track behind the contractors to ensure that all specifications are met, and then the engineers report back to the City with all sorts of information, such as the start time, what kind of trucks were used, how many plows, etc.
As Austin said, “All the details are tracked and watched and managed.”
Currently, the City employs about 220 plow drivers (110 drivers per 12-hour shift) and between 20 and 25 contractors, totaling an additional 175 to 200 drivers.
Depth Matters – Four Inches or Two Inches
I walked into the meeting with nearly 30 questions, yet our conversation flowed so naturally that most of my questions were answered as we chatted. One question I did ask specifically, though, was this:
“I think there are differing expectations among the public, and between the city and the public, about the idea of a clean street. Can you speak to what the City’s expectation of a clean street is?”
Austin answered the question casually and confidently, a man at ease in his work,
“So, the city doesn’t have an expectation for what a clean street is, we have an established level of service (LOS) and those are all written down. We say if it’s an arterial street, this is our LOS; if it’s a collector street, this is our LOS; if it’s a residential street, this is our LOS; if it’s an alley, this is our LOS.”
You can find the definitions for these varying levels of service on the Snow Plow Tracker website.
While these levels of service reflect policy, and the City does not want to deviate from the stated policy, the levels of service are also periodically evaluated and updated as needed. For instance, while many of us in the city know that residential streets are only plowed after 2 inches of snow has accumulated, Austin explained, “We used to have a 4-inch level of service.”
This change also came about because of resident feedback. The City conducted another citizen survey after a rough winter in 2015/16. Most residents expressed that they were generally satisfied or happy with the City’s services, but the survey also showed that most residents wanted a 2-inch LOS instead of a 4-inch LOS. The new level of service, which we still currently have, was instituted originally during the winter of 2016/17.
As Austin and I talked about the Christmas Eve storm of 2015, he told me that the storm wasn’t accurately forecasted; thus, the City had to “react” rather than “plan.” At that point, I made a comment about the lack of accountability with weather forecasts, and he countered, “Forecasting takes an understanding of the science AND the limitations on the science.” We continued talking about forecasting, and he explained to me,
“We get forecasts from many sources. We have three paid forecasting services as well as what’s publicly available, and 24/7 on-call forecasters.”
How Long to Plow
Since we were speaking of levels of service, I asked if there was a reason why the city doesn’t continue to clear streets even after the LOS is met because the roads continue to get slushy and shitty after that, and then it’s like they were never plowed.
Like many of Austin’s answers, this one surprised and educated me,
“We plow and get it down as best we can. But what happens with snow that is packed down, is it then warms up and it fluffs. If it was a half inch of snow on the pavement, then that expands because it gets all that air mixed in it; that’s called snow fluff.”
While prepping for my interview with Austin, I’d read about snow fluff, and it seems that sometimes snow fluff can make a street look like it was never plowed.
Austin continued, “We don’t typically go back for that because we’ve met our LOS, but we will take requests.” One of the other reasons they don’t go back is that a lot of that snow is dragged from people’s driveways or on-street parking spaces.
Additionally, some people have been seen snow blowing or shoveling snow back into the street. Austin said they’ll actually yell at anyone they see doing that. While the City has a mechanism for assessing property owners if the City must provide cleanup for snow placed illegally in the right-of-way, it’s a cumbersome process so not often used unless there’s a very serious and costly problem.
Austin clarified,
“We would like to have the ability to issue simple citations on the spot when we see this behavior, however, this is something we have only discussed, and we are not actively working to make any municipal code changes for implementation.”
Additionally, while I’ve read that the City of Council Bluffs continues to plow their streets for days or weeks after snowstorms, just the scale alone would make that physically and financially tricky in Omaha.
The Mis-expectation of Bare Pavement
Another issue of LOS is the incorrect expectation of bare pavement. The level of service for residential roads is not “bare pavement,” the City states this on its website, the snow plow tracker site, and in the snow removal plan. Austin mentioned that he’s heard people complain about their streets not being plowed to bare pavement, “but what bare pavement means in residential areas is salt.”
The only way to get bare pavement is with salt.
. . . . Salt, Sand, or Brine
In preparation for our meeting, I watched an informative interview with Austin and Waverle Monroe from Channel 7 about the city’s brine production. I wanted to know more about the difference between salt, sand, and brine, and Austin gave me all the info I would ever need! And he made it entertaining as well,
“Any chemical that we use, whether it’s brine or salt - we make our own brine - if we don’t make the liquid, salt on the street makes brine, it’s the same thing – salt on the street becomes brine. So if you say you like salt better than brine, you’re saying you like eggs better than eggs.”
Regarding road application, I didn’t understand if the materials laid down were for traction, melting, or something totally different. And Austin summed up the goal clearly.
“The goal in all of that – this goes back to environmental concerns, the cost, the operations – the goal for any chemical use, there’s only one goal Trilety, that is to prevent a bond from forming between the snow and ice, and the pavement. Whether we are putting it down as brine before it snows, in liquid form, or if we are putting salt down during the storm, we are trying to prevent the bond from forming. . . .because once it’s bonded, you’ve got a mean scary animal to deal with and then you’ve got that fluff afterwards.”
But here’s the kicker, many of us are so concerned with what’s being applied to the roadways that we don’t understand that’s not where the heavy lifting happens in snow removal.
As Austin explained,
“95% of the job of snow and ice removal is moving it off the pavement – it’s clearing it – it’s mechanical. The chemicals we use are to assist our mechanical efforts, to help us get it off the pavement faster. Our goal is not to melt all the snow and ice because that takes way too much salt; it’s to melt it enough that we have a membrane there so that we can have free-flowing snow and ice on top of the pavement.”
Basically, when the snow is unbonded, it’s easier to move. And most of snow removal isn’t “removing” snow so much as “moving” snow.
When it comes to salt or brine, there are two types of applications: anti-icing and de-icing.
Anti-icing:
“Anti-icing is when we put something down proactively, and we typically use brine because it comes in liquid form so it’s easier to distribute. You put it on the pavement, and it sticks to the pavement. If I put salt down before a storm, what happens to the salt? It rattles and bounces around and sticks to cars. It gets pushed out of the way, but if I put it down in a liquid, then it stays in place and doesn’t get kicked out by cars. So that’s why we use brine as an anti-icing treatment before a storm. So now that first bit of snow that falls won’t bond, and it’s easier for us to push off when we come through with the plows.”
De-icing:
is when the city continues to apply salt to prevent any additional snow from bonding.
Salt works down to about a 15-degree pavement temperature, which can sometimes be stretched to 10 degrees in the right conditions, but once the pavement temperature drops below that, the salt is ineffective. Sand is the only option available at super cold temperatures like we had earlier this month. Sand provides roughness, texture, and traction. Beyond those frigid temperatures, the City doesn’t depend much on sand because studies have shown that the “bounce and scatter associated with sand” means that it gets kicked out of the travel lanes anyway.
Snow Emergency or No Snow Emergency
As someone who grew up in Omaha, I remember snow emergencies being declared more so in the past than now. A snow emergency was not declared in this last extreme storm, so I asked Austin to give me the rundown on snow emergencies and why or why not they are declared. The snow emergency ordinance states that in areas east of 72nd Street, if it’s an even date, then residents need to park on the even side of the street, and if it’s an odd date, then people need to park on the odd side of the street. This allows plows to have wide berths and ample clearance to plow the roads.
I was surprised to hear that Austin believes the snow emergency ordinance, as it’s currently written, is ineffective for a couple of reasons.
The first ineffective aspect of the snow emergency ordinance is that people
“think they have to move their car at midnight, which is a hassle for residents, but that’s the way the ordinance is written. From a practical standpoint, how does this really work, and what are the mechanics of it? The second thing is that when you look at our LOS, we’ve gotten pretty fast at snow removal compared to how we used to be. The way we define our LOS now, we want to have pretty much everything really done within 12 hours from the end of the accumulating snow.”
The timing becomes problematic when the snow is cleared so much faster than in the past.
As Austin explained,
“Let’s say we have a snow emergency that starts at 2 am with less than 4 inches of snow, and it’s 2 pm, and they’re done with half. The city crews continue to work and spread, but the contractors, as far as THEIR job, they can’t go back and do the other side until the next day, so they’re sitting around with nothing to do.”
Additionally, since the city now tries to have the contractors get snow removed within 12 hours, the timebound aspect of the snow emergency ordinance just pushes back the city’s efforts.
I asked why contractors can’t just work on something somewhere else during that time, but each contractor is assigned a section of the city, and they work only in their designated area.
Another issue Austin raised about the snow emergencies is the low compliance rate from residents. In prior snow emergencies, he estimated that compliance was about 50/50. “It’s not malice by any means, it’s about understanding,” he said about low compliance. The fact that we have such a variety of information sources, vs in the past when most people received their information from a much smaller pool of sources, also makes it hard to get the word out.
So, with so many obstacles or disadvantages to the snow ordinance, what are Austin’s thoughts as we move forward?
“Ideally, the best snow emergency to me would be you can’t park on the street during a snow emergency, period. That presents a problem in certain parts of our city where there’s no access to off-street parking. And that’s a relatively small area, so we have talked about maybe creating zones or tiers, but it’s really something that we should address because the ordinance we have is pretty ineffective.”
Now on to the Sidewalks & Crosswalks
While I was meeting with Austin mainly to talk about streets, I’d heard complaints from people and seen photos of poorly cleared sidewalks throughout the city. Unplowed or icy sidewalks are a safety hazard and a slap in the face for pedestrians and vulnerable users. So, I asked what sidewalks the City is responsible for clearing.
Austin clarified,
“The vast majority of sidewalks under city code are the responsibility of the property owner. The public has a right to access the sidewalk, and under city ordinance, that sidewalk is the responsibility of the adjacent property owner.”
Austin listed the types of sidewalks that are the City’s responsibility:
Sidewalks in all city parks
Sidewalks on any property the City owns, such as floodplain property or vacant lots
Sidewalks on bridges (generally) - the Parks Department clears them on behalf of Public Works
Any sidewalks associated with double-frontage lots that are ALSO along an emergency snow route - Double-frontage lots are lots that abut up to two streets that do not intersect.
Crosswalks are also the responsibility of the City, though not necessarily the sidewalks that lead to them.
Whose Responsibility?
If you see any clearance issues with crosswalks or the sidewalks listed above, submit a complaint to the city as soon as possible.
Since the city takes complaints about errant property owners who don’t remove snow by the 24-hour time limit, and the city currently has a backlog of sidewalk maintenance complaints, I asked Austin how snow removal issues on sidewalks are dealt with urgently.
He reiterated the burden of responsibility by saying,
“The bottom line with snow removal is if the property owner is responsible for it, then they should just do it. That’s the city’s stance. As far as urgency goes, you should clear your sidewalks. And property owners are responsible for clearing it whether they get a complaint or not.”
So I asked,
“What would you recommend people to do if it’s a business that isn’t clearing the sidewalks, especially in high pedestrian areas? Beyond complaining to the Mayor’s hotline, is there a better avenue for that?”
Austin encourages residents to contact the property owner first because the City’s process is an established bureaucratic process that will take days. Property owners are given 24 hours to clear their sidewalks, so if you want to complain to the city, that process will start after those 24 hours. The city will then send inspectors out to look at the issue, which can sometimes be 36 to 48 hours later. Once the inspector assesses the situation, they will send out notices to the property owners giving them 24 hours to clear the sidewalks. The inspectors go back out to check, which is potentially another 24 hours. After that, a contractor must be mobilized, and any cost from the contractor is assessed back to the property owner.
Austin further explained that these contractor costs are often high because they’re dealing with icy snowpacks that are laborious to remove.
So, instead of waiting for the City to go through its process, Austin recommends first complaining to the property owners because clearing your sidewalks is a law.
“Always complain to the person first. Ask them to clear their sidewalk.”
How To Make Complaints to Property Owners or the City
After our meeting, I went to the Douglas County Assessor’s website to see who the property owners were for some of the sidewalks around the 72nd & Dodge Street area, as we’d seen passionate citizens shoveling sidewalks in this area to keep them clear for pedestrians. Since it’s the property owners, not the City, who are responsible for most sidewalks, I was curious just how easy identifying and contacting the property owners would be.
While you could go into businesses in this area, like PetCo or Scooters (using these businesses for this specific example, not calling them out for poor snow removal), the folks who work there are NOT the property owners.
In fact, the property owner for PetCo is listed as
“72 Dodge Investors LLC, 8101 College Blvd. #100, Overland Park, KS 66210,”
and the property owner for the Scooters building is listed as
“RS Holdings I LLC, 202 S 73 Street, Omaha, NE 68114.”
At least the address on 73rd Street would be easy to access locally.
Since many businesses along high pedestrian areas are located on property owned by large companies or anonymous-sounding organizations, I emailed Austin and asked if the City has any better way for residents to contact these amorphous property owners. He replied that, unfortunately, they do not have any better way of contacting the owners than what is listed in the County’s records.
My suggestion for the public, at this point, would be to do all three of these things at a minimum:
Complain to the business
Complain to the property owner or holding company directly, which will likely have to be by post
Lodge a complaint regarding repeatedly errant property owners to the City and the City Council representative.
Keeping property owners accountable to the residents of this city will require a coalition of people and some creative efforts. Jim, the other co-founder of SOS, has already had fun coming up with a few entertaining possibilities, but for now, remember to start at the source and complain to the business and property owners first.
I’m mainly referencing businesses here, as homeowners are a different animal altogether. But with homeowners, approach them first, offer to help, or start a neighborhood-wide snow removal group!
What are your thoughts on encouraging, incentivizing, or shaming property owners into clearing their sidewalks?
Regarding submitting complaints or feedback regarding snow removal to the City, I asked Austin which complaint platform is best for Public Works.
“The best source for us is if people put it on omahahotline.com; that request gets directly routed to our system and to the foreman. They can also call the Mayor’s Hotline (402.444.5555) as that’s a good source for us. Or they can call the street maintenance line, which is a 24-hour number that’s really good for emergencies like a water main break at night that gets icy. We can dispatch someone 24/7 from that number: 402.444.4919.”
He doesn’t recommend initially complaining to City Council as the complaint will need to go through a lot of hands before it reaches Austin, and as he reminded me, “In our form of government, we don’t work for City Council, we work for the Mayor.”
As we were wrapping up the topic of complaints, I asked Austin if he’d heard any complaints from residents that he felt were warranted or if there were any things the City could do better next time.
He immediately answered me,
“Metered parking and sidewalks, yea. The sidewalks that are the City’s responsibility, I was not proud of that job. But we are always trying to improve.”
Similar to the whole interview, Austin was objective, measured, and honest. The amount of pride he takes in his job is matched by his humility.
Where the Snow Goes
Prior to my interview with Austin, I put a text out to our family thread to see if any of my family members had questions to ask, and my mom immediately popped back with, “Where do they store the snow they remove from parking lots, etc, the snow they load into haul trucks?”
As explained earlier, much of the snow in the city is “moved,” not “removed.” However, it’s a different case in the downtown business district where the City creates windrows of snow in the middle of the streets to keep the roadside improvements, i.e., sidewalks and metered parking, clear of snow. When clearing the windrows, snowblowers will deposit snow into trucks. That snow is taken to one of two locations in the city: 11th & Locust (Parks Department property) or in the middle of the south side of the cloverleaf interchange at 72nd & Center Street.
Lastly, let’s look at Funding
As much as I like to keep up on all-things-Omaha, I am ignorant about how street and sidewalk clearing is funded, so I asked Austin all about funding sources.
Any snow operations that are the City’s responsibility are funded
“from the street allocation, and that comes from gas tax primarily, but there’s also the wheel tax that we collect in the City, and then there’s vehicle sales tax. None of it comes from property tax, zero. The only thing that public works is funded for by property tax is the graffiti abatement program and solid waste. We provide solid waste services to residents without charging them anything.”
The Snowclusion
By the time we were wrapping up our interview, Austin had generously given me over an hour of his time. And like his answers to many of my questions, his answer to my last question surprised me!
I ended with this query,
“Have you ever driven a snowplow?”
He answered with a grin as if he was busting a myth,
“I have not.”
I was aghast, and he was not shocked. Austin chuckled and told me I’m not the first to look at his physical appearance and position and assume he’s driven a snowplow. But this bearded fella is a vest-wearing, dapper dresser who drives a Kia Soul.
The Snow Summary of it All. . .
Hey, you made it to the end of a 5,000 word long-form article, good on you!
Here are a few takeaways:
Omaha has 5,000 lane miles of road, compared to about 700 in Council Bluffs
The City is thinking about ways to address the challenge of changing mobility, ie the special projects team
Understand the definitions the City is working with when it comes to winter weather, roads, level of service, etc. Residential streets are only plowed after a 2-inch snow and they are not plowed/salted to bare pavement.
Contractors and city plows work together, and both are held to city standards
Levels of Service can be reassessed as the needs of the city change
The current snow ordinance is difficult to navigate, so the City is already thinking creatively about alternatives
Most sidewalks in the city are the responsibility of property owners, not the City. Complain directly to property owners first.
Post your other snow complaints to the city’s omahahotline.com website
Snow removal is not funded via property taxes, but instead via the gas tax, wheel tax, and vehicle registration.
One last SOS observation. . .
All throughout my year serving on the Vision Zero TAC, I repeatedly said that I believe the City has a communications problem. If residents had more information about what and why the City does things, I believe there’d be less ire between residents and the City. This is one reason why I think this article is so important and should be shared widely.
Communications and the City could be improved if:
The City had a standalone position for a Communications Director.
The City had improved and interactive social media platforms.
The City actually sent out a newsletter – when you go to the City’s website, it encourages you to sign-up for the newsletter, but after years of being signed up, I’ve yet to see a newsletter.
Lastly, the department that is a great model for communication is the City’s Solid Waste Program – Wasteline. Their newsletters, website, text messages, and all-around communication are stellar. I’d LOVE if every department, or the City in general, would follow the Wasteline model.
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THANKS FOR READING!
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Omaha’s Vision Zero Action Plan Passed Unanimously! Also, the Scrum about the Word “Equity.”
Omaha’s first Vision Zero Action Plan was unanimously adopted (7-0) by the Omaha city council on November 14, 2023. The plan was adopted nearly one year after the date of the first meeting of the Vision Zero Technical Advisory Committee, which was held on November 3, 2022. But the efforts to make Omaha a Vision Zero city didn’t start there; it started several years earlier with vocal citizens sounding the alarm about unsafe streets. Mayor Stothert responded to residents by assembling the Vision Zero Task Force in 2018. The Task Force worked unpaid and tirelessly to put together an informative report with thoughtful recommendations. Because of their work, the Mayor/City hired a Vision Zero Coordinator, Jeff Sobcyzk, and initiated the development of the action plan that was just adopted.
On November 14, the resolution to adopt the Vision Zero Action Plan was item number 66 on the agenda, however, it was moved up to number 1 because the Mayor was in attendance to provide her supportive testimony.
