Eight major employers and landowners in Omaha’s downtown and midtown provided us with access to their employees or tenants in order for us to conduct a mobility survey. The purpose of the survey was to better understand how individuals who spend a majority of their time in downtown and midtown Omaha get to and from work. It also asked them about how they want to commute, along with their perspectives on several other mobility and transportation issues.

We received over 8,500 responses to the survey! The results, which are summarized in this Executive Summary, show that there is a big opportunity in downtown and midtown Omaha to shift more commuters to active modes of transportation. Major findings include:

1. Active commuting programs will increase the number of people using active transportation, which will reduce parking demand, free up valuable land for more productive uses, and reduce traffic congestion.
2. There is widespread support, particularly among millennials, for active transportation.
3. There is broad support for new transit and mobility infrastructure.
4. Employers play a key role in helping employees shift to active commuting modes.
5. There is high interest in using ORBT and a modern streetcar (aka urban circulator).

Active transportation and all things related to it have been a growing portion of our work the past few years. Nearly all of our clients are pursuing active commute mode split goals. We have conducted similar surveys for several clients previously, and in September 2018 aggregated the results of those surveys and put together a white paper summarizing the results. You may download the white paper below.

For more information about the Downtown & Midtown Mobility Study, please contact Craig Moody at craig@verdisgroup.com or 402.681.9458.

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