Trilety Wade is co-founder of Safe Omaha Streets
Almost five years ago, the City of Omaha committed to Vision Zero, a worldwide strategy to eliminate traffic fatalities and severe injuries. Since then, the City organized a Vision Zero Task force, hired a Vision Zero Coordinator, and approved the hiring of a Vision Zero consultant to help the city develop a Vision Zero Action Plan. These incremental efforts felt painfully slow to mobility and transportation advocates but are all towards the goal of improving our roads and sidewalks to promote better safety, health, and equitable mobility for all Omahans.
In January, Omaha’s Vision Zero team took a big step forward in launching its own website complete with a sign-up link for email updates, surveys, crowdsourced feedback maps and upcoming events where residents can voice concerns.
If the website is news to you, you’re not the only one.
The city launched its Vision Zero website on Jan. 20 and has yet to promote it to the public. Beyond the website, the initiative’s only online presence is via the City’s Public Works Twitter account @omahapublicwrks. Compare that to the Omaha Streetcar Authority which launched seven days later with heavy promotion, its own social media accounts and media coverage in local newspaper editorials.
While the two efforts aren’t at odds, both are important players in the future of our city — especially as we eye more downtown development and multi-modal transit options.
And unlike the streetcar, Vision Zero requires community input to be successful. Involvement builds trust with residents, ensures responsible implementation of Vision Zero strategies, and increases Vision Zero adoption across the City. That’s why we’re writing this op-ed: to create as much fanfare and movement around Omaha’s new Vision Zero website as possible.
So what will you find when you visit the new Vision Zero website?
The Website
You’ll see it is a cleanly designed site that is easy to navigate and full of information about Vision Zero in general and Vision Zero efforts here in Omaha.
Updates
On the website you can stay up-to-date on upcoming events and new information by signing up for updates.
Action items on the site: (This is YOUR opportunity to be heard!)
• Survey: The Vision Zero 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 critical to developing a fair and comprehensive Vision Zero Action Plan that the people will welcome, so please take the survey.
• Feedback Map: One of the most valuable aspects of the website is a crowdsourced map where you can submit a location in the City where you feel unsafe walking, driving, or cycling. Specifically, the website explains, “This interactive map is to flag locations where you have observed transportation safety or mobility concerns. This information will help influence long-term safety planning and policies.”
For Omaha to thrive, people must feel safe in whatever form of transportation they choose; driving, cycling, walking, riding, rolling, etc.
Technical Advisory Committee
Omaha’s Vision Zero initiative is guided by a Mayoral appointed 29-member Technical Advisory Committee or TAC. You can find a full list of the organization’s involved in Vision Zero on the website’s TAC page along with details about the committee’s purpose as well as slides and notes from past TAC meetings, which are not public.
In my role as co-founder of Safe Omaha Streets (SOS), I am one of the members of the TAC and post updates to our blog after every Vision Zero meeting. Every representative of the TAC, including Omaha’s Vision Zero Coordinator, Jeff Sobczyk, and the Vision Zero Consultants, are thoughtful and dedicated advocates for safe transportation in Omaha.
Pop-up Events:
Representatives from the City’s Vision Zero consultants are hosting 12 informational pop-ups with the purpose of:
• Informing people about the Vision Zero project
• Gathering input on issues, concerns, opportunities, and desires,
• Meeting the people where they already are.
You can find scheduled pop-ups on the “Upcoming Events” page of the Vision Zero website; there are no new events scheduled at this time.
Three pop-up events were already hosted on Jan. 25, 26, and 28, and three more will be scheduled over the next month or so. The City will host the remaining six pop-ups closer to Spring.
Pop-ups are typically hosted at already scheduled events, libraries, community centers and others. The pop-ups are not official open houses; they are informal and scheduled at various times and locations across the City. Formal open houses will be held later in the Vision Zero process.
These information sessions highlight Vision Zero’s best qualities and biggest obstacles. On one hand we get to meet people where they’re at and get the feedback we need to get the initiative moving. On the other hand it’s a reminder how few people 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, so if you are at an event where the Vision Zero Information Pop-up table is, please stop and engage.
Publicity and Promotion
The Vision Zero website is solid, yet – at the time I’m writing – it has yet to receive promotion. The city posted the streetcar authority website to its home page when it was launched, and there are plans to post the Vision Zero website there as well. We hope to see the website promoted deeper into the community, beyond the City of Omaha home page. Community engagement is a priority in developing a trustworthy and effective Vision Zero Action Plan, and the City’s website is the first step in community outreach. But it will only be effective if people know about it. So until the new site receives the push and attention it deserves, make sure to share it with others. Let’s get talking about how to end traffic deaths and serious injuries on the streets of Omaha.
You can contact Omaha’s Vision Zero team at VisionZero@cityofomaha.org