Some of the Mayor’s initial comments were statements of gratitude to the Mayor’s Active Living Advisory Committee and the Vision Task Force. (As an aside, there are currently openings on this all-male ALAC board. If you believe you would be an asset to this committee, please go through the process of requesting appointment.) She then provided a history of Omaha’s Vision Zero process, as well as summarized the Plan’s three priorities of safe speeds, safe users, and safe streets.
Mayor Stothert said, “Public safety is my number one responsibility. For several years, traffic deaths and serious injuries have increased in Omaha at an alarming rate.” She continued that this data is one of the reasons why the city made a commitment to become one of 40 Vision Zero cities in the nation.
Equity
But my ear was caught suddenly when the Mayor spoke on “equity.” Her tone went toward scold, when she said “There has been some pushback from some council members as to reference to the word ‘equity’ in this plan.”
Up until that moment, I’d never heard anything but supportive comments from a few council members, so to hear of “pushback” was startling. . . and intriguing.
The Mayor continued, “In this context, equity means accessibility; ensuring that all users of our roads – drivers, pedestrians, and cyclists – have access to safe streets. Crash data shows a higher percentage of fatal and serious injury crashes occur in older parts of our city, especially north and south Omaha. These neighborhoods have older infrastructure, fewer sidewalks, and narrow and congested streets. Vision Zero equity means everyone can travel on our streets safely, and every person in Omaha is able to arrive home safely to their families.”
As a member of the Technical Advisory Committee, a group integral to the plan's development, I can attest that “equity” was a driving guideline for our work. But in all our discussions on equity, the committee agreed that along with prioritizing projects in areas where the data showed the most fatalities and serious injuries, equity also meant that safety projects should be fairly distributed across all council districts, especially since there are high injury networks/intersections across the city. I am unsure how the vote would’ve gone without the Mayor’s comments about equity, but I appreciated that she made her comments publicly in front of the City Council.
The topic of equity would come up later in the council meeting and became a focus of discussion for both council members Melton and Harding.
Specifically, Councilmember Melton said “I do believe that the word equity is a buzzword that is just used for everything and think that that’s the problem. Now, we do, we see that about every 10 years we have a new word, like sustainability, that’s used for everything. You’ve got to think about what is the real meaning. So what I appreciated was Mayor Stothert and Jay and Jeff really clarifying this is what we mean, we mean we have to list our priorities using the data so that the people and the roads that are most affected are done first. To me I guess, you don’t have to actually call it equity, you have to call it common sense.”
But including the actual word “equity” in a plan of this stature is important. It is important that a guiding theme of a plan that affects people is fair and is called out as such. If equity were common sense, then we wouldn’t have all the unequal distributions of opportunities and services that many cities and states in America have today.
Both Melton and Harding said they could “nitpick” or “make edits” to the plan, but they decided to approve it “as is,” which is appreciated since having 100% support behind a citywide plan will hopefully instill more public trust in this document and its approach.
Supporters & Opponents
Before discussion among council members, several folks, including many from the TAC, spoke in support of the resolution. Only one person spoke in opposition, and that was Larry Store, a known fixture at city council meetings to speak in opposition to projects that may increase taxes or use federal funds. I often do not agree with Larry’s views, but I do appreciate his flair and passion at the podium – who else would bring up the movie Soylent Green in reference to the Vision Zero Action Plan? Only the creative mind of Larry, that’s who!
You can see clips from some of the proponents in this great story by Alex McLoon of KETV. Also check out these worthwhile stories by Joe Harris from WOWT and Molly Hudson from KMTV.
See below for a copy of the testimony I read at the city council meeting that day:
My name is Trilety Wade of Safe Omaha Streets – (state address for record). I am here today both as a representative of Safe Omaha Streets and a member of the Vision Zero Technical Advisory Committee to support the adoption of the Vision Zero Action Plan. Many people, from consultants and city staff to non-profits and safety groups, worked incredibly hard for one year to put together the plan in front of you today.
The Plan includes a variety of great recommendations that we applaud, such as
• expanding data gathering on crashes, (which will provide a more accurate snapshot of the problems on our roads and possibly open opportunities for funding)
• increasing support for the Traffic Unit, (which is needed since the size of Omaha has increased by about 15% in the past decade, while our traffic unit has decreased in size by about 12% in that same period),
• leveraging public/private partnerships (which can widen both financial and citizen support of Vision Zero)
• establishing a fatal crash review commission, and
• institutionalizing a Vision Zero committee, which will provide oversight and support to the city in its Vision Zero efforts.
However, As the City works toward zero deaths and serious injuries, we do urge leaders to bolster the efforts to curb the presence of alcohol-impaired drivers on our roads, especially since data shows over 25% of road fatalities involve alcohol, and that percentage continues to increase. We echo many of the recommendations included in the submitted written testimony of Chris Wagner from Project Extra Mile, who also served on the TAC.
Not all Vision Zero Plans succeed, in fact many cities have seen their efforts fail due to lack of funding, lack of political leadership, and lack of thoughtful oversight. But from what I’ve seen as a member of the TAC, and what I hope to see here today, I believe we have the support of leaders and city departments, and the Plan already includes mechanisms for oversight. What’s left is funding, something the city will need full support of as we go forward.
Lastly, the adoption of this Vision Zero Action Plan will not solve all our problems. We have a consistently dangerous culture of driving in Omaha. This consensus was echoed by many residents who attended the Vision Zero pop-ups, and I encourage you to read their comments in Appendix A of the Plan. Vision Zero is a solid start, and this plan should be adopted, but our efforts should not stop there.
Alcohol
Here is the written testimony of Chris Wagner, mentioned in my testimony above.
This testimony is included in the “communications in support” tab on agenda item number 66 of the 14 November 2023 City Council agenda.
Both Chris's and my concerns on alcohol were picked up again by Alex Mcloon and presented in this KETV story, “Omaha traffic advocates say Vision Zero action plan goes light on alcohol.”
The vision zero action plan is a living document; we were told this time and again during our TAC meetings, and we believe that is a solid approach to having a plan that meets the needs of a growing city. So I hope that as the Plan grows and is updated, more will be done to curb the dangers of drunk driving on our streets and in our communities. However, many strategies to reduce drinking must happen at the State level. While the Vision Zero plan can advocate for state-level change, it is up to citizens to press their representatives to take alcohol more seriously in this state.
Ninety minutes later. . .
Ninety minutes into the meeting, and about 80 minutes into the Vision Zero agenda item, the resolution was unanimously passed 7 to 0. With the presentations by the mayor and the Vision Zero consultant, Jay Aber, taking up about 15 minutes total, and testimony from the proponents/opponents taking up 30 minutes, discussion and questions among the city council members took about 35 minutes. As many of the folks there for Vision Zero filed out, we assumed it would be a long meeting since our item took nearly 80 minutes. But it wasn’t until I opened the video recording of the city council meeting days later and saw the timestamp of 5:26:56 that I thought about government efficiency and the responsibility governing bodies have to the public to make sound decisions in a reasonable amount of time, but that’s for a later OpEd ha!
The Power of Our Plan
When I was first appointed to the Vision Zero Technical Advisory Committee, I was THRILLED! As the process continued, there were times I was anxious and frustrated. I am proud of the Vision Zero Action Plan presented to and unanimously adopted by the City Council. If you are a resident of Omaha, please read this document, and if you are a public engagement- or traffic-nerd, then read through the copious appendices.
What is most exciting about the Vision Zero plan is that it is a dependable new tool in the City’s toolbox. It will allow for more freedom and creativity from city staff and leaders. The City Council's unanimous support for this action plan is also a tool. When the city comes forward with safety projects, such as roundabouts, the council can be reminded of their support of the Vision Zero Action Plan and have a clearer conscience when voting yes on a thoughtful and safe design that neighboring residents may not like. We are excited to see the plan implemented and pleased Jeff Sobczyk is at the wheel.
What do you think?
Have you read the Plan? What are your thoughts?
The State of Omaha’s Traffic Unit
Photo by Jordan Andrews on Unsplash (It’s not of an Omaha officer, but I really dig this photo)
For years now, it has seemed to me that there are fewer traffic officers in Omaha. Anecdotally, I believe I used to see more people being pulled over for speeding infractions, etc, in years passed, but I didn’t have anything to back it up. So I went digging. . . .
Let’s first go back a bit. . .
Being appointed to the Vision Zero Technical Advisory Committee as the SOS representative has afforded me privileged participation in the development of Omaha’s first Vision Zero Action Plan. But it has also afforded me the opportunity to meet folks from the Omaha Police Department, specifically the Traffic Unit.
Both Lieutenant Straub and Sergeant Menning have been great resources to the Vision Zero TAC and to me as well. Additionally, and probably most importantly, the officers on the TAC are the ones who seem most desperate for safety improvements on our roads because they see the trauma and tragedy of crashes on a daily basis. This does indeed hit home for them.
What does the Traffic Unit Do?
Let’s start with the little bit I’ve learned about our traffic unit. First off, whenever we talk about enforcement in the City of Omaha, Lt Straub reminds the committee that Omaha is a city of over 140 square miles with about 5,000 lane miles of road; it’s a lot to cover.
The size of the city and the amount of road reminds me that just because I’m not seeing police in the areas I drive, doesn’t mean they aren’t out there. And the Omaha Traffic Unit focuses on the WHOLE city as well as major expressways.
Traffic unit officers conduct specific traffic-related enforcement within different areas of the city, all of which usually change monthly. They mostly concentrate on areas of concern provided by the public. Each month, the traffic unit receives a list from the City Council, Mayor’s Hotline, and direct complaints from citizens. Lt Straub compiles that list and provides it to his officers. (You can learn more about this process and how you can get on the enforcement list by reading our earlier post called Perception vs. Reality in Citizen-driven Complaints)
In addition to those areas, the traffic unit concentrates on Dodge Street and other major thoroughfares throughout the day and night. Lt Straub may also add additional locations to the roster where recent crashes have occurred. Going where the crashes are isn’t just the domain of the traffic unit as officers from other precincts can check out a radar device and conduct traffic enforcement in an area that they know to be a problem for speeding and crashes.
Speaking of radar, every recruit – not just the Traffic Unit – receives training in radar devices. And each precinct has a certain amount of hand-held radar devices that can be checked out. The Traffic Unit, however, has radar devices mounted inside their vehicles. And just because another officer doesn’t have a hand-held device doesn’t mean they can’t pull someone over for suspected speeding; however, the officer must be able to articulate that the driver was indeed speeding. Lt Straub did remind me that other circumstances, such as reckless driving, are often layered with speeding, and drivers can be pulled over for that – no radar needed!
The Traffic Unit also goes to the scene of serious injury and fatality crashes. If there is a Code3 TCC (trauma center candidate), that often indicates there is a “serious injury,” so Traffic Unit officers are deployed to those crashes. Have you ever wondered what exactly a serious injury is? Well, it can include compound fractures, head/neck injury, significant trauma to the body, loss of limb, etc. The “look” of a crash doesn’t always indicate how serious the injuries are either. The Traffic Unit no longer responds to non-injury crashes. So if you call 9-1-1 after a non-injury crash, police will not respond.
The Traffic Unit also participates in education. They have a squad called Project Night Life that specifically works with educating teens on risky driving behaviors. Officers have provided presentations to thousands of metro-area high school students and other teen groups on these behaviors. As part of the Project Night Life effort, there are also NDOT grant-funded enforcement operations specifically intended to reduce teen-related crashes in Omaha.
Lastly, did you know that beyond traffic, the Traffic Unit also participates in functions around the city, like parades and large events? With events like these, think the current College World Series, the Traffic Unit’s presence is more about public safety than about enforcement.
So How Big is Omaha’s Traffic Unit?
One of my favorite tangible tasks I’ve learned since we started SOS is how to conduct a public records request. I’ve done this twice now through the City of Omaha’s Police Department, and it’s always a slick and respectful process.
A couple of weeks ago, I submitted a request to find out just how many officers we have on Omaha’s Traffic Unit, both now and over the past decade.
I have to say, based on everything the Traffic Unit does in our city, I was floored at the data I received in reply to my public records request.
For a city with a population of 486,051 (based on the latest census data from 2020), Omaha currently has 34 people in the Traffic Unit. This number includes both command and officers.
THIRTY-FOUR.
It can be argued that the work of the Traffic Unit is supplemented by other entities. Specifically, the Traffic Unit uses more than just its own traffic officers. They are also supported by Nebraska State Patrol and Douglas County, who also conduct enforcement. Further, the City of Omaha’s Traffic Unit conducts grant operations where they recruit officers from other precincts to join in the effort.
So if the Traffic Unit currently employs 34 people, how big (or small) was the Traffic Unit in previous years?
Well, here’s the breakdown for the past 10 years:
Year Traffic Unit Staff
2014 - 39
2015 - 38
2016 - 38
2017 - 39
2018 - 38
2019 - 39
2020 - 36
2021 - 38
2022 - 38
2023 - 34
According to census data, from 2010 to 2020 Omaha’s population increased from 408,958 to 468,051, which is about a 15 percent increase. An article from August of 2021 on the City of Omaha website echoes the total population of 468,051 but indicates the population increased by 19%.
Yet from 2014 to 2023, the Traffic Unit decreased its staff from 39 to 34, which results in a 12.82 percent decrease.
Over the decade, the average number of Traffic Unit officers/command was 37.7. We are still lower than that now.
I wondered how the size of our Traffic Unit correlated with traffic fatalities during those same years and as you’ll see below there really isn’t any significant correlation between a larger traffic unit and fewer fatalities or vice versa.
Year Traffic Unit staff Fatal Crashes
2014 39 No data
2015 38 (decrease) 38
2016 38 (no change) 28 (decrease)
2017 39 (increase) 35 (increase)
2018 38 (decrease) 32 (decrease)
2019 39 (increase) 30 (decrease)
2020 36 (decrease) 38 (increase)
2021 38 (increase) 31 (decrease)
2022 38 (no change) 39 (increase)
2023 34 (decrease) Data through April = 15
But Traffic Enforcement Can Affect Safety
There is great debate, and not a lot of consensus, over whether or how much the presence of enforcement influences safe driving. Many of the studies that indicate an increased presence of traffic enforcement is correlated with a decrease in dangerous driving behavior agree that High Visibility Enforcement (HVE) is the most effective strategy of enforcement, and that the window for sustained behavior change is small, ie, reductions in illegal driving behavior often last only 3 to 4 weeks after enforcement.
HVE is something we talk about as a strategy at our Vision Zero meetings. If you’re into getting nerdy about HVE, check out this comprehensive and interesting HVE toolkit by the NHTSA!
If you just want to know what HVE is, then read below:
High Visibility Enforcement combines enforcement, visibility elements, and a publicity strategy to educate the public and promote voluntary compliance with the law. Checkpoints, saturation patrols and other HVE strategies should include increased publicity and warnings to the public. Although forewarning the public might seem counterproductive to apprehending violators, it actually increases the deterrent effect. (emphasis added)
The HVE concept is a departure from traditional law enforcement tactics. HVE incorporates enforcement strategies, such as enhanced patrols using visibility elements (e.g. electronic message boards, road signs, command posts, BAT mobiles, etc.) designed to make enforcement efforts obvious to the public. It is supported by a coordinated communication strategy and publicity. HVE may also be enhanced through multi-jurisdictional efforts and partnerships between people and organizations dedicated to the safety of their community.
Anecdotally, it could be argued that the presence of traffic enforcement will reduce traffic infractions. While I personally don’t speed or run red lights and am committed to stopping at stop signs, etc., I also wouldn’t necessarily be concerned about being stopped if I did NOT drive legally because it “seems” like I see fewer police than I used to a decade ago. However, I’m a white middle-aged cis-gendered woman, so my experience and/or lack of agitation over being stopped by police is COMPLETELY different from BIPOC or LGBTQIA+ people. The topic of enforcement is both delicate and incendiary. Because of a history of systemic racism in both our society and our institutions, it is no wonder that especially in this post-Floyd era the idea of increased enforcement could be taken as an attack on safety. All enforcement should be fair, safe and equitable. But as you’ll read in this recent article title “Using Loophole, Seward County seizes millions from motorists without convicting them of crimes” from the Flatwater Free Press, Nebraska enforcement can be controversial.
So How Does Enforcement Fit Into Vision Zero?
One of the first questions I asked at our introductory Vision Zero TAC meeting was if enforcement would be included in the Vision Zero plan, and I was told that “yes,” enforcement is included in the Vision Zero approach. However, since Vision Zero incorporates the Safe System Approach, enforcement is included but definitely not dominant.
The Safe System Approach is a data-driven, holistic, and equitable method to roadway safety that fully integrates the needs of all users, anticipates the possibility of errors by drivers and other road users, and manages crash impact forces to levels tolerated by the human body. The Safe System Approach includes five elements: safe road users, safe vehicles, safe speeds, safe roads, and post-crash care. The approach incorporates the 5 Es of traffic safety—equity, engineering, education, enforcement, and emergency medical services (EMS)—but goes beyond the traditional approach to enlist designers, operators, and users of the transportation system to prevent fatal crashes and reduce crash severity. NHTSA’s efforts focus on safe road users, safe vehicles, safe speeds, and post-crash care. [emphasis added]
Specifically, the type of enforcement that is currently included as a countermeasure in the Draft Vision Zero Action Plan due out later this summer is HVE.
One other way that enforcement influences safer driving behavior is through ticket dismissal/deferment programs like the ones you can take at the Nebraska Chapter of the National Safety Council. Their website puts it best:
Take a class and you'll avoid the points and fines up front. You won't plead guilty, you don't have to go to court, and you don't have to pay your ticket. No points will be assessed against your driver’s license and you may save on car insurance costs. In class, you'll learn life-saving driving techniques that will change your life forever. [Emphasis added]
Think about this for a second. . . each citation that is eligible for dismissal via training, could result in another motorist who receives education on safe driving! The fewer citations we have, the fewer options there are for drivers to receive continuing education. And you only have to drive around this city or look at just some of the data to see that people around Omaha do NOT know how drive safely or legally.
With the latest numbers showing that the Omaha Police Department is 83 officers short of its budgeted amount and the City actively recruiting officers with an increase in pay, I do hope that the Traffic Unit is prioritized. We have 12% fewer people on Omaha’s Traffic Unit this year than we did 10 years ago, yet the city’s population has grown.
The responsibilities of the Traffic Unit go well beyond just traffic stops to encompass public safety and education. If High Visibility Enforcement stays in the Vision Zero Action Plan as a safety countermeasure to support all the other safety measures, including design, engineering, education, etc., then we will need a well-staffed Traffic Unit. Additionally, there’s the theory that the more citations issued means more of the general public will receive safe driving education (look for a whole post dedicated to that topic alone!).
Lastly, serving on the Vision Zero TAC has shown me not just the hard data of death, but the toll it takes on everyone, and if a more robust Traffic Unit can reduce serious injuries and fatalities on our roads, then I am all for it.
What are your thoughts? Don’t be shy, comment below!
