In December of last year and January of this year, it was reported that the streetcar was opposed by Warren Buffett — Omaha native, billionaire, and head of Berkshire Hathaway — and he has been vocally against the idea of the city building a streetcar instead of devoting more of its resources to busing. Buffett spoke to multiple news sources about his concerns that it would be a boondoggle, costing more money than it would make back and be an unused transit system for the city.

In a letter he wrote to the Omaha World-Herald, he said “as population, commerce and desired destinations shift, a bus system can be re-engineered. Streetcars keep mindlessly rolling on, fueled by large public subsidies. Mistakes are literally cast in cement.” Buffett felt that it would be more cost effective to put money into the bus system, as it is easier to update and adapt than a streetcar rail that has to be built into the street.

So why isn’t the city devoting funds to the bus system?

Our city uses the Metro bus services and the Omaha Rapid Bus Transit (ORBT), which is run by the state. With an operating budget of $49,000,000, they use a blend of diesel, natural gas, and electric vehicles that service the city. A 2016 study by New York City Transit has found that the cost of individual buses can cost anywhere from $550,000 per diesel engine, to $800,000 for electric.

This is much less than the $6 million price tag for the cost of an individual streetcar. On top of that, the average cost for maintenance for a diesel engine bus is around $1,300 a year, while the streetcar batteries alone will cost $150,000 a year for upkeep.

When it comes to frequency of rides and hours of operations, while the lines can vary, buses can run as early as 5am to as late as 11pm in most places, and most stops will have a bus arrive every 30 minutes, or even sooner. Meanwhile, the streetcar is currently planning to run from 6am to midnight, with that extended to 2am on Friday and Saturday. They are planning for 10-20 minute intervals depending on busyness, which subject to change.

The Metro is working on plans to upgrade the frequencies and hours of service for the bus system as a part of what they are calling MetroNEXT, which plans out into 2030. This plan would also increase their budget to $53,000,000 by 2030. This plan was passed last year, and they have already begun expanding their locations over the last year. August alone saw them updating four routes, adding extra shifts and increased frequency to bus arrivals, and adjusting one route’s schedule to account for rush hour traffic. Omaha, as last reported in 2022, has an average of 2.6 million riders that use the bus system during the year.

In regard to employment opportunities, for the state of Nebraska, the average salary for a bus driver is $17 an hour, while in comparison to streetcar operators, using our neighbor Kansas City as the nearest example, the average is closer to $12 an hour. Many transit operations all over the country are facing low employment rates mostly due to the impact of Covid.

As it stands currently, there are no bus services that reach out to Elkhorn, as the nearest bus line would end at Village Point. The furthest north you can reach is Wyman Heights, and while you can take a bus to Bellevue, the lines that reach there connect only to downtown. The bus service can, however, reach Council Bluffs, but again, only from the downtown area. They also, unlike the proposed streetcar, can reach the airport.

The city does have specific parking lots dedicated