Updated Crash Forms & How They Influence Vision Zero
The City of Omaha is deep in the process of developing a Vision Zero Action Plan that will support the Mayor’s goal of safer streets for all.
Vision Zero is a data-driven approach to reducing fatalities and serious injuries on our roads.* Data, especially quantitative data, is important because it provides an accurate picture of the nature and safety of our roads and drivers. This data is used to identify high-injury networks and then design evidence-based solutions to address these dangerous areas in our road network.
However, what I’ve learned from being on the Vision Zero Technical Advisory Committee is that data is only useful if you HAVE it. For instance, during the TAC’s Distracted & Impaired Driving Focus Group a few months ago, we learned that since not much data is gathered on distracted driving, we don’t really know if distracted driving is the problem many of us “believe” it to be in the State of Nebraska.
We need to widen our nets to gather all the pertinent data.
And the State did just that!
THE UPDATED MANUAL
The Nebraska Department of Transportation recently released the 5th edition of the Model Minimum Uniform Crash Criteria (MMUCC) Guideline titled the “Investigator’s Motor Vehicle Crash Report Manual - April 2023” which provides a standard set of motor vehicle traffic crash data variables to be collected on crash forms.
This 61-page document is a uniform guide for enforcement officers who collect crash data, specifically the manual states:
“The information collected by law enforcement officers on these reports provides the foundation for the statewide crash database, which is the foundation for crash analysis and contributes to the success of the state’s highway safety program. Accurate reporting of motor vehicle crashes ultimately serves to make Nebraska’s roadways a safer place to travel.”
See how important data is?
The last major update to this Guide was in 2002 – over 20 years ago! Think about how much the nature of crashes has changed since then. In that time our cell phones have been inextricably integrated into our lives (and cars) and vehicle size has increased.
The Forms
I had NO idea how comprehensive these crash reports are. As an aside, notice the use of the term “crash” instead of “accident,” this is important as the word accident implies no one or no thing is at fault, but a “crash” indicates fault, whether shared amongst users or infrastructure.
There are a total of 6 possible forms an enforcement officer could choose from at a crash, including 1) General form, 2) Continuation form, 3) Vehicle Continuation form, 4) Heavy Truck/Bus form, 5) Non-motorist form, and 6) Fatal form.
See the image below from the Manual to understand which form is used for which scenario.
A crash investigation form basically gathers every variable from location (including latitude & longitude) and infrastructure (intersections, road surface, traffic controls, etc) to context (seating arrangement, weather, restraints, helmets, etc) and injury (fatal, serious, suspected serious, minor, none, etc).
The Updated Forms
To better understand the changes to the crash forms, I reached out to Don Butler at the Nebraska Department of Transportation and Lt. Straub of the Omaha Police Department. Butler works for the agency that released the manual, and Straub works for the agency that uses the manual.
It’s Bigger
Yep, the new crash forms have 50% more fields for collecting data! This means a heavier load now for crash investigators but beneficial data for planners and engineers in the future.
Per Don Butler, here are some of the new categories of data that will be collected for these updated crash forms:
Distracted Driving Details
Speeding Details
Additional Roadway Characteristics
Non-Motorist Action & Location Prior to Crash
Additional Details When Crash Involves Fatality
Vehicle Automated Driving Systems
Commercial Motor Vehicle Trailer Details
Drug Impairment Testing
Notice the first category of Distracted Driving. Having officers gather this data will provide the State with a more accurate picture of the severity of distracted driving in Nebraska. Once that data is gathered, it has to be analyzed, interpreted, and then presented. And then, State and Municipality leaders can really start to make some headway on creating solutions to our distracted driving problem.
Every new bit of data that is gathered from the categories above can be used to inform solutions to problems even beyond distracted driving, such as speeding, infrastructure and design, autonomous vehicles, impairment, and more.
Do these new forms change the investigation?
In a nutshell, no, the investigation remains mostly unchanged. Lt Straub explained that while the forms are larger and capture more data for statistical purposes, they don’t really affect the investigation, “it just provides more data.” Think about that – enforcement officers are essentially acting as researchers collecting data to be used down the road for safety measures.
How does this influence Vision Zero?
Vision Zero is data-based, so more data means hopefully better and more accurate decision-making. And after 20 years, it’s great to see the Crash Forms be updated, and it’ll be even better to reap the benefits of all this additional data. But if the City of Omaha expects the Vision Zero Action Plan to be complete this year, how does future data collected via these new forms influence Vision Zero? Well, Vision Zero Action Plans are living documents, such that any new data can inform any updates to a City’s existing Plan - and cities SHOULD update their Vision Zero plans. Additionally, one of Omaha’s Vision Zero goals is to provide more data about crashes on their local dashboard, because at this point only fatalities - not serious injuries - are reported. So these new forms will provide more data (after it goes through the process of analysis and interpretation) that can be presented to the public and decision-makers. Hopefully, in the future, our local dashboard will also include information on distracted driving, and you’ll have NDOT as well as state and local enforcement agencies to thank for that.
* For a recap of the Vision Zero process so far, check out our VZ-focused posts, including:
The First Meeting of the VZ TAC
Vision Zero Update: Guiding Principles & Focus Areas
Navigating Omaha’s Vision Zero Efforts
Vision Zero Update: The Problems, the Solutions, and the Focus Groups
Progress Update on Omaha’s Vision Zero Efforts
Thanks for reading, and please comment below!
Cover image via Unsplash via Getty Images
Progress Update on Omaha’s Vision Zero Efforts
Blog post image is of Tim Adams, the WSP Consultant for the City of Omaha (image by me)
During the week of April 3rd, members from the Vision Zero Technical Advisory Committee met three days in a row for hours at a time to continue the Focus Area Working Group discussions. As we inch closer to the first draft of Omaha’s first Vision Zero Action Plan (VZAP), I’m constantly noticing how complex and complicated this process is.
This update post summarizes the highlights of what I found to be the most memorable and important parts of the three meetings.
PARTNERSHIPS
One major takeaway from the meetings that was first suggested on day one, and was thankfully echoed by the consultants on subsequent days, was the need for public-private partnerships. In a city that has an established preference for public/private relationships, it was suggested that the upcoming VZAP recommend public and private partnerships for projects focused on traffic safety. Not only could this expand the reach of the city, but it could reduce the budgetary burden that comes with Vision Zero projects.
MAYORAL LEADERSHIP
The first day started off with the consultants playing a clip from the Omaha Mayor’s State of the City address, where she expanded on the topic of Vision Zero that she first introduced at the beginning of her speech. It was reemphasized to us that Omaha’s mayor is in full and complete support of Vision Zero. Here’s the transcript of the clip:
This summer, we will present our Vision Zero action plan to the City Council for approval. Vision Zero represents a comprehensive approach to eliminate traffic deaths and serious injuries. This is accomplished through long-term changes in design, construction, and signage for streets, intersections, pedestrian paths, and other modes of transportation. We have joined 40 other communities in the United States and many others worldwide in our Vision Zero commitment. Last year 45 people died in crashes in Omaha, more than those killed in gun violence.
BEHAVIOR
The first day of meetings focused specifically on “behavioral” countermeasures vs “infrastructure” countermeasures that were discussed in the remaining two days of meetings.
SPEEDING - Most countermeasures that will curb speeding are infrastructure-focused, but here are some of the behavioral solutions for speeding including posting frequent speed limit signs, setting speed limits by safety target (ie based on context and users, not the 85th percentile rule), speed feedback signs, automated enforcement (specific to lobbying at the State level for it to be legal), and high-visibility speed enforcement.
High-visibility enforcement is different from regular enforcement.
Per the NHTSA:
High visibility enforcement combines enforcement, visibility elements, and a publicity strategy to educate the public and promote voluntary compliance with the law. Checkpoints, saturation patrols and other HVE strategies should include increased publicity and warnings to the public. Although forewarning the public might seem counterproductive to apprehending violators, it actually increases the deterrent effect.”
It’s basically enforcement with improved outreach and communication, which we appreciate.
Also regarding speeding and enforcement, it was brought up that enforcement is often the missing component to speed-reduction campaigns, but enforcement must be equitable and safe. Since Omaha depends as much on its citizens, as much as the OPD traffic unit to identify unsafe traffic conditions, the city and OPD should improve outreach regarding complaint-driven enforcement requests. To learn more about this, read our recent blog post titled “Perception vs. Reality in Citizen-driven Complaints.”
BICYCLISTS & PEDESTRIANS - Similar to the topic of speed above, pedestrians and cyclists are usually best protected by road design and infrastructure improvements more so than with behavioral changes. But behavioral approaches are still important and are often most effective when targeted.
Most of the behavioral countermeasures outlined by the consultants were focused on youth, while only 1 countermeasure was directed at adults, specifically Pedestrian Safety Zones (“allocating resources to problem areas. Focus on geography, as well as populations (older, younger & impaired pedestrians).”
This ended up being a long discussion about how Vision Zero solutions should be based on data, yet the data does not show that children are the victims of pedestrian or bicycle crashes; adults are. The TAC expects the consultants will likely suggest more behavioral solutions directed toward adults.
An interesting tidbit about age. . . one of the officers at the meeting mentioned that the youngest pedestrian to be killed last year was born in 1980.
It was also brought up that to keep pedestrians and cyclists safe, we also need to focus our behavior change on Drivers who share the road with those walking and riding.
MOTORCYCLISTS - There was good discussion on the limited countermeasures offered for motorcyclists; this was likely because Nebraska currently has a primary helmet enforcement law, but the consultants may not have known there is currently a bill in the legislature to repeal the helmet law. It is my understanding this new law would require more safety training of motorcyclists.
I am not a motorcyclist, but I love engaging with them about their choice to wear or not wear a helmet. And if our helmet law is repealed, it may come down to boosting not just education but engagement with our local motorcycle residents AND education and engagement with drivers as we have already lost two motorcyclists to traffic crashes this year.
ALCOHOL - While I am nearly a teetotaler in the negative way I view alcohol abuse, I’m always stunned by how little I know about our current alcohol laws, programs, etc. That’s why the TAC is lucky to have folks like Chris, from Project Extra Mile and Eric from the Nebraska Chapter of the National Safety Council on the team because they are experts in this area.
One of the behavioral countermeasures for alcohol was to lobby at the state level for lower BAC (blood alcohol concentration) for repeat offenders, 0.05 specifically. This led to a conversation about laws in other states, current laws (both those enforced and not enforced), as well as conversation about how many of our state laws thwart any really good solutions we’d like to enact as a city.
SPEAKING OF THE STATE
Home Rule allows Omaha and Lincoln (cities over 5,000 pop) some autonomy in their government, however:
Thus we continue to be subject to State laws that may thwart our best attempts at keeping people safe. While there was an interesting conversation around recommending more autonomy at the city level, many in the meeting basically said it’s a lost cause, and we just have to accept the laws coming out of the legislature.
As examples, automated enforcement is currently illegal at the State level, and we have no primary enforcement laws for seat belts or distracted driving at the State level.
The VZAP will recommend lobbying at the State level for safer laws.
DAY 2 & Day 3
Days 2 and 3 were focused on infrastructure solutions. These two days were absolutely packed with discussion, debate, and questions. Since we are still in the planning stages, what I will share here will be more about some tidbits that I found mind-changing or revelatory.
INTERDISCIPLINARY EXPERTISE
A common theme from all these meetings is the expansive expertise and care of all the members. The reason there was so much debate is that there was so much sharing of knowledge.
We absolutely need some iteration of the VZ TAC or a new VZ committee to continue after the VZAP has been adopted. Their role could include oversight, recommendations, monitoring, etc., etc. The change that could be brought about by a Vision Zero Action Plan AND an interdisciplinary team of safety experts could be monumental.
TWO TYPES OF CHANGE
The VZAP will look at both systemic AND targeted change, where systemic can be applied pretty much anywhere and targeted is more specific.
BEST PRACTICES VS GROUND EXPERIENCE
Be aware of the gap between “best practices” and the pedestrians’, cyclists’, or drivers’ on-the-ground experience.
WE’VE GOT THE LIGHTS
Omaha has a lot of signalized intersections! We have about 1,000 compared to Kansas City’s 600.
STATE ROAD REGS
There are state regulations for roads that all cities and municipalities must comply with, and this is for reasons of safety and liability. We learned that this strict adherence to state statutes regarding roads means that no matter the size of the town or the expertise of the local traffic engineer, every community in Nebraska can be guaranteed safe, responsible road design.
COST-BENEFIT VS ROI
When looking at the cost of solutions and countermeasures, the “benefit of cost” is not the same as “return on investment,” meaning the city won’t get cash back on any money it spends on VZ projects, but it will get benefits like the intrinsic value of life, fewer insurance costs, fewer emergency costs, fewer lawsuits, less loss of profit, etc.
HOW WILL WE. . . .
An interesting question that was asked at the meeting but wasn’t answered remains with me, “As we continue to build out the urban core again, how do make it even safer?”
. . . PAY FOR IT?
Upgrades and Vision Zero projects are going to cost a lot of freaking money. If you’re not in the industry, it may be lost on you just how much signal upgrades, road diets, etc, can cost.
For example, a typical pavement-marking-only road diet (meaning no road tear-up or construction) can cost $100,000 per mile. Further, sometimes these pavement-marking-only projects STILL require signal upgrades, which can also cost a lot.
Since implementing Vision Zero projects will cost money, there was a lot of open-ended discussion about how to
a) acquire and ensure funding and
b) prioritize that funding and use it efficiently.
I can’t say anything was answered in this meeting about that, but money drives society, unfortunately, and currently, there is no funding specifically allocated for VZ projects.
How would you fund Vision Zero projects?
The topic of equity and funding was brought up a lot as well, so many members of the TAC are proponents of making sure funding is prioritized in equity areas, which also makes sense as it is in the equity areas of Omaha where most of the fatal and serious injury crashes occur.
WHAT’S NEXT?
Since the meetings spanned nearly 8 hours, this is a quick summary of some interesting talking points. The results of these meetings will be relayed by the consultants to the Vision Zero Executive Committee, and then the TAC will reconvene in May.
Do you have any questions about this process? Pop them in the comments below or feel free to keep up with the TAC here on Omaha’s Vision Zero website.
Thanks for reading!
~ Trilety
Where Do We Go From Here & My Roundabout Naivety
If you aren’t already aware of the vote that denied funding for the planned roundabouts at 50th & 52nd & Farnam Streets, please check out these articles from local newspapers The Reader and The Omaha World Herald. While this post will discuss some things that happened in the past, it is not a rehash of the past several years or of the City Council meeting; it’s a post about what went wrong and how we move forward.
As a quick aside, while I am - as you will see below - disappointed and concerned with the way the Council voted, overall, I have had stellar experiences with most of the Council and appreciate their hard work and dedication. And if anyone feels they were misrepresented in this post, I am all for hearing their side or reading their comments!
A BIT ABOUT THE PAST
As a resident of the neighborhood that will be impacted by any changes to Farnam Street, we have spent years asking questions about traffic in this area. The Dundee-Memorial Park Neighborhood Association dedicated themselves for several years to try and alter Farnam to two-way all-day, and we were proponents of that change. The day we read, on 05 August 2021, that Farnam Street would be two-way all day was a celebratory day in our home. In looking back at this article tho, you’ll notice that the representative from Public Works said specifically that the traffic study was not yet complete and that the intersections would need safety improvements, such as possibly roundabouts. So roundabouts have been a possible part of the plan for years, and the public was made aware of this.
HOW SOS & VISION ZERO FIT IN
In my role with Safe Omaha Streets, I am a member of the Vision Zero Technical Advisory Committee, which is tasked with supporting the development of the Vision Zero Action Plan. Because roundabouts are a proven safety measure, they are also a popular Vision Zero strategy. In fact, many cities, like Lincoln, have some variation of a roundabout-first policy when it comes to designing intersections. Roundabouts are the most effective strategy to reduce intersection crashes and are documented to be safe for pedestrians
VISION ZERO & PUBLIC ENGAGEMENT
Also in my role on the Vision Zero TAC, I am constantly belaboring the fact that we need improved transparency, communication, and public engagement between residents and the City. Because of this focus of mine, once I saw both the Neighborhood association’s open letter to Councilpersons Festersen and Begley, and the petition against the roundabouts, I reached out to association leaders and city representatives to find out more about the process.
From all my conversations and emails with the city and two leaders of the Neighborhood Association, I’d say they all believe they did a responsible job regarding this situation. Representatives from the city and the association explained there were multiple meetings held about Farnam Street. However, when a proven safety measure is voted down, then there is a gap somewhere, and we need to figure out how to address it before future Vision Zero strategies receive opposition.
CITY COUNCIL’S ROLE
Beyond my frustration that I believe the Neighborhood Association presented misinformation to the neighbors, my main concern is with Omaha City Council, as they were the ones who ultimately voted down a responsible, safe, and well-designed project. While more than one councilmember wanted to put the resolution on file and thus delay it until they received more information, Councilperson Begley did not agree to amend his vote and the other members respected that. Thus instead of being laid over, the decision to deny funding for the design and construction of the roundabouts was the final decision.
Most of the issues that opponents raised, such as access for emergency vehicles, access for snowplows, and access for disabled persons, were addressed at the meeting by city representatives. It was confirmed at the meeting that the roundabouts would allow safe access for emergency vehicles, snowplows, and residents with disabilities.
The main issue from the opponents was safety, specifically for children and other pedestrians. One thing that I don’t think was mentioned at the meeting was that school children still have safe and easy access across Farnam Street at 51st Street. That location also has an existing pedestrian signal crossing that would remain even with the addition of the roundabouts to the east and west. At this location, 51st is also on the route of a safe underpass under Dodge and a school route to Dundee Elementary.
Additionally, pedestrian safety can be built into roundabouts as the roundabout crosswalks are not IN the roundabout but are located on the approaching narrowed roads into/out-of the roundabout. This was an aspect of roundabout design that was clarified on the City’s roundabout drawings (see below) and something I clarified with a city council member as well.
Many other safety measures can be layered with roundabouts to ensure pedestrian safety, such as signage or lighting like flashing beacons. This was also something that I communicated to the City Council in our support letter, and something that could have continued to be addressed had the council laid it over.
WHY DIDN’T SOS ATTEND THE CITY COUNCIL MEETING?
Why wasn’t SOS at the meeting? For many reasons, but the main reason is naivety. We thought the City Council had all the information they needed to make a sound and responsible decision.
We sent a letter supporting the roundabouts to the city council.
We also saw that Mode Shift Omaha, the longtime and successful multi-modal transportation advocacy group expressed their support of the roundabouts and asked their members to send in their support as well.
I knew of other neighbors who emailed the city council about their support.
One interesting thing to note is that while the Neighborhood Association’s letter in opposition to the project was listed on the City Council’s agenda for the roundabout item, there were no letters of support listed, even tho letters of support were sent. I reached out to the city council to ask why only letters in opposition are listed and not letters in support, and this was Councilperson Festersen’s helpful and new-information-to-me reply:
Myself, and others, naively believed that the city council had all the information they needed to make the responsible decision. It did not occur to me that the city council would place more weight on the want and opinions of the public than on the data and knowledge of the experts.
Again, had the proposal been laid over, I understand this would have given the city another chance to address the neighbors’ safety concerns. But instead, the other council members decided to respect Councilperson Begley’s desire to deny because he is, in fact the representative of the area where the roundabouts would have been built.
TO ATTEND OR NOT ATTEND
At the Vision Zero meeting that was held the day after the City Council denied the funding for the roundabouts, it was brought up by many folks that it’s the people in attendance, not the people who email, who can make all the difference. It is unfortunate that being in person carries more weight than a well-worded, evidence-based email or letter. And, who knows, this could just bust open another naïve blindspot for me because maybe testifying in person technically and legally holds more weight than just an email or letter. If this is the case, you know we will write a blog post about it!
One problem with expecting people to always show up at public meetings instead of sending a letter or email is that it’s just not possible for everyone. There are many people who cannot tell their employers or their kids that they are leaving early to go to a meeting that starts at 2 pm and may not get over until 7 pm. (As another aside, I do have mad respect for anyone in public office because I would not have their patience or their time to do what they do for the public.)
WHAT CAN WE DO GOING FORWARD?
Since my major concern was with City Council, I emailed them to ask their thoughts on what could have been handled differently to prevent safe projects like the Farnam roundabouts from being denied in the future. See the email below:
To clarify the email above, it is my understanding that council did meet with PW, as I was told later. It was only sent two days ago, and I have not received a reply, but if/when I receive a response, I will update this post accordingly.
When both sides think they’ve done all they can to either communicate or advocate, then how do we move forward?
And how do we ensure our elected officials have all the information they need? I can’t answer the latter until I receive a reply to my April 4th email.
Some suggestions (and, keep in mind, some of these strategies may have been implemented and I’m just not aware of them)
Once a project is known to be controversial, the city could provide clear and easy-to-understand counterpoints to the opponents, including clear visuals and similar success stories. One potential issue with this is that if this information is provided to leaders who don’t then distribute it to others, then it lessens the effectiveness of any communication or counterpoints.
Once a project is known to be controversial, the City Council could reach out to city staff for more information and/or lay over a decision until all their concerns are addressed.
Maybe the Vision Zero Coordinator or a Vision Zero advisory committee could write an open letter with counterpoints to whichever Neighborhood Association/Group opposes the project - including success stories from other areas in town or other cities.
Develop a “public engagement” or “public involvement” plan specific to any projects that incorporate Vision Zero measures specifically. The City already includes numerous safety measures in its designs, but maybe the Vision Zero plan can offer a structured public engagement plan specific to Vision Zero projects.
Consider a program like the Let’s Talk Streets program in Madison, Wisconsin.
Present information to the public in as easy-to-understand, sound-bite format as possible.
Increased in-person support and advocacy at City Council meetings by residents and advocacy groups
Request any letters of support or in opposition be included in the agenda materials (see Festersen email from earlier)
Get clever and if a lot of folks can’t support in person, put together a quick clip video of support from a variety of residents, advocates, or leaders.
Now that the Vision Zero Action Plan is closer to being finished, we absolutely need to figure out how to ensure safe and well-designed projects go forward in the future.
We need more education.
We need more in-person dialog.
We may even need more listening.
We need to combat misinformation.
We need to be assured our elected officials have all the best information they need to make sound decisions, and then critically assess what happened when the process goes awry.
What ideas do you have for increased communication between the city, elected officials, and residents?
What ideas do you have for improved outreach and education from the city, advocacy groups, etc?
Lastly, the most unfortunate outcome of this whole experience is that Farnam will now remain one-way twice-a-day for the foreseeable future. We are on the edge of our seats to see what happens next!
[I am not a trained journalist, yet I commit to being as objective and accurate as possible, but I’m human and do mess up at times, so if anything in here is found to be misleading or inaccurate, please let me know.]
Perception Vs Reality in Citizen-driven Complaints
What is the Complaint-Driven Approach to Traffic Safety?
Beyond the work of Omaha’s Traffic Unit, traffic enforcement in Omaha is also “complaint-driven.” This means that the Police Department also depends on residents of Omaha to support the efforts of the police when it comes to traffic safety.
In a city that covers 146 square miles, it does seem to be a clever solution to take advantage of the empirical experiences of residents as they may know best what areas of Omaha are most in need of traffic enforcement.
When implemented correctly, this type of “community complaint-driven” approach can also increase fairness and equity in enforcement.
How does it work for the Resident?
If you know an area that is notorious for speeding, reckless driving, or red-light or stop-sign violations, there are a few ways you can request enforcement.
Mayor’s Hotline: You can email or call the Mayor’s Hotline and request enforcement. While my partner calls the hotline, I only email as I was raised by a mother who was dedicated to “paper trails.” Personally, my experience with the Hotline is 50% worthwhile and 50% frustrating.
402.444.5555
hotline@cityofomaha.org
Omaha Traffic Unit: You can request special enforcement via the Omaha Police Department by calling or filling out a form online.
402.444.5626
City Council: Each City Council member can submit up to two Requests for Special Enforcement every month. This is the only way that we’ve requested enforcement.
How Does it Work for the Police?
Based on the Special Enforcement Request forms I obtained via a public records request, I noticed that police were at some locations for one to three hours, whereas they were at other locations for anywhere from 10 to 16 hours. The amount of time that police are watching an area could correlate to the number of citations issued because if a location is only watched for an hour, it’s easy to think that dangerous behavior was just missed due to the limited time.
I contacted a fellow member of the Vision Zero Technical Advisory Committee, Lt. Allen Straub, and he explained:
“We work the special enforcement requests in a monthly cycle. So each month I get a new list and there might be locations I add to it. My team is split into day shift and evening shift. Both shifts will work an area as listed on my list that is distributed to them each month. The length of time spent at a location typically depends on how many violations they are seeing. If they go to a certain location and it was requested due to the perception of speeding and the officers are not seeing any speed violations, they won't spend much time there. Now if they are at another location and indeed there is a significant speed issue, they may spend more time at that particular location. Typically they stay in an area for about an hour at a time then move around to the next locations. Sometimes if we are seeing a significant issue, several officers will be in the same area for a certain time frame.”
This makes sense as it’s an efficient use of his officers’ time, and it’s been reported in the news that we don’t have enough officers for the size of this city. When looking at the raw data, I didn’t understand the difference in hours spent at locations, so it was helpful to have the clarification.
Lastly, based on the forms, we don’t know the time of day police were stationed, just the number of hours
Special Enforcement Requests for 2022*
* There were no requests during the month of June due to the College Worlds Series and other events, and no requests were submitted to the OPD for December. So all the data in this post is for 10 months, not 12.
At the end of each month, City Council is provided with the results of enforcement titled “Month Year Inputs: Police Monthly Special Enforcement Requests.” See the image below for an example from August 2022:
Here’s a quick breakdown for the sources of the citizen-driven requests:
“Mayor’s Complaint” (assuming this is hotline): 23 requests
“Citizen emailed Complaint” (assuming this is via OPD): 20 requests
Councilperson Begley: 19 requests
Councilperson Festersen: 14 requests
Councilperson Rowe: 9 requests
Councilperson Melton: 6 requests
Councilperson Palermo: 5 requests
Councilperson Harding: 2 requests
Councilperson Johnson: 1 request
A few enforcement requests originated straight from an OPD Precinct Captain or Unit Commander
There were also requests without a referenced source of origin, so the above numbers (99) don’t match the total number of Special Enforcement Requests (114).
Here are the total results of requests, hours, and citations for 10 months in 2022. [I did not receive a form for June or December]
114 citizen-driven complaints
714 hours police hours
1,228 citations issued
Perception Vs Reality & Vision Zero
My original goal was to see how often and where this citizen-driven complaint system was used.
You can see the distribution of Special Enforcement Requests per OPD precincts below:
Southwest Precinct: 35
West Precinct: 30
Northwest Precinct: 29
Southeast Precinct: 14
Northeast Precinct: 5
But what struck me was how the reality of a situation can either confirm or deny our own perception.
Based on the number of citations issued, some locations weren’t near as dangerous as residents believed, whereas some locations were verifiably dangerous.
We can’t let data obscure our own empirical evidence as drivers, cyclists, and pedestrians, but we can use the data to provide a clearer picture of traffic issues in Omaha.
Let’s look at some of the areas where reality DID match perception with the highest rate of tickets issued for illegal behavior:
The table above shows the most dangerous areas based on citations.
Police also spent 10 hours+ at locations in West Omaha: 148th Circle & Stony Brook Blvd & 151st St & Stony Brook (just south of Millard South), Skyline & Pacific, and Karen Street from 145th to 148th. I mention this only because looking at the table above gives a false impression that police spent more time in Northeast Omaha than in the other locations in the table.
Now let’s look at the locations where reality did NOT match perception, based solely on the number of citations issued.
How Does this Relate to Vision Zero?
While Vision Zero specifically focuses on reducing fatalities and serious injuries, these forms can tell us a lot about “perception” and “reality.”
Even though perception isn’t quantifiable, it’s still incredibly important. Because how we experience a City influences whether or not we choose to stay in that city. Additionally, the quantifiable reality of the situation, ie, tickets issued for illegal behavior, can show us a lot about which streets are dangerous.
We SHOULD be using this data to inform traffic design, safety countermeasures, funding, advocacy efforts, etc. We don’t need to wait for someone to be killed or seriously injured to identify problem locations in our city, and try and fix them.
So if you’re reticent about requesting enforcement, remember that it can also be used as data. And make sure to request to see the results of the enforcement. Let’s look at issues like speed and red-light running and work backward to see if any of the areas are candidates for safety countermeasures like road diets, etc.
Lastly, we need to make sure our residents KNOW that Omaha is also a complaint-driven city and requires the aid of its residents. Did you know? Because I sure didn’t know this until recently. The issue of communication, or lack thereof, is what I have perceived to be one of the biggest obstacles in Omaha and many municipalities. So let’s communicate to the residents how they can support traffic enforcement in the City of Omaha.
Please comment below on your thoughts about complaint-driven enforcement, data, perception vs. reality, etc etc!
Crosswalks in Omaha: Myth or Reality, Boom or Bust?!
The topic of crosswalks may seem like a yawn, but they are a proven safety measure on our streets.
Just talk to my partner, who will no longer cross 72nd Street at Jones Circle to get lunch without recording his walk on his phone due to the numerous times he’s nearly been struck by speeding, reckless, or distracted drivers in the unmarked crosswalk with a stop-line.
You may notice the worn-away stripes from an old crosswalk in these photos. These marked crosswalks were not ground-down or removed by the city but worn away over time after they were initially installed in conjunction with the capital improvement project that widened 72nd Street to six lanes.
Well-placed and well-marked crosswalks, especially in combination with other safety measures, can ensure that a pedestrian makes it home safely and a driver doesn’t have to live with the consequences of killing or injuring someone.
First, what’s a crosswalk?!
The answer to the question above isn’t nearly as simple as you’d think.
An intersection crosswalk doesn’t have to be “marked” to be a crosswalk. This was new to me and was something I learned in recently released City of Omaha traffic safety videos.
In the City’s video directed to drivers, the narrator says:
“Whether you encounter a pedestrian at a marked or unmarked crosswalk, pedestrians have the right of way.”
In the video directed to pedestrians, the narrator asks and answers,
“But what about areas where there are no traffic signals? Most crosswalks in Omaha are unsignalized, and while some are marked with additional signs, striping, or even pedestrian-activated beacons to provide more visibility, the vast majority of crosswalks at intersections are unmarked. Whether you are in a marked or unmarked crosswalk, you have the right-of-way, and motorists and cyclists should yield to you!”
How many drivers know, let alone abide by, this law?
These Traffic Safety videos are informative but unless you visit the Keep Omaha Moving site, you’ll likely never see them. My understanding is that there are talks internally and with other advocacy groups to release these videos in shorter/split-separated clips so that they can easily be promoted throughout the community.
Types of Crosswalks
There’s more than one type of crosswalk. Here is a quick crosswalk primer:
Marked Crosswalks are delineated via paint or tape.
Unmarked crosswalks are the “implied” but invisible crosswalks that exist at all intersections/corners.
Signalized or controlled crosswalks have traffic signals or stop signs, while uncontrolled crosswalks do not.
Materials for marking crosswalks may consist of paint, inlay, or thermoplastic tape; however, paint is not recommended by the FHWA for “high visibility” crosswalks.
Designs can range from. . .
two parallel white lines (basic/transverse crosswalk), all the way to. . .
parallel stripes with two bordering, perpendicular lines (“ladder style”/perpendicular bar)
See the descriptive image to the right from a post by the consultant working on the upcoming FHWA’s “Crosswalk Marking Effectiveness Guide.”
Remember, the efficacy of any crosswalk also depends on the design of the road and the speed of the cars!
How We Talk About Crosswalks
Language matters, and what language we use to talk about crosswalks also matters.
For instance, when a pedestrian was struck earlier this year, this is how it was reported in the media:
“Police say a pedestrian was crossing Cuming Street northbound, not at a crosswalk, just before 8 p.m. Friday when he was struck by a vehicle.”
It is not uncommon for police to say a pedestrian was crossing “not at a crosswalk” or “just outside a marked crosswalk.” We do, however, appreciate when police clarify “crossing mid-block,” like in this article.
This type of language used to discuss crosswalks can be perceived as “victim-blaming.”
While the context and location of where a pedestrian was struck IS important, as they can be used to audit and assess the design and conditions of road design in the city, crashes are still complex situations, often with multiple factors.
So what language SHOULD be used instead?
Here’s language from the recently released Omaha Vision Zero Media Guide:
“Assigning a simple cause to a crash does not tell the full story. Instead of assigning a simple cause to a crash, there is the opportunity to ask deeper questions such as, “What could have prevented the crash?” Other examples of questions are, “If a street had been designed with traffic-calming features and a slower speed limit, would the driver have been speeding?” “If there was a safe pedestrian crossing, would the pedestrian have been crossing the road in an unsafe location?” “Are there strong, well-funded community mental health programs in Omaha to help someone address their mental health challenges and end their alcoholism so they do not drive their car intoxicated?”
And
“Assigning singular blame to a crash victim is always inappropriate. This is especially the case when pedestrians and cyclists are injured or killed. Sometimes the behavior of a pedestrian or cyclist may have contributed to the crash occurring, but for a pedestrian or cyclist to be hit, a driver is always involved. Statements like “the pedestrian was wearing dark clothing” do not portray the true or full situation, nor does it help the audience to understand the root of the issue.”
This guide is a media guide but oftentimes, the media gets its information from the Omaha Police Department, so these discussions need to be had with the police as well. And from my interactions with the traffic unit officers on the TAC, I believe they will be open and amenable to updating their language if it works within the confines of crash report forms, etc.
The Current State of Crosswalks in Omaha
Policy:
Marked crosswalk at a signalized intersection in downtown Omaha
Q. Have you ever wondered why we don’t have marked crosswalks at all signalized or stop-controlled intersections?
Q. Have you ever seen residents trying to cross streets quickly or with an arm extended to warn drivers not to impede the intersection?
Q. As you drive or walk around Omaha, you may ask yourself, “What is the City’s policy on marked crosswalks?”
A. Currently, there isn’t a concrete policy for crosswalks in the City of Omaha, other than that, you will find marked crosswalks at:
All signalized crossings in downtown and other BIDs (Business Improvement Districts)
School Crossings
When outside this criteria, marked crosswalks may be considered on a case-by-case basis based on crash history and intersection geometrics.
Maintenance:
Maintaining marked crosswalks in a city that spans 140 square miles and 5,000 miles of roadway is one of the biggest obstacles to having all the crosswalks that many want.
Regarding scheduled maintenance of marked crosswalks in Omaha, per a 2017 response from the City of Omaha Mayor’s Hotline:
“Per our guidelines and regulations, painted crosswalks are maintained by Public Works at least once annually, sometimes twice. Tape markings last several years and are monitored for quality to determine when they need to be reapplied.”
Oftentimes, in response to questions about fading crosswalks, we will hear that “resources are limited” or there are “budget constraints.” And while this is a valid argument, it doesn’t mean that our residents should be made to feel unsafe when crossing the street.
Internally, some folks in the city are looking to increase the budget for operations and maintenance of crosswalks, but this will only go so far.
So how do we get more resources?
The leadership of Omaha typically is against any tax increases, tho there has been support of bonds.
But in a city big on public-private partnerships, maybe that’s an option for increasing the funding for both the installation and maintenance of marked crosswalks.
Think of the possibilities if Omaha had a centralized group, whether private or not-for-profit, that partnered with the city to inventory and monitor crosswalks throughout the city and create volunteer opportunities for crosswalk maintenance.
Debate & Growth on the Topic of Crosswalks
Debate on the “false sense of security”
There’s been both debate and growth in the city regarding crosswalks. A few years ago, as you’ll see in this KMTV 3 New Now video on the “Omaha Town Hall Meeting on Area Roads and Infrastructure” (1:26:48), city leadership said,
“the painted pedestrian crosswalks give pedestrians a false sense of security”
This phrasing, which is a hot topic in pedestrian advocacy circles, is based on a 1972 study titled “Pedestrian Crosswalk Study: Accidents in Painted and Unpainted Crosswalks.”
While the study did show that more pedestrians were struck in marked crosswalks vs. unmarked crosswalks, it doesn’t seem to normalize the data for the fact that nearly three times as many pedestrians crossed at the marked crosswalks vs. the unmarked crosswalks. If you have more people crossing at a marked crosswalk, then it is likely that the number of pedestrians struck there will be higher due to volume.
Additionally, this study noted six potential disadvantages to marked crosswalks, the first of which was:
“They may cause pedestrians to have a false sense of security and to place themselves in a hazardous position with respect to vehicular traffic.”
It also identified eight advantages to marked crosswalks, including:
1. They may help pedestrians orient themselves and find their way across complex intersections.
2. They may help show pedestrians the shortest route across traffic.
3. They may help show pedestrians the route with the least exposure to vehicular traffic and traffic conflicts.
4. They may help position pedestrians where they can be seen best by oncoming traffic.
Using the “false sense of security” language that originated in the 1972 study is the opposite of throwing the baby out with the bathwater, instead, we’ve kept the out-of-date bathwater and tossed out only the baby. It’s an intriguing old-school study, but it shouldn’t be used to inform how we think about traffic today.
For an editorial view of this study and its continued use, check out this blog post titled “A False Sense of Certainty.”
Debate and research on “false sense of security” continue to this day.
A 2015 study titled “Evaluation of the False Sense of Security for Pedestrians at Varied Crosswalk Treatments” showed:
The most statistically significant difference between pedestrians in crosswalks is not about the crosswalk design so much as whether or not the pedestrian was texting while crossing.
There was a statistically significant increase in pedestrians looking before crossing in crosswalks with “overhead flashing beacons with bollards” and “pedestrian countdown signals.”
The only crossing where there was a lower rate of “looking before crossing” was at T-intersections.
So the data about the “false sense of security” may no longer be valid, but more than that, it just means we need to design better crossings with multiple safety measures rather than not expanding the conversation.
Growth on Crosswalk Mentality
You can see growth in the city’s mindset by looking at the safety treatments in the Blackstone area of Omaha. These safety countermeasures were implemented after pedestrian deaths occurred in this area and at the urging of city residents, city staff such as the Public Works Department, the Blackstone Business Improvement District, and the local advocacy group Mode Shift Omaha.
Beyond high-visibility crosswalks, the City also added the following treatments to the roads in the Blackstone District:
Improved walk signal timing
Improved lighting
Pedestrian warning signs
Increased pedestrian visibility via “leading pedestrian intervals.”
The Future of Crosswalks in Omaha
Based on discussions I’ve participated in at the Vision Zero TAC meetings, I believe the future of crosswalks is bright, but maybe not so bright that we need to buy shades just yet.
One of the benefits of the upcoming Vision Zero Action Plan is that it will add more tools to the toolboxes of all city administration and staff. However, this is still dependent on what the final document looks like. Many on the committee that is helping to develop the plan are proponents of multi-layered safety measures that will improve our intersections for all.
But it looks as if the Plan may give the City opportunities to expand the existing crosswalk policy and provide them at locations where they historically haven’t been placed. No matter what happens, it is reasonable to assume that crosswalk-placement and design will be based on data.
Crosswalk Placement & Design - A 72nd Street Analysis
Locating and designing crosswalks should be based on evidence and data.
The DOT & FHWA’s Guide For Improving Pedestrian Safety at Uncontrolled Crossing Locations includes a decision-making matrix (image below) for crosswalk placement and treatment.
Let’s walk through this matrix using 72nd & Jones Circle in Omaha as an example.
This is the location where my partner crosses for lunch each day.
It’s on 72nd Street between Dodge and Pacific Streets.
Refer to Table 1: Application of Pedestrian Crash Countermeasures by Roadway Feature, above
AADT (Average Annual Daily Traffic) for this location (35,395 vehicles) would put 72nd & Jones Circle in the 3rd group of columns of the table
72nd is a 4+ lane road with a raised median (this would put it in the 4th row)
The posted speed limit is 35 mph, tho based on anecdotal evidence, drivers often exceed this speed limit. (The posted speed limit would locate this intersection in the middle column of the 3rd set of columns)
Signalized intersection
For this intersection the table indicates the following are countermeasures that should always be considered but not necessarily mandated or required:
Advanced yield here to (stop here for) pedestrians sign and yield (stop) line
Pedestrian hybrid beacon
* Pedestrian refuge * this treatment could be applied to 72nd street if it did not already have a raised median.
Pedestrian refuge islands are usually 4 to 8 feet wide, and I don’t believe the existing median is that wide, thus shouldn’t necessarily be considered a “pedestrian refuge” at this point. But this is something we will research further!
For this intersection, the table indicates that the following is a countermeasure that “signifies that crosswalk visibility enhancements should always occur in conjunction with other identified countermeasures.”
High-visibility crosswalk markings
Parking restrictions on crosswalk approach
Adequate nighttime lighting levels, and
Crossing warning signs
For this intersection, the table indicates that the following countermeasures are “candidates for treatments at a marked uncontrolled crossing location.”
Curb extension
Road diet
While 72nd & Jones is not an uncontrolled location, we believe applying a road diet to 72nd Street could turn this road into a transportation avenue worthy of the center of Omaha.
Road diets reduce lanes, thus encouraging drivers to go slower, and include benefits for other road users beyond drivers, such as pedestrians and cyclists.
An example from the FHWA of a high-visibility crosswalk that includes a multi-layered approach to safety.
Takeaways & To Remember
Crosswalks exist whether or not they are marked or painted
When referencing crosswalks or crossings and pedestrian or cyclist deaths, be astute and aware when choosing your words.
Take the Crosswalk Matrix in this post and apply it to intersections in your neighborhood to see what safety treatments may be adequate or possible at that location
Don’t cross the street while texting
We need to be creative regarding funding and budgets, especially for the maintenance of crosswalks.
Remember, even if Omaha increases its number of marked crosswalks, they still need to be approached in a multi-layered way, including other safety measures such as
traffic-calming,
signage, and
some type of enforcement.
Even though this post is dense, we barely scratched the surface of crosswalks in Omaha, let alone in America and the world!
What are your thoughts on crosswalks?
Did you learn anything new or thought-provoking in this post?
Please join the conversation and comment below!
Cover image by Jonatan Hernandez via Unsplash
Vision Zero Update: The Problems, the Solutions, and the Focus Groups
The Vision Zero Technical Advisory Committee held 7 Focus Group meetings at the end of January and the beginning of February. These meetings were attended by members of the TAC and were facilitated by the City’s Vision Zero consultants. All meetings were 2 hours in length and included an overview of the problem (Focus Area) and a brainstorming session about potential solutions. A second round of intense working group meetings for each of the 7 focus areas will be held later this Spring.
The findings and recommendations from the Focus Group meetings will drive the design of the Vision Zero Action Plan. At this point, we are optimistic about the recommendations but will have to wait and see if the final plan has any true teeth! So far, it’s looking good, but the final document will be the truest test. Our personal takeaways from these meetings are:
Many safety efforts are thwarted at the State level
There must be buy-in from the City and Mayoral support
After a Vision Zero Action Plan is approved, a Vision Zero Interdisciplinary/Interagency Committee should be formed to provide oversight.
Form a "post-crash task force” to analyze the possible reasons for crashes and use that data to inform solutions
The City should be transparent and generous with information about why certain decisions are made, especially in relation to safety improvements, etc. In a city with such hostility and distrust between the community and leaders, doing anything to be transparent while also "educating," is a solid idea.
You can view the presentation slides from each of the 7 Focus Group meetings via the links listed below. The presentation slides and general notes from the latest TAC meeting (2/9/23) can be found here. We appreciate that these presentations are shared with the public via Omaha’s Vision Zero website and we encourage you to review them and get a deeper, data-driven understanding of the problems on Omaha’s roads.
The 7 Focus Areas:
Bicyclists and Pedestrians Presentation
Funding, Policies, and Processes Presentation
Impairment and Inattention Presentation
While A LOT was covered and discussed at these meetings, I am going to highlight a few interesting tidbits from each Focus Group.
1. EQUITY FOCUS GROUP:
SOS did not attend this meeting, but here is a slide from that focus Group that shows the traffic safety injustice on Omaha’s streets.
The problem was summed up by the consultants like this:
Higher concentration of crashes in disadvantaged areas
52% of the highest crash segments are in disadvantaged areas compared to only 19% of overall road miles
Black and Indigenous residents have a much higher risk of being killed or seriously injured on Omaha’s roads
94% of highest-risk roads are in disadvantaged areas
Justice can come in many forms, and street design and street maintenance are included in this. See these explanatory images of Ames Avenue in North Omaha as presented to the Equity Focus Group:
The general takeaway from the Equity Focus Group was later presented to the TAC as:
Need to educate everyone in the City about equity issues related to traffic crashes
Target funding to the areas of greatest need
Traffic measures must be equitable
Any approach must be multi-modal
2. INTERSECTION FOCUS GROUP:
SOS attended this Focus Group. Here are just some of the major issues with intersections:
Intersections are dangerous because they are areas with multiple conflict points between cars and cars, cars and pedestrians, cars and cyclists, etc.
Over 62% of the fatal and serious injury crashes in Omaha happen at intersections
As volume increases at intersections, so too do fatalities and serious injuries.
Intersection crashes are influenced by design as much as, if not more than, driver behavior
Speaking of design, while 44 intersections in Omaha average 1 KSI (killed/serious injury) crash per year, there are 3 intersections with 2 or more KSI/year. See images of the intersections below and imagine how much safer they could be with innovative upgrades.
Lively and creative discussion characterized this meeting. Here are a just few topics discussed.
Roundabouts
Colored crosswalks
Ladder-style crosswalks
Increased and improved crosswalks
Clearance intervals and leading pedestrian intervals
How to reduce red light running
High visibility enforcement operations aligned with education and community outreadh
Surveying pedestrians about crossing habits
Innovative intersection design and putting as many tools in the toolbox as possible
The slide below provides the overall general takeaways from the Intersection Focus Group:
The “variation of countermeasures by Area” is due to space. New developments could more easily accommodate roundabouts because of greater space, however keep in mind that two roundabouts ARE being constructed along Farnam Street at 52nd & 50th - so urban areas CAN accommodate these alternative designs sometimes.
SOS specifically recommended the following solutions:
Make left-turns safer, as San Francisco did!
Policies on crosswalks need to be improved so that more crosswalks are prioritized for ladder-style crosswalk treatments and kept maintained.
Add pedestrian refuge islands/medians
Daylighting intersections to improve sight-lines
Curb extensions/bump outs
Automated enforcement
Survey pedestrians crossing outside a crosswalk and use that feedback for better design. Conduct an audit at the location of desire lines.
Look at all pedestrian deaths that happened outside a marked crosswalk, and didn’t involve alcohol, and audit that intersection for improvements
Allow for cross-partnerships for colored sidewalks if the interim rule is passed - ie partnering with Benson First Friday or other arts districts with “maintenance agreement” with the City
Prioritize speed calming in areas up and downstream of major intersections
Partner with MAPA's "Block Talk" program to find out about potentially dangerous intersections AS well as raise awareness and educate the residents
3. SPEED FOCUS GROUP:
SOS attended the Speed Focus Group.
From 2015 to 2019, speed contributed to 22 KSI crashes in Omaha, which is a small percentage of overall road deaths/serious injuries during that time. While the data on speed in Omaha doesn’t seem robust, this is partly because of how contributions to crashes are identified on Crash Investigation Forms. For instance, an officer in the meeting suggested that crashes can have more than one contributing factor so the 140 crashes that were identified as “erratic driving” could also likely include “speed” as a factor as well.
In 2020, the crash investigation forms were overhauled and now allow for more nuance and more contributing factors, thus once data from 2020 to 2023 is released, we may see that speed is indeed a well-documented issue on Omaha’s streets.
You’ll see by this slide below that more people are killed or seriously injured on roads with posted speed limits between 30 and 40. Now, keep in mind the drivers may have been going faster than the posted speed limit, but if anything this helps the committee know the types of roads that deserve more focus.
See below for a just a few of the highlighted points I wrote down in the meeting:
The impact of speed on a pedestrian can be worse the larger the vehicle is
“Speeding is a problem in Omaha” - OPD officer
Posted speed limits should reflect the context - high vulnerability users, conflict points, etc
Engagement with the public to reach the goal
Cost share funding/cost share maintenance agreements
Break down the barrier belief that speeding saves time
High visibility enforcement with education and outreach
Expand on existing efforts like project nightlife and national distracted driving month
You can see the general takeaways from the Speed meeting below:
Automated enforcement is currently illegal in Nebraska but the Vision Zero consultants believe, as do we, that the Vision Zero Action Plan should serve as an educational tool to leadership as well as an implementable plan.
SOS specifically recommended the following:
No matter the posted speed limit, we need to make sure people follow the posted speed
Influence speed via lane width, intersection design, and multimodal infrastructure
Graduated licenses and higher ages for drivers
Since there is no longer driver’s education in schools, recommend partnerships to train and educate drivers
Grant all residents driver’s licenses
When a speed limit is lowered on a street, make sure to add the word “New” on the sign above the speed along with the city’s Vision Zero logo
Educate drivers on the illegality driving too slow in the left lane
Road Diets! (Our Favorite!)
4. HIGH-RISK ROADS FOCUS GROUP:
High-risk roads in Omaha are characterized by the following:
Major arterials
In the urban area
Without a median
Posted speed limit between 30 and 35
One-way roads
See below for images of just a couple of our local high-risk roads:
You can see in the slide below that the Consultant included examples of some great solutions to the high-risk road problem:
The general takeaways from the meeting (below), as presented at the last TAC meeting, seem to be more focused on the “promotion” of solutions than on “solutions.” So I contacted Omaha’s Vision Zero Coordinator, Jeff Sobczyk, for more information and this was his helpful clarification:
“The discussion in the high risk road section was very much about infrastructure treatments like speed reduction techniques, access control, road diets, etc. But the conversation really was focused on the fact that we have a good idea of how to reduce risk on roads from a technical perspective (and the city is already implementing many of these countermeasures), but that we need to have definite policy to influence how we can implement these treatments more often.
All of the technical aspects really come back to policy, especially policy related to how we select, develop, and fund projects; how we balance the needs of traffic efficiency with safety; and how we incorporate safety improvements into the private development process. That’s why our takeaways focused less on the technical safety countermeasures side and more on the policy/implementation/education side”.
5. FUNDINGS, POLICIES, AND PROCEDURES FOCUS GROUP:
SOS did not attend this meeting but we encourage you to peruse the presentation slides to see some of the existing barriers to good, consistent design in Omaha.
It sounds like a lot of the discussion at the meeting revolved around the inconsistent application of existing policy and planning documents such as Omaha’s Complete Streets Design Guide, the Transportation Element plan, the City of Omaha Capital Improvement Program (2023-2028), and the Guidelines and Regulations for Driveway Location, Design, and Construction.
The General Takeaways are listed below:
6. PEDESTRIAN AND BICYCLE FOCUS GROUP:
SOS did not attend this Focus Group but my understanding is that it was one of the most well-attended focus groups. While Omaha still does not have its fair share of safe bicycle and pedestrian infrastructure, it does have a lot of great bicycle and pedestrian advocates.
The most dangerous segments for pedestrians and cyclists are intersections, major arterials, one-way streets, and streets without medians. Reminiscent of all our high-risk roads, right?!
Almost all of the pedestrian and bicyclist KSI crashes were on streets, NOT on trails, sidewalks, or shoulders.
See below for the slide that lists the General Takeaways from this meeting:
7. IMPAIRMENT & INATTENTION FOCUS GROUP:
SOS attended this Focus Group. This topic left us with the most “a-ha” moments! See below for some of the most surprising findings from this meeting:
Distracted driving is less of a problem than impaired driving, tho the data on distracted driving is admittedly sparse because we have no primary distracted driving law.
Alcohol contributes to more fatal crashes than serious injury crashes
Crashes involving alcohol are generally single-vehicle crashes
Crashes involving alcohol are usually young, male drivers and are not characterized by any particular race or ethnicity
Drunk drivers are rarely leaving a bar, so much as their own home or a house-party
The City DOES have an “overserve” law but it isn’t consistently enforced
KSI crashes involving alcohol are generally by “infinite drinkers” and repeat offenders
Omaha does not conduct “check-points” and it was mentioned that the OPD does not support checkpoints (not stated by a member of OPD)
Education is usually the least effective solution but it is still an important tool. Some of the most effective drunk-driving prevention programs are a multi-group approach called “mock crashes.” Theater departments at high schools will collaborate with local police, fire, EMT, parents, etc to stage a mock crash including a life-flight helicopter.
Check out just some of the initial Takeaways from this meeting below:
Until Next Time. . . .
And that’s it for now! The Vision Zero TAC is working on behalf of the community as well as the city and other agencies, so SOS wants to keep you - the Community - informed! We will continue to provide updates after every meeting. Until then, don’t be shy, leave a comment below and let us know what YOU think the Vision Zero committee needs to know!
Navigating Omaha’s Vision Zero Efforts
As you’ll recall from our last blog post, Vision Zero Update: Guiding Principles & Focus Areas, we shared the logo for Vision Zero Omaha and said the website launch would be coming in January 2023. Well the website went live last week, and it’s a pretty good website at that! This new website signifies to the public that the City’s Vision Zero efforts have officially begun.
We’ve heard from some folks on social media and via email that the website is hard to find when googling, which we think may be because it’s such a new site. . . tho we don’t really understand SEO ha. So bookmark https://www.omahavisionzero.com/ so it’ll always be at your fingertips.
WEBSITE
We dig the cover photo of the website which includes a lot of street users: pedestrians, cyclists, and drivers/passengers.
The website is laid out clearly and is easy to navigate. It provides a lot of information about both Vision Zero in general and Vision Zero Omaha as well as a page dedicated to Upcoming Events.
Beyond the informational portions of the website, there are also interactive aspects to the site:
SIGN-UP LINK: The website invites you to be kept up to date about upcoming events and ongoing information by signing up for their newsletter/updates. We don’t know yet what these email updates will look like, but we’ve signed up and encourage you to do so as well!
SHORT SURVEY: The website has a 2 question survey that we strongly encourage you to take.
Question 1 is multiple choice about your level of knowledge about Vision Zero.
Question 2 is an open-ended (1,000 word limit) question on “What are your ideas for ending traffic deaths in Omaha?”
Gathering feedback from the citizens of Omaha is imperative for developing a fair and comprehensive Vision Zero Action Plan, so please take the survey.
GIVE INPUT VIA MAP: The most exciting interactive aspect of the website is a crowdsourced map where you can submit an area in the city where you feel unsafe walking, driving, or cycling. The city of omaha is a large and spread out city, so - again - it is crucial for you to let the city know about areas that may be overlooked. As Vision Zero is specifically about fatalities and serious injuries, just because you submit a location does not mean that it will necessarily receive any improvements, etc. It’s more to show the Vision Zero team and the City the areas that YOU feel are dangerous.
TRANSPARENCY: One of the pages on Omaha’s Vision Zero website is dedicated to the TAC (Technical Advisory Committee) where you’ll find the purpose of the TAC, the members of the TAC, as well as slides and notes from past TAC meetings. As the TAC meetings aren’t public, we encourage you to review the meeting notes and slides. We were pleased these documents were made so readily available.
SOCIAL MEDIA
Last week, the City launched a Twitter account dedicated to Vision Zero but it has since been suspended and all Vision Zero announcements are directed through the City’s Public Works Twitter Account (this account does have nearly 5,000 followers, which may be why the City decided to promote Vision Zero on an already well-followed platform). We aren’t sure what other social media, if any, will be dedicated to Omaha’s Vision Zero effort but we are sharing as much pertinent information as we can through our social media accounts and newsletter.
Do be aware that there is a defunct unofficial Twitter account that was launched in 2017 and is NOT associated with any current Omaha Vision Zero efforts.
CONTACTING VISION ZERO
If you’d like to make contact with Omaha’s Vision Zero folks, you can use this email: VisionZero@cityofomaha.org
PUBLICITY
The Vision Zero website is a solid website yet it has received little promotion at this time. It is disheartening to see the amount of media attention the newly launched streetcar website is receiving versus the attention the Vision Zero website is receiving. Vision Zero needs the feedback of the people. We are HOPING that the Vision Zero website will be promoted soon.
27 January 2023 Search
“Omaha streetcar” search
27 January 2023
“Omaha vision zero” search
INFORMATIONAL POP-UP EVENTS
Representatives from the City’s Vision Zero consultants are hosting 12 pop-ups across the city. The purpose of these pop-up events is to:
Inform people about the Vision Zero project
Gather input on issues, concerns, opportunities, and desires,
Meet the people where they already are.
You can find scheduled pop-ups on the “Upcoming Events” page of the Vision Zero website. Expect six of these pop-up events over the next month or so, and the remaining to be held closer to Spring.
So far, two pop-ups have been held on the afternoons of January 25th and 26th. The next scheduled pop-up is scheduled for January 28th, see image below.
Since these pop-ups are intended to “go where the people already are,,” you’ll find them at already scheduled events. The pop-ups are not official open houses,, they are informal and scheduled at various times, at various events, across the city. Formal open houses will be held later in the Vision Zero process.
We dropped by the inaugural Vision Zero Informational Pop-up yesterday afternoon where Tim Adams (WSP) and Alyssa Vaughan (JEO Consulting) were catching folks as they walked by and engaging them in conversation about Vision Zero. This is not a job for the socially timid as most people start to walk right on by.
At yesterday’s first pop-up, I was reminded of just how many folks in omaha don’t even know what Vision Zero is, let alone know that the City has committed to it. So these pop-ups will work to raise awareness. But they are also great opportunities to gather feedback, which Tim and Alyssa were doing yesterday They asked folks what they’d change about the streets in their local area or what their biggest concerns about driving in in Omaha were. We were NOT surprised to hear both zipper merging and distracted driving as local concerns.
Here are a couple of photos from the first pop-up event. And if you happen to be at an event where the Vision Zero Information Pop-up table also is, please stop and engage.
Tim Adams and Alyssa Vaughan at the Vision Zero Pop-up Table 1/25/23
Tim, Alyssa, and Interested Citizen, Barbi Hayes (also mother of me, SOS Co-founder Trilety Wade) 1/25/23
Lastly, where do you think a hot spot for a Vision Zero pop up would be? And what do you think about the City’s new Vision Zero website? Let us know in the comments below.
Thanks for reading!
Vision Zero Update: Guiding Principles & Focus Areas
On 15 December 2022, I attended the second Vision Zero Technical Advisory Committee (TAC) meeting. The meeting focused on updates, Guiding Principles, Data, and Focus Areas.
Updates - Vision Zero Logo, Website, & Social Media Accounts:
Be on the lookout for the official launch of the Vision Zero website and social media accounts sometime this month (January 2023). The website will include a crowd-sourced public engagement map, sign-up link for ongoing information and, short survey. Please bookmark this site once it’s up and running!
Omaha’s Vision Zero logo
The logo to the left is now the permanent brand for Omaha’s Vision Zero efforts - we hope to see this image put to good use around the whole city!
Guiding Principles:
Every plan needs deliberate principles to guide the decision-making, and Vision Zero is no different. WSP, the Vision Zero consultant for the City of Omaha, put together a list of Guiding Principles based on feedback from the Vision Zero Executive Committee and Vision Zero Technical Advisory Committee, and the recommendation report by the original Vision Zero Task Force.
The Guiding Principles will be used throughout the entire Vision Zero process to ensure we stay true to established values and to be used for accountability once the Vision Zero Action Plan is implemented.
Focus Areas/Focus Groups:
The majority of the second TAC meeting was devoted to a presentation on traffic data. WSP compiled years of traffic data for the City of Omaha into coherent, comprehensive summary statistic graphs. The data analysis used Omaha, NDOT, US Census Bureau, and Replica data to understand crash mapping, crash statistics, and systemic risk analysis. This data helped determine the Focus Areas for the Vision Zero Action Plan.
Each of the Focus Areas will have a Focus Group that will be composed of 5 to 10 members of the TAC. Focus Group meetings begin at the end of January, which is definitely when the work will begin. These Focus Groups will help the whole committee IDENTIFY the issues so we can SOLVE the problems.
The Focus Groups, as they currently stand, are:
Equity
Speed
High Risk Arterial Roads
two-way and one-way with a special focus on one-way
truck routes
undivided (no median)
moderate traffic congestion
Intersections
traffic signals
angle crashes
rear end crashes
Pedestrians and Bicyclists
High Risk Users
motorcyclists
young users
male users
Occupant Protection
seat belts
motorcycle helmets
Impairment
Funding Policies and Processes
SOS is most interested in working on the Intersection and Speed Focus Groups.
Data Analysis:
See below for data on Omaha’s streets presented at the meeting. Notice the slides correspond to the Focus Areas above. The data in these slides does not include above-grade interstates (i.e. Interstate 80, etc.), but does include local highways like Dodge Street (HWY 6) and Maple Street (HWY 64), etc.
Remember, these slides represent what are called KSI crashes. KSI means “killed” and “serious injuries,” which are the types of crashes that Vision Zero focuses on, not fender benders or minor-injury crashes. However, ANY crash can cause emotional torment or mental anxiety and should not be trivialized, but Vision Zero works specifically to prevent fatal and serious injury crashes.
Unless otherwise stated, the slides represent data from 2015-2019 or 2016-2020.
Speeding wasn’t shown to be nearly the problem I thought it was. However, more than speeding, we believe Omaha has a speed variance problem - where drivers are all driving drastically different speeds instead of a rate of speed within 5 to 10 miles of each other.
This slide highlights where speed IS a problem. . .
65% of fatal or serious injury crashes happened at 35 mph or higher
This slide above shows a correlation between one-way streets and bike or pedestrian crashes. I’m wondering if this number is also higher not just because of the nature of the roadway but because most of the one-way streets in Omaha are in midtown and downtown, areas with traditionally higher numbers of cyclists and pedestrians. Either way, interesting!
This slide shows how the presence of medians can increase safety.
Would road diets that included medians as well as multimodal lanes help solve this problem?! I don’t know, but I will ask this question as we develop the Action Plan.
The photo to the right from the Federal Highway Safety Administration shows a median that also functions as a “pedestrian refuge” area. Very cool. And that photo is a decade old, so let’s get our city up to (safe) speed!
Cyclists and pedestrians endure a disproportionate amount of crashes, as you can see above. Pedestrians account for 2% of road users, but 13% of fatal and serious injury crashes. Cyclists account for less than half of one percent of road users but endure 3% of fatal and serious injury crashes.
The data doesn’t bear out the stereotype that women are the bad drivers.
Nebraska is notorious for low seat-belt usage, but even Omaha - when compared with comparable cities - has a poor seat belt usage too. And helmet use, especially what are referred to as DOT (Department of Transportation) approved helmets, is comparably low here as well.
In both vehicular crashes (above) and pedestrian crashes (below), alcohol was LESS of a factor in serious injury crashes, but WAY MORE of a factor in fatal crashes. We have an alcohol problem, not just in this city and state but in the country.
Many of us were surprised that distracted driving wasn’t more of an issue, but apparently it’s hard to identify as a contributor to a crash.
And don’t forget, we are one of just a few states where police CANNOT pull someone over JUST for distracted driving, i.e. texting, etc., which means maybe it is harder to gather data on distracted driving.
A few of my main takeaways from the data presented at the meeting:
More arterial crashes in Omaha than in the nation
Way fewer people use restraints than in similar cities
Low rates of DOT-approved helmet usage
Data indicates that one-way roads are dangerous
More fatal and serious injury crashes occurred on roads with moderate congestion, vs high congestion or un-congested
2/3 of fatal and serious injury crashes are at signalized intersections
The vast majority of fatal and serious injury crashes are between 4 pm and 6 pm on weekdays, with a small spike on Friday evenings and Saturday/Sunday late night to early morning
What’s Next?!:
The next meeting of the Vision Zero Technical Advisory Committee will be in early February, with our Focus Group meetings scheduled for the end of this month (January).
As the process continues, the City will hold pop-up gatherings throughout Omaha at venues accessible to all communities. Please attend these and make your voice heard. We acknowledge there has been frustration between some citizens and the City regarding public participation. However, EVERYONE working on Vision Zero has Omaha’s safe future in mind and welcomes ideas and feedback from street and sidewalk users. We will promote all these pop-ups.
One of the aspects of the TAC that I’m most excited about is the people. Each committee member comes to the table with expertise and a passion for making Omaha safer for all. And they consistently and respectfully challenge the process to ensure all voices are represented and the data is interpreted accurately. We are lucky to have a consultant like WSP because they listen to all committee members and don’t bring any unnecessary ego to the process. So. . . so far, so good, and now comes the hard work of putting together a comprehensive and implementable Vision Zero Action Plan.
How about you?:
What do you think of the data presented above? Did anything stand out to you as shocking? Or was it all as you expected? Don’t be shy; reply in the Comment Section below!
The Difficulty of Data
As you’ll recall from our recent post, the city of Omaha is currently developing a Vision Zero Action Plan that will put Omaha on the road to eliminating traffic fatalities and severe injuries. One of the four core elements of Vision Zero is a “data-driven approach.”
SOS is also dedicated to data. Even Omaha’s Vision Zero Task Force made specific recommendations regarding data in 2019,
“Disaggregate data for traffic fatalities and serious injuries by race and ethnicity to allow for better analysis and to improve the ability to address potential equity concerns.”
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) says it best;
“Safety starts with crash data.”
What data can do:
Data on crashes can help law enforcement objectively decide where to locate traffic units.
Data on crashes can help engineers make sound design decisions.
Data can help researchers and municipalities create solutions well suited to a specific area.
Data can give lawmakers and citizens an accurate picture of the problem of unsafe driving
What data can’t do:
Data cannot always pierce the bias of politics. Take our home state of Nebraska as an example.
Forty eight states have distracted driving laws. All but three states have primary enforcement; Nebraska is one of those three states that only has secondary enforcement for distracted driving - which means the driver can only be stopped and cited for distracted driving if cited or charged with another offense.
For successive years, safety advocates and those impacted by distracted driving have tried to make distracted driving a primary offense in Nebraska. However, even with solid data, the bills didn’t leave committee.
LB 620 - 2019
LB 668 - 2016
LB 517 - 2015
LB 807 - 2014
No matter how objective and convincing data is, it is often defeated by incompetence or stubbornness.
Data is Difficult
So data is essential, and we want more of it, but there’s nothing simple or easy about data.
It takes
time,
effort, and
commitment
to collect,
analyze, and
present data in a meaningful and digestible way, ie graphs, charts, tables etc.
Data on Omaha’s Traffic Fatalities:
As of December 2, 2022, the Omaha Police Department had investigated 44 fatal crashes, as you can see in this tweet by an officer from the traffic unit.
However, the City of Omaha’s Fatal Crash Dashboard reports only 41 traffic fatalities - that’s 3 fewer deaths than OPD is presenting.
What’s the deal?
I contacted the City and received an answer plus some super interesting info on data:
Medical Condition Prior to Crash: One of the 44 fatalities involved a driver who suffered a medical condition prior to the crash where the cause of death was determined to be from the medical condition NOT the crash. Thus, OPD counted this as a traffic fatality but the city, which follows national guidelines for crash/fatality definitions, did not count it as a fatality on the Crash Dashboard.
Unborn Children: Two of the 44 fatalities recorded by OPD were both unborn children who were killed in crashes. The City of Omaha, along with the Nebraska Department of Transportation, follows national guidelines for definitions of crashes/fatalities where unborn children are NOT counted as a separate fatality from the mother. National standards consider a fetus to be part of a pregnant woman rather than a separate individual.
If you haven’t spent some time checking out the City of Omaha’s Fatal Crash Dashboard, I urge you to do so. At some point in the future, we’ll be able to access not just data on traffic fatalities but data on serious injuries as well. Since taking the position as Omaha’s Vision Zero coordinator, Jeff Sobczyk and others in the Public Works Department have been working hard to sort and analyze crash data - again, data requires time and effort.
You can also find crash data at the state level at the Nebraska Department of Transportation’s Crash Data site.
How Data is Presented
Once data is sorted and analyzed, it’s presented to the public. Always use a critical eye when looking at data and ask questions of the author if something seems confusing. Most honest and well intentioned researchers, journalists, etc will be generous, not stingy, with information.
Age Categories: For instance, when a chart was posted on Twitter a couple months ago with an age categorization similar to the chart below, people replied aggressively and claimed the data was “cooked” or manipulated because the age categories for youth were in 5 year increments whereas the older age categories were in 10 year increments. I have to admit that, at the time, I too thought this was strange.
I was curious about the age categories so I asked my favorite highway safety engineer at the Nebraska Department of Transportation. Here’s why the age categories differ, and it’s super interesting:
Additional categories for younger ages is likely due to the meaningful changes that occur in those populations. These younger people will make significant changes in both their “seat restraint type” and “position in the vehicle” as they grow older.
For example, children will go from being in a child car seat in the rear of the vehicle, then to a booster seat, then to a full seat belt restraint, then to front row seating, and finally into the driving position. All of these characteristics are meaningful factors in crash outcomes and thus are separated in the chart to display these differences.
Whereas older vehicle drivers and passengers in their 30s, 40s, or 50s don’t have the same transition and can be represented in larger groups.
A variety of ways to say the same thing:
In one of our recent newsletters we posted the October 2022 Traffic Fatality Toll from the State of Nebraska which stated
“only 53 of the 173 vehicle occupants killed during 2022 were using seatbelts.”
Tom Everson, founder of KKAD25, replied to our newsletter to say that another way to look at that data would be to say that so far in 2022, about 70% of traffic deaths in NE involved unbuckled drivers/passengers. This astounded me, and it astounded me that it had NOT occurred to me until Tom brought it up.
There is a variety of ways to present data. Such that the same info could presented in any of these ways:
53 of the 173 vehicle occupants killed were using seatbelts, or
120 of the 173 vehicle occupants killed were not using seatbelts, or
30.6% of the vehicle occupants killed were using seatbelts, or
69.4% of the vehicle occupants killed were not using seatbelts
All statements are accurate.
Ultimately, there are way too many people not wearing seatbelts, and as the data points out, they are dying at higher rates than those who do wear a restraint.
How do you see Data Now?
Do you see Data differently now than you did at the start of this article? Data will be a topic we continue to come back to, so let us know if you have any questions about data and traffic crashes. Don’t be shy, let your comment fly!
Special Thanks to the Following Folks: Nick Gordon (City of Omaha Public Works Traffic Division), Don Butler (Highway Safety Engineer with Nebraska Department of Transportation), Jeff Sobczyk (City of Omaha Vision Zero Coordinator), Tom Everson (Keep Kids Alive Drive 25), Eric Koeppe (President/CEO National Safety Council - Nebraska Chapter)
Cover Photo Image credit: National Cancer Institute on Unsplash
The First Meeting of the Vision Zero Technical Advisory Committee
On November 3rd, I attended the Vision Zero Technical Advisory (TAC) Committee as a representative of Safe Omaha Streets (SOS). The cover photo for this post was taken from the 7th floor of City Hall.
What is Vision Zero?
“Vision Zero is a strategy to eliminate all traffic fatalities and severe injuries, while increasing safe, healthy, equitable mobility for all. First implemented in Sweden in the 1990s, Vision Zero has proved successful across Europe - and now it’s gaining momentum in major American cities.”
A Vision Zero Task Force was assembled in Omaha in 2018, per the request of Mayor Stothert in her commitment for Omaha to become a Vision Zero city. Prior to this, many Omaha citizens and advocacy groups were dedicated to urging the City to commit to safer roads for all - their hard work continues to this day. The Vision Zero Task Force compiled a thorough and informative “Findings & Recommendations Report” in 2019, which you can read here. In the 3 years since that report was published, the City hired a Vision Zero Coordinator and just recently hired a national consultant to help the city develop a Vision Zero Action Plan so that Vision Zero strategies can finally be implemented in Omaha. The Technical Advisory Committee (TAC) will be active in development of said plan.
What is the TAC?
This passage from Jeff Sobczyk, Omaha’s Vision Zero Coordinator, that was included in the TAC invite gives a clear explanation of the purpose of this committee:
As you already know, the City of Omaha is pursuing a Vision Zero Action Plan (VZAP) to maximize the City’s potential to reduce the number of fatalities and severe injuries down to zero across the transportation system. As part of this project, we are conducting considerable stakeholder engagement, including the creation of a Technical Advisory Committee (TAC).
The TAC is a large and diverse group of City department staff, partnering agencies representatives, and community advocacy groups. The TAC will review data analysis and public input, determine safety focus areas, as well as filter, prioritize, and implement recommendations from Focus Area Working Groups and public engagement.
November 3, 2022 meeting
About 36+ people were in attendance, half of whom attended in person and half who attended virtually. The consultant hired by the City, with approval from the Omaha City Council, is an international firm - WSP. They are supported locally by a Nebraska-based firm - JEO Consulting Group.
One of the consultants from WSP explained that the TAC is the middle structure between the Vision Zero Executive Committee and the public. The TAC will help prioritize, filter, and bring recommendations to the Executive Committee.
Vision Zero & Omaha
Here are a few other important points the consultant noted about Vision Zero in general, and Omaha’s Vision Zero plan specifically:
Vision Zero is a lot of work but is highly effective
Vision Zero is always a data-driven approach
Omaha’s Vision Zero Action Plan will be the first in the State, and will hopefully prove an effective model for other local communities across Nebraska
“Community involvement and transparency are both crucial” to the process
Vision Zero is a long-term project, so results may not be seen in 2 or 3 years, but rather in 10 or 20 years. Further, due to lags in data reporting, it may be hard to accurately judge the effectiveness of our Vision Zero plan until it’s been in the works for a few years anyway.
The deliverable of this project will be “actual actionable steps”
“We have a lot of tools in our toolbox” - a statement made by the WSP Consultant.
This was just the introductory meeting where people met each other and the WSP consultant provided a thorough overview of Vision Zero and how the Action Plan would be developed. The committee will be given “homework” prior to the next meeting where we will dedicate our time to establishing Focus Areas for the project as well as review a possible “set of core values and guiding principles” for Vision Zero in Omaha.
Quoted Highlights
Enjoy just a few of the quoted highlights from the first TAC meeting:
“Is Vision Zero proactive or reactive?” We were told it will be “Both.” We will be moving towards a more proactive approach and will use predictive analysis, but some crashes just cannot be predicted.
“Is Vision Zero a policy level guideline? Will all future projects have to abide by VZ recommendations?” We were told that “Vision Zero is not a policymaking or legislative-making plan.” Vision Zero is the first step, legislation or rule-making would be future steps not under the purview of this phase of Vision Zero.
“Vision Zero will be a lens we look through - a resource for evaluation.”
“In moving forward how will we actually engage the whole community including grassroots ownership?” We were told this would be discussed in future meetings but would also be addressed by the various public focus groups that will be hosted throughout the city.
One of the main questions I posed was this: What is Vision Zero ‘not?’ For instance, I was always under the impression that it was not enforcement.” We were told that Enforcement is part of Vision Zero.
One person in attendance they’d like to see more education - “this is a 140-square mile city and we need to take steps to change humann behavior because sometimes people just act a fool.” [SOS is in complete agreement that we need to tackle behavior change]
After a brief discussion on the additional funding dollars that will be made available to the City of Omaha once we have an approved Vision Zero Action Plan, one person made this unforgettable statement, “We don’t need more money, we just need to pick better projects.” This was a thought-provoking statement, and my favorite of the day!
The WSP consultant made a great statement about data on pedestrian deaths, he explained “Some places have fewer pedestrians deaths and injuries only because pedestrians avoid it like the plague. We need to find those places.” * For more clarification, see the comment section at the end of this post.
And after seeing the slide below, which presents the inequities of deaths on our local roads, one person said “Shining a light on these statistics is hard, it is not exciting, it is terrifying.”
Check out this bevy of answers the attendees gave when asked for feedback on Vision, Values, Challenges, and Pop-up locations:
Which responses above were your favorites? Please comment below!
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Lastly, the people in attendance were also given the opportunity to vote on the Vision Zero logo. There was one overall clear winner, which means it won’t be long until the City of Omaha finally has a Vision Zero website and Vision Zero social media accounts!! Stay tuned so you can follow along with all the action!
Thanks for reading!
A Red Light for Red Light Cameras
Approximately 10 minute read & Image Credit for Cover Image goes to Tobias Tullius via Unsplash.com
Poll your fellow Omaha drivers and ask if they wait a few seconds before entering an intersection once they have the green light. Or ask your pedestrian friends if crossing the street strikes them with major anxiety. The answer to both questions will most likely be “yes.”
We watch drivers run red lights habitually in Omaha, so we wondered why there aren’t any red light cameras in our city. Since face-to-face enforcement can be at best controversial and at worst dangerous, we figured most citizens would be on board with a type of enforcement that keeps everyone - drivers, cyclists, pedestrians, etc - safe. But we were surprised to find out that red light cameras are not only not allowed in the City of Omaha but will likely never be allowed in the State of Nebraska.
In this post we will cover the following topics:
the problem of running red lights,
what are red light cameras & why aren’t they allowed in Nebraska?
how can automated enforcement be improved,
civil vs criminal nature of traffic violations in Nebraska,
alternatives to automated enforcement
what you can do, and
special thanks!
Red Light Running is a Problem
According to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, in 2020:
928 people were killed in crashes that involved red light running
Half of those killed were pedestrians, cyclists, or people in other vehicles hit by the driver who ran the red light
An estimated 116,000 people were injured in crashes that involved red light running (1)
According to the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety:
In 2019, deaths from red light running were at a 10 year high (2)
According to the City of Omaha’s Fatal Crash Dashboard:
Seven people have died so far this year (as of October 10, 2022) in Omaha due to a crash involving someone running a red light. (3)
One of the goals of SOS is to reduce red light running in the City of Omaha!
A few things to know about red light cameras:
Automated Enforcement
Red light cameras are categorized as automated enforcement
Automated enforcement can be a safer form of enforcement than face-to-face police stops.
Due to how some red-light programs are managed, automated enforcement may not be dangerous but it may also not be just.
Not covered by the MUTCD
Red light cameras are not considered a traffic control device so they are not included in the Manual for Uniform Traffic Control Devices (MUTCD)
The MUTCD is basically THE guidebook for licensed traffic engineers
Effective or Not?
There is a great deal of controversy and debate over the effectiveness of red light cameras
Some studies show a significant decrease in crashes, especially angled-crashes, at intersections with red-light cameras
Whereas other studies show a less significant reduction in angled-crashes but show an increase in rear-end impact crashes.
Much of the debate stems from the varied methodologies being used in the studies.
And many people cherry-pick the research they choose to cite that will best back up their belief/opinion - confirmation bias at its worst
Back to Omaha
Here’s a little background from the City of Omaha Law Department on why red light cameras are not allowed in our city:
In 1998, the City of Omaha adopted an ordinance for the detection and enforcement of traffic signal violations - otherwise known as the "red light camera" program. Shortly, thereafter, Senator Ernie Chambers filed a lawsuit against the City of Omaha seeking to enjoin the ordinance and requesting a declaratory judgment that the ordinance was invalid and unconstitutional. The District Court considered the evidence and the law and struck down the ordinance. The Court determined that the City acted outside of its authority since there was no state statute that authorized the adoption of this type of traffic ordinance. The District Court also determined that specific provisions of the ordinance dealing with fines was unconstitutional. The City decided not to appeal.
The City Law Department advised the Mayor and the City Council at that time that, in order to move forward, the legislature would have to authorize the City of Omaha to adopt this kind of ordinance. There have been a few efforts over the last 20 years to allow for automated traffic enforcement, but none have been adopted by the legislature.
Senator Ernie Chambers continued to oppose red light cameras ten+ years later in 2009 when Terry Fulton, a senator from Lincoln, introduced LB469 that would have allowed local municipalities to use cameras to issue tickets for running a red light.
Chambers was quoted in the Kearny Hub as saying:
“I guarantee I will win. This turns jurisprudence on its head.” (4)
ACLU Stance on Red Light Cameras
The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) is generally opposed to red light cameras. They have held this same stance for decades now as you will see in this 2001 press release “ACLU urges halt to use of red-light cameras until privacy and fairness issues are addressed - statement of Barry Steinhardt, Associate Director, American Civil Liberties Union” (5)
The ACLU is opposed to red light cameras for three main reasons:
Due process:
When tickets are sent to the owner of the vehicle that ran a red light, this assumes it was the owner of the vehicle driving. This is seen by the ACLU as an assumption of guilt, thus people could be denied the right to an assumption of innocence.
“First, the tickets are sent to the owner of a car, who was not necessarily the person committing the alleged violation. The burden of proof usually then falls on the owner to prove he or she was not driving at the time. This is a violation of the bedrock American principle that the accused be considered innocent until proven guilty.” (Ibid)
Fairness:
Many of the red-light camera contractors receive a cut of the revenue generated by tickets
“That creates an obvious incentive to contractors to "game" the system in order to increase revenue and in turn generates public cynicism and suspicion.” (Ibid)
Some communities have disproportionately concentrated red light cameras in communities of color.
Privacy:
Issues of privacy are often raised in opposition to any government surveillance.
“The ACLU is most concerned about what we call "mission creep" -- that the data collected by these cameras will be used for purposes other than tracking reckless drivers. Government and private-industry surveillance techniques created for one purpose are rarely restricted to that purpose, and every expansion of a data bank and every new use for the data opens the door to more and more privacy abuses.”
The ACLU’s stance has changed little, especially regarding privacy and cameras, as seen in this ACLU quote regarding a recent proposal to put license plate readers on City of Omaha infrastructure (the proposal was denied by Omaha City Council):
"Cameras make no distinction looking at cars. They auto-collect all data for everyone that passes through an intersection. It is mass collection of systematic data, and it is 99 percent of people innocent of nothing.”
Civil vs Criminal
Nebraska’s laws, as they relate to traffic violations, are generally criminal vs civil in nature.
Spike Eickholt, with the Nebraska chapter of the ACLU, helpfully directed me to Nebraska Revised Statute 60-682
Eickholt explained,
“If you look at some of the cases that interpret this area of law you can see that our Supreme Court has said on multiple times that traffic infractions are criminal in nature.”
Even if the charge is minor, it is still considered criminal
The person being accused of the crime (running a red light) should be entitled to a presumption of innocence
This is not easily allowed for in many automated enforcement programs.
A way to Improve Red Light Camera programs
In 2021, the Insurance Institute of Highway Safety created a checklist to tackle the issues of unfairness and constitutionality in automated enforcement programs, however it does not address privacy issues. One of their first recommendations is to make design and engineering improvements to problem intersections BEFORE going the enforcement route. A few of the other approaches are listed below (8):
Locate cameras ONLY at the most dangerous intersections
Cameras should not be concentrated in communities of color
Target the Most Dangerous Violations such as blowing through a red light, not necessarily turning on a red
Use Standard Signal Timing - to prevent people claiming the yellow light timing isn’t fair, all timings must be in accordance with MUTCD
Allocate camera revenues to cover the cost of the program THEN put any additional revenue into a fund for street safety programs
Encourage public input, such as establishing an advisory stakeholder group composed of law enforcement, residents, school officials, and victims’ advocates, to help design the program and oversee changes.
Be Transparent - share all data
Don’t create monetary incentives for the camera vendors
Start the program with just warnings first, not tickets
“IIHS also says cameras should not trigger a fine for drivers who disobey the red signal less than one-eighth to one-half of a second after the light changes.”
Allow due process and an accessible way for people to contest the ticket
Offer sliding-scale fines and alternatives to payment for low-income drivers
The IIHS’ Automated Enforcement Program Checklist is a stellar tool for communities that are legally authorized to create an automated enforcement program. (9)
Alternatives to Automated Enforcement
Since red-light cameras are not an option in Omaha, here are some alternatives to automated enforcement that can help reduce red-light running.
Red-light running can be addressed via design/engineering, education, and/or enforcement.
Design/Engineering Options:
Intersection murals and street art - Not applicable in City of Omaha
Painting intersections with murals, like the one above, has been shown to reduce intersection crashes (10)
50% drop in crashes involving pedestrians or cyclists
37% drop in crashes leading to injuries
17% drop in overall accidents
You can read more about these art initiatives here
Street art is NOT allowed in the State of Nebraska because our licensed traffic engineers are required by law to be compliant with The Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices (MUTCD), which does not recommend street art.
I contacted Bloomberg Philanthropies,, a philanthropic organization started by former NYC mayor Mike Bloomberg, which is also the organization behind the Asphalt Art Initiative, to ask how other cities managed to conduct these creative efforts that ran askew to established traffic regulations. The person I spoke to explained that other municipalities may have a little more wiggle room in how they “interpret” the MUTCD and they may not have state statutes in place the way Nebraska does. It’s an interesting report, and I recommend reading it, but scrutinize the data as I found a few errors. The errors don’t affect their final statistical results, but they are still errors nonetheless. Also, this is not a report from an academic institution or government agency so be aware when reading about any possible bias. on the part of the authors. I’d also love to know more about the maintenance and longevity of these creative street art projects!
Roundabouts - Applied in City of Omaha
Roundabouts are a preferred engineering approach to reduce angle type crashes at intersections and to significantly decrease the severity of intersection crashes.
One of the most contested features of a roundabout is the sheer amount of land they require to be constructed which sometimes can result in a landowners losing some of their property for a public project.
Omaha’s upcoming roundabouts:
Three local signalized intersections will be transformed into safer roundabouts in the next two years.
One of the projects will be at 33rd & Hamilton streets, and is set to begin in late 2024 or possibly 2025. Once the project gets rolling, you can find updates at keepomahamoving.com
The second roundabout project will occur at two intersections (50th & 52nd) along Farnam Street. You can find out all you want to know about this project and sign up for updates here (12)
The city has already been receiving feedback at local community meetings about the need for education at roundabouts. Drivers,, pedestrians, cyclists, and all users of the roundabout must know how to safely and collaboratively navigate these no-stop intersections. Beyond any potential efforts of the city, SOS will be dedicated to advocating for signage at the actual roundabouts as well as promoting any educational campaigns.
While roundabouts are most effective, the City of Omaha has other design approaches that help reduce intersection collisions as well:
Leading Pedestrian Intervals/LPI’s - Applied in City of Omaha
LPI’s allow a pedestrian to enter the intersection 3 to 7 seconds before vehicles are given their green light. (13)
This allows pedestrians to establish their presence in the crosswalk and can protect them from right-turning vehicles
LPI”s are new to Omaha and require upgraded equipment so they are not yet found citywide. By the end of 2022, almost half of the 1,000 signals scheduled for upgrade with have the new LPI technology.
Here is a photo of an LPI in action at 52nd & Farnam
Notice how all lights are red, but the walk signal is illuminated! The city is currently working on some fun, educational videos about the new LPI’s in the city.
Retroreflective backplates- Applied in City of Omaha
This low cost strategy improves the visibility of the signal light, alerting people to a red light
Especially helpful to older and vision deficient drivers (14)
This strategy is great because it is low-cost and does result in a reduction in crashes, but is most effective when used ALONG WITH other crash-reduction strategies.
Clearance Signal Timing (Yellow/ Red Time) - Applied in City of Omaha
“The yellow change interval is the length of time that the yellow signal indication is displayed following a green signal indication. The yellow signal confirms to motorists that the green has ended and that a red will soon follow” (15)
Appropriately time yellow change intervals can not only reduce red light running but it can improve safety conditions of the overall intersection.
Signal Louvers - Applied in City of Omaha
These devices restrict visibility to certain lanes to prevent drivers from being distracted by adjacent signals.
The City of Omaha is currently in the midst of a Traffic Signal Infrastructure Modernization and Adaptive Signal Control Technology effort, and many of the signal strategies referenced above are included in this masterplan. Additionally, you can check out some of the traffic safety upgrades recently conducted by Public Works here.
Education
The City of Omaha is currently putting together a bunch of educational safety videos on some of the safety strategies discussed in this post. Once they become available to the public, SOS will make sure to share these with our entire network!
Beyond educational videos, check out some of the persuasive pursuits that the City of Portland’s Vision Zero initiative put together.
.
Whenever there is a deadly crash on the Streets of Portland,, the city will erect temporary visible messaging which drives home to other drivers the deadly impact of unsafe or distracted driving. This is an eye-catching way to raise awareness. (16)
The City of Portland deploys community-based Street Teams six times a year to share safe driving tips and engage with people living along Portland’s High Crash Network streets
SOS would LOVE to see the forthcoming Vision Zero Action Plan for the City of Omaha utilize ideas like the ones in Portland
Local Enforcement
Last of all options that should be employed as an alternative to automated enforcement is face-to-face enforcement.
However, if you are concerned about a local intersection you can contact your city council person and request special enforcement where the police will monitor an area and distribute citations for any unlawful behavior. While putting the public and police in face-to-face contact is a valid concern for many people, we have requested enforcement at problem intersections before.
We did this for two reasons 1) to prove to the City that an intersection of concern is dangerous and 2) to gather data.
You can see from the Special Enforcement Request to the left that police issued tickets at a rate of approximately 1 citation per hour in some locations.
SOS is considering projects that would raise awareness of problem intersections while gathering data all WITHOUT involving enforcement.
One project would be a city-wide red light audit where we gather data by tallies and video, all while raising awareness of dangerous intersections. Stay tuned for that and please reach out if you are interested in participating!
WHEW! That was a lot! Are you still with us?! Check out our One Page Red Light Camera Cheat Sheet below that we prepared for you to distribute to friends, neighbors, and organizations.
We hope we answered all your questions on why we don’t have any red light cameras in the city of Omaha and some of the strategies that are being used to reduce red light running. But we have a long road ahead of us to make the streets of Omaha safe. Will you join us?
Feel free to comment below or email us at safeomahastreets@gmail.com.
Last, but definitely not least, a HUGE THANK YOU to the following people who made this gargantuan post possible:
Jeff Riesselman
Nick Gordon
Senator Megan Hunt
Christopher “Spike” Eickholt
Pell Duvall
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References
(1) “Red Light Running.” IIHS-HLDI Crash Testing and Highway Safety, https://www.iihs.org/topics/red-light-running. Accessed 8 Oct. 2022.
(2) Allyn, Bobby. Deaths From Red Light Running At A 10-Year High, AAA Study Finds. 29 Aug. 2019, https://www.npr.org/2019/08/29/755441473/deaths-from-red-light-running-at-a-10-year-high-aaa-study-finds.
(3) City of Omaha Fatal Crash Dashboard. https://omaha.maps.arcgis.com/apps/dashboards/aaaa0a5e390646d183efe233b9758bd7. Accessed 8 Oct. 2022.
(4) Chambers Still Traffic-Camera Foe. https://kearneyhub.com/news/local/chambers-still-traffic-camera-foe/article_b865b637-189f-543b-9ae3-808e6dd6b63c.html#tncms-source=login. Accessed 8 Oct. 2022.
(5) “ACLU Urges Halt to Use of Red-Light Cameras Until Privacy and Fairness Issues Are Addressed Statement of Barry Steinhardt Associate Director, American Civil Liberties Union.” American Civil Liberties Union, https://www.aclu.org/press-releases/aclu-urges-halt-use-red-light-cameras-until-privacy-and-fairness-issues-are-addressed. Accessed 8 Oct. 2022.
(6) Ibid
(7) Omaha City Leaders Considering License Plate Reader Proposal. https://www.ketv.com/article/omaha-city-leaders-license-plate-reader-proposal/40912621. Accessed 8 Oct. 2022.
(8) Schmitt, Angie. As Cities Turn off Red Light Cameras, Red Light Runners Claim More Lives. 25 July 2018, https://usa.streetsblog.org/2018/07/25/as-cities-turn-off-red-light-cameras-red-light-runners-claim-more-lives/.
(10) “New Study Shows Streets Are Safer with Asphalt Art.” Bloomberg Philanthropies, https://www.bloomberg.org/blog/new-study-shows-streets-are-safer-with-asphalt-art/. Accessed 8 Oct. 2022.
(11) https://highways.dot.gov/sites/fhwa.dot.gov/files/2022-08/14_Roundabouts_508.pdf
(12) Farnam Street Two-Way Conversion: 50th and 52nd Street Intersection Improvements (OPW 53844) :: Keep Omaha Moving. http://www.keepomahamoving.com/projects/farnam-street-two-way-conversion-50th-and-52nd-street-intersection-improvements-opw-53844. Accessed 8 Oct. 2022.
(13) Leading Pedestrian Interval - Safety | Federal Highway Administration. https://safety.fhwa.dot.gov/provencountermeasures/lead_ped_int.cfm. Accessed 8 Oct. 2022.
(15) https://highways.dot.gov/sites/fhwa.dot.gov/files/2022-06/15_Yellow%20Change%20Intervals_508.pdf
(16) Message Boards About Traffic Deaths | Portland.Gov. https://www.portland.gov/transportation/vision-zero/message-boards. Accessed 8 Oct. 2022.
An Interview with Tom Everson, Founder of Keep Kids Alive Drive 25
One of the goals of Safe Omaha Streets (SOS) is to educate the citizens of Omaha about safe driving. When I recently met with Tom Everson, founder of Keep Kids Alive Drive 25 (KKAD25), he was the one who educated me. Tom and I met on a Tuesday morning at Blue Line coffee, where he arrived early wearing his green KKAD25-branded polo and laden with colorful visual aides. A former teacher, he is still an educator at heart. Tom is one of the most enthusiastically positive and collaborative people I have met in a long while.
As we were scheduling our interview, Tom was preparing to climb Pike’s Peak to train for the Keep Kids Alive Drive 25 “Live Forward” team that runs in honor of those who died in car crashes. This sanctioned event draws premier mountain runners from all over the world. You will see through this interview that improving road safety and people’s quality of life is not just a day job for Tom, it is his entire life ethic.
How It All Began
KKAD25 started in 1998 when Tom was on a run through his kid-heavy neighborhood and the phrase “keep kids alive drive 25” popped into his head. Since that time, he’s built an ambitious non-profit that has made positive impacts on road safety in over 1,700 communities in 49 states. One of the misconceptions I had about KKAD25 was that it was strictly a local non-profit. While it is Omaha-based, it is national in scope. In the State of New Jersey alone, Tom has brought the mission of KKAD25 to over 100 communities.
From the very beginning Tom was dedicated to using evidence-based strategies to slow down speeders. He used this same data-driven approach with the now-iconic KKAD25 signs. At this point in the interview, Tom stopped to remind me that these signs were and continue to be intended as a “friendly reminder, not an accusation.” You’ll find if you spend more than a few minutes with Tom that friendly openness is a core aspect of his personality.
Tom credits the original idea for putting the KKAD25 logo on yard signs to Lieutenant Vacek (now retired) of the Omaha Police Department. To test the effectiveness of Lt. Vacek’s idea, Tom had a prototype sign made up for his yard and conducted a small observational study where he’d look for brake-lights on cars as they passed his yard. He even conducted these observations from the window of his living room so his presence wouldn’t influence the behavior of drivers. Over a 20 month period, 75% of the cars he observed applied their brakes when passing the KKAD25 sign. Being that an earlier traffic study showed the average rate of speed in his neighborhood was 31 mph in a 25 mph zone, he believed the signs made a difference and decided to implement this idea on a larger scale.
At this point, if you aren’t well versed in traffic studies, you may be asking yourself, “whats the big deal if someone goes a few miles over 25 mph in a neighborhood?” Tom reiterated what I have heard countless times from my partner Jim, the “death rate for a car hitting you at 30 mph is 3 times higher than if the car was only going 25 mph." And like Tom said “I don’t want to get hit by a car going at any speed!”
Relationships
Every KKAD25 project is driven by the tenets of “positivity” and “relationships.” Tom was emphatic when he said “I follow the positive energy and don’t waste my time on negativity.” Basically he won’t try and change minds but will provide all the tools, help, resources, and facilitation to the people who DO want to slow down speeding drivers and make streets safer for kids.
Tom also explained that at its core, KKAD25 is about “relationships.” The guiding question behind what he does is “who do you love and who loves you?” From the standpoint of pedestrians, cyclists, and drivers, the answers to these two questions are all the reminders people need to keep themselves and others safe.
“It’s all relational,” said Tom as he continued to cleverly remind me that “it’s hard to put a face on infrastructure, so you have to put a face on how you behave and operate in that infrastructure.”
Education & Behavior Change
Tom constantly emphasized that education is integral to any behavior change, and behavior change is often needed to keep kids safe. Ever a student of human behavior, Tom also conceded that “acquiring a new skill takes patience and practice.” He offered this personal anecdote to illustrate:
Tom was sitting in the passenger seat as his son drove to football practice. After Tom witnessed his son slowly roll through a stop sign without really looking or coming to a complete stop, Tom asked why his son behaved this way. His son replied, “no one was even there.” Tom then gifted his son with a sports analogy, “you go to practice and run drills over and over again so that you are prepared for the big game. The same is true with stop signs; you practice stopping correctly day after day so that you are prepared to stop when you NEED to stop, like when a kid darts out in front of you or a driver stops short.”
This sports analogy was a powerful educational anecdote for me, especially being that I am a driver who has only been coming to a complete stop for the last 5 or so years.
Community Outreach
I asked Tom “how do you take that stop sign anecdote and extrapolate it to the community?” His answer to my question would be a recurring theme throughout the interview; “community.”
“The key to everything lies in two things: it’s the people in the communities who know what the issues are, and the solutions are within them but they just need the creativity and space for the solutions to come to the fore.”
It’s just this space that KKAD25 helps provide through network connections and facilitation.
Tom believes that projects that are built from the ground up, by the people actually living in the communities, are the best projects because they make streets safer while also building community ownership.
Highland Park, MI
One such example of this occurred in Highland Park, Michigan where the community took an arts-based approach to KKAD25 by inviting local artists to redesign the yard signs and personalize them to their community. (An example of one of these signs is the cover photo for this post) In addition to this, Highland Park also engaged local artists to design and paint a street mural as a traffic-calming strategy at an intersection with a high collision rate. Tom referenced a recent study that showed that street art can reduce crashes between motorists and other road users by 50%! The street mural was just recently finished so Tom will have to wait for the evaluation phase of the project, but he ended his story by saying “Street art is reclaiming space in a creative way” (1)
After I applauded Tom for his impact in Highland Park, he characteristically and humbly removed himself as the focus and said “I let others create, I just facilitate.”
Oro Valley, Arizona
Another effective safety campaign that was built from the community up was the origination and distribution of KKAD25 trash decals. It is illegal to place any signage - including KKAD25 signs - within the public right of way, so Tom was intrigued in 1999 when he received a call from a retired traffic engineer in Southern California who suggested Tom make KKAD25 decals that could be displayed on trash bins. The traffic engineer explained that not only would these decals avoid the ROW issue, but they’d also help all the neighbors send the same safety message once a week to all drivers.
The decal project became a popular campaign for KKAD25 with the clever title of “America’s Trash Talks to Keep Kids Alive.” The first community to ever participate in the Trash Talks campaign was Oro Valley, Arizona in August of 1999. A study was conducted on those initial decals, and a 13.5% reduction in speed was noted not only on days the decals were displayed but also on days when the bins were not curbside. Tom referred to this type of campaign as a “passive approach to safety,” meaning that speeds were reduced WITHOUT issuing tickets or reengineering a roadway; it was strictly community engagement. “They engaged the community and the community made change”
Omaha, NE
Prior to the City of Omaha’s new waste and recycling contract, Tom tried hard to partner with the City to implement the KKAD25 “Trash Talks to Keep Kids Alive” campaign. While he said he had the verbal support of Mayor Stothert, the partnership ultimately, and unfortunately, did not come to fruition.
But you can purchase decals for your yourself or your neighborhood association via the KKAD decals page.
Here’s a photo of Tom showing off one of these decals.
What About Omaha?
Once Tom told the tale of the trash bin decals in Omaha, I asked him what he thinks about the current state of community engagement in Omaha. His response was thoughtful and encouraging.
“One of the challenges for a city is to recognize there are so many partners out there that need to be drawn into the process. You can’t build something from the ground up by going out and saying ‘This is our plan and you are going to be a part of it.’ For our city to be successful, it ultimately hinges on engaging the grassroots representation of the community to give it a uniquely Omaha feel.”
While he did praise the Omaha Police Department for its continued support of KKAD25, Tom hopes that the new Vision Zero initiative and forthcoming VZ Action Plan process, will help to garner more community engagement around street safety and speed reduction.
Beyond Progress to Participation
Similar to Jeff Sobczyk’s comments in our inaugural SOS interview, Tom also believes we need to encompass more progressive thinking in Omaha. However, he then made this surprising and thought provoking statement:
“Progressive to me means NOT always looking at what worked in other cities. No solution or campaign has to be homogenous - different parts of the city have different issues.”
True change can only happen when you engage the people living in the communities, and this truly is a theme not just in KKAD25 but in Tom’s life as well. He is, as he says, a “connector,” and this statement couldn’t be truer. He remembers every project and community he’s worked with, and always gives credit to the ideas that did not originate with him. Not only does he make an imprint on communities, but the people in those communities make an imprint on him. And I don’t believe this would be possible if Tom didn’t adhere to one of his personal mantras of “be a listener, not a dictator."
After our interview, Tom emailed me about a local partnership between KKAD25 and Children's Hospital through the Safe Kids Coalition which created co-branded yard signs and trash can decals that will be distributed at community events. Visit the KKAD25 website and listen to their podcast to keep up on both the ongoing and newly launched campaigns and projects.
Wrap Up
As we wrapped up our time together, I posed this last question to Tom,
“What is your final piece of advice or guidance to the citizens of Omaha, advocacy organizations, etc?”
Tom left with me this,
“A lot of us have heard of the power of One. If we are waiting for somebody else to do something then probably very little will get done, but if we realize - as we are driving or riding - that our power lies in what we can take control over, this will help people be safe. Ask yourself ‘what is in my power to do?”
This approach can manifest itself in something as simple but life-saving as stopping at stop signs and red lights.
Tom ended where he began, with talk of building relationships; “go find somebody who is positive and spread the word because your story will resonate with others, that’s where the momentum and the ripple effects begin.”
Thanks to Tom for all his time and knowledge. Beyond founding KKAD25, Tom was also the head of the City of Omaha’s Vision Zero Task Force which ultimately recommended the City hire a Vision Zero coordinator. Visit the KKAD25 website for a comprehensive understanding of all their amazing safety initiatives and order signs and decals for your neighborhood to start your own KKAD25 safety campaign!
~ Thanks for reading, and if you found this post informative, then Please Share It!
(1) The Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices (MUTCD) does not recommend street art be used on any public roads and provides no exception for intersection murals or street art. Licensed traffic engineers are regulated by State regulations to adopt and follow the MUTCD. Additionally, the City Law Department has advised that Public Works remain compliant with the MUTCD. Thus, unless something changes at the federal level in the MUTCD, Omaha cannot legally allow for intersection murals, etc. The City does allow for bike lanes to be painted green, as evidenced by the Harney Bikeway. I plan to do an in-depth post about Street Art & Regulations so stay tuned!
Are Red-light Cameras Viable in Omaha?
This is an introductory piece to an upcoming post titled “A Red Light for Red Light Cameras in Omaha.” Stay tuned for that upcoming post and email us at safeomahastreets@gmail.com to sign up for our newsletter where we highlight a new blog post in every issue!
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Have you ever wondered why there aren’t any red-light cameras (aka automated enforcement) in the City of Omaha?
Well up until last week, I incorrectly assumed that the reason for this was some type of insufficient progress on the part of the City of Omaha. I was wrong! It turns out, we’d need a change at the State level to even consider using red-light cameras as a tool of non-contact enforcement.
Read this passage from the city’s Law Department for a summary of the issue:
In 1998, the City of Omaha adopted an ordinance for the detection and enforcement of traffic signal violations - otherwise known as the "red light camera" program. Shortly, thereafter, Senator Ernie Chambers filed a lawsuit against the City of Omaha seeking to enjoin the ordinance and requesting a declaratory judgment that the ordinance was invalid and unconstitutional. The District Court considered the evidence and the law and struck down the ordinance. The Court determined that the City acted outside of its authority since there was no state statute that authorized the adoption of this type of traffic ordinance. The District Court also determined that specific provisions of the ordinance dealing with fines was unconstitutional. The City decided not to appeal. The City Law Department advised the Mayor and the City Council at that time that, in order to move forward, the legislature would have to authorize the City of Omaha to adopt this kind of ordinance. There have been a few efforts over the last 20 years to allow for automated traffic enforcement, but none have been adopted by the legislature.
I had no clue! But now we know.
A tenet of SOS is to educate the citizens of Omaha on all things street-safety, and eradicate any existing misconceptions.
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Cover image by Veron Wessels via Unsplash
Conversation with Jeff Sobczyk, Omaha’s Vision Zero Coordinator
Did you know that Omaha has a dedicated Vision Zero Coordinator?
Do you even know what Vision Zero is?
Keep reading for an enlightening conversation with Jeff Sobczyk, our own VZ Coordinator!
SOS Question 1: In 2018, Mayor Stothert made a commitment for Omaha to become a Vision Zero city and initiated the Vision Zero Task Force. Following the Task Force’s recommendations, the city hired you in December of 2020 as the City of Omaha Vision Zero Coordinator. For those who don’t know what Vision Zero is, can you share a brief explanation?
Jeff Sobczyk Reply: Put simply, it is a data-driven strategy to eliminate all traffic fatalities and severe injuries* on our public roads. This strategy requires a major change in how we think about travel and the transportation system as a whole.
When a city commits to Vision Zero it is stating that traffic-related deaths and serious injuries are no longer acceptable side effects of the road system. There is no acceptable number of lives lost other than ZERO. The safety of ALL users is the top priority moving forward.
SOS Question 2: As Vision Zero coordinator, you will support and implement the Vision Zero Action Plan. It is my understanding that the City of Omaha is in final negotiations with the consultant who will ultimately develop this plan. Can you tell us more about that process, and the timeline and purpose of the Action Plan?
Jeff Sobczyk Reply:
Negotiations with our consultant are finished, and we are identifying internal funding. Once City Council approves the contract we are looking at a mid to late September 2022 start on the action planning process. With full support from Major Stothert, the Vision Zero Action Plan (VZAP) will lay the foundation needed for creating and sustaining a new culture of safety in Omaha.
The VZAP will be a living document that provides a framework that all agencies/departments within the City can utilize to align efforts and form the partnerships required to be successful to reach the goal of zero. During the planning process, we will be driven by data to help inform decision-makers on how best to utilize limited resources and prioritize decisions to achieve the greatest safety benefit.
With all of the data analysis, internal meetings, workshops, focus groups, and public engagement, we expect to have this document completed by September of 2023.
SOS Question 3: One of the reasons we started SOS now is to build on the momentum of Vision Zero. As the City moves forward with its commitment to VZ, what opportunities will there be for the public to be involved?
Jeff Sobczyk Reply:
There will be ample opportunities for the public to be engaged as well as involved with the process. We not only need public feedback, but we also need public support and buy-in to the culture change needed for Vision Zero to be a sustained success. That is why we plan on being at public events where we can engage the public about Vision Zero, educate them about its goals and gather public input to help drive our action plan. Toward the end of the process, we will give the general public an opportunity to review our draft plan and provide valuable comments so our plan can be as strong as possible.
SOS Question 4: Some of the major problems I see on our roads are red-light running, variable speed driving, improper merging, and distracted driving. In what ways have Vision Zero projects in other cities addressed problems like these?
Jeff Sobczyk Reply:
Vision Zero is a key departure from the old way of looking at traffic safety, one in which the goal was to prevent all crashes. The paradigm shift that VZ provides is an acknowledgment that humans are prone to mistakes. Roadway designers and policymakers who have the most influence on systemic change are tasked with creating an adaptable and forgiving transportation system that takes human failings into consideration so that when a crash happens, it is not fatal, or severe.
To accomplish such a system, one of the main goals must always be speed management. To do so, Vision Zero cities look at all available traffic calming (slowing) options that make the road user feel like they need to pay attention to the road and their surroundings in order to safely arrive at their destination.
This will range from prioritizing complete street designs, building roundabouts, road diets, narrowing road widths, reducing intersection turn radii, building speed humps in strategic locations, and investing more in speed feedback technologies.
Many of these strategies are already used to various extents in Omaha today. We will need to double down on such practices that are known to work and also be bold and seek out other innovative traffic calming strategies being implemented successfully nationwide.
SOS Question 5: The Vision Zero action plan is expected to be complete by September 2023. Until then, what can we do as citizens to promote safe roads for all?
Jeff Sobczyk Reply:
That is a great question. I would suggest talking to your family, friends, neighbors, etc. about what Vision Zero is and why it is important. When our VZAP is finished we will have our own website to educate and inform the public about VZ and our efforts. Until that time, guide people to the Vision Zero Network Website which has countless resources to help educate anyone on this vital topic.
Continue to promote other safety campaigns that share similar safety goals as Vision Zero, such as
The National Safety Council's "Head Up, Phone Down" campaign,
Omaha's "Zip It" campaign,
Project Extra Mile which works to prevent and reduce alcohol-related harms in Nebraska, and
Nebraska Department of Transportations Buckle Up, Phone Down, and many others.
What is at the core of Vision Zero and all of these other safety campaigns, is the message that we need to all be aware of the problem(s), start working together, and commit as a community to create a shared culture of safety.
SOS Question 6: What are you most passionate about regarding safe roads?
Jeff Sobczyk Reply:
I am passionate about the fact that safe roads/transportation is vital to a good quality of life. At the end of the day, the roads we use to go about our daily lives, are public assets. Regardless of what mode of transportation you use, regardless of your income, where you live, your age, or physical ability; roads should be designed and maintained to encourage safe and equitable use by all.———
A huge “Thank You” to Jeff for taking the time to get us all up to speed on Omaha’s Vision Zero Action Plan. Keep up with the City of Omaha and SOS for notification of any VZ public events.
If you have any questions on Omaha’s commitment to Vision Zero, you can contact Jeff at: City of Omaha Public Works - Traffic Division, 1819 Farnam St, Suite 603, Omaha, NE 68183. Telephone: 402-444-5237 and email Jeff.Sobczyk@cityofomaha.org
Jeff Sobczyk, Vision Zero Coordinator
Thanks for reading!
Emphases throughout interview added by author
Just Zip It!
August 8, 2022
I was raised in Omaha and thus learned to drive in Omaha. And like many native Omahans, I used to merge like a moron. Until about 6 years ago, I was the a**hole who would queue up in one long line of traffic and wouldn’t let anyone in from the other lane. At the time, I believed the drivers in the lane that was about to end were being rude, so I wielded my politeness with an aggressive hand.
I was clueless that merging late is merging safe. The most efficient and safest way to merge is by using BOTH lanes of traffic and waiting to merge until the actual merge point. Even the Federal Highway Administration agrees:
In typical lane reduction situations, drivers often attempt to merge into the appropriate lane as soon as possible, which can lead to potentially unsafe driving behavior such as slowing too quickly, excessive braking, or dangerous lane changes. Additionally, much of the lane that’s ending remains unused prior to the merge area.
Although an early merge may be safe, or even ideal, at lower speeds with lighter traffic flow, a later merge can be beneficial in managing unsafe driving behavior at higher speeds and/or when the traffic flow is heavier. (1)
The City of Omaha ALSO WANTS YOU TO MERGE PROPERLY! Did you know that the City of Omaha designed a public outreach campaign called “Just Zip It!” The campaign encourages and educates people about how to merge properly in construction zones. Check out their website for videos, resources, and tips on merging properly.
Here’s a sneak preview of some of the information you’ll find there:
This great website needs more traffic, and the people of Omaha need more driving education, so please share the Just Zip It website on your social media platforms and via email!
It is my understanding that the public launch of this campaign was delayed due to the Covid-19 pandemic of 2020. Let your representatives and City administrators know that you’d like this public education campaign to be formally distributed!
The folks behind the Just Zip It! campaign designed decals for the citizens of Omaha to use on their cars as a show of zipper merge support.
Please contact Jeff Sobczyk, the Vision Zero Coordinator for the City of Omaha, for Just Zip It! decals while they last. Jeff.Sobczyk@cityofomaha.org
I still have a couple dozen decals as well, so you can also contact me at safeomahastreets@gmail.com and I will send you decals like the one in the photo to the left!
Safe Omaha Streets wants to build on the momentum of existing safe-driving initiatives like the Just Zip It! campaign. And if the city doesn’t have time or funds to distribute it, we will!
Thanks for reading!
(1) https://highways.dot.gov/research/projects/sign-guidance-zipper-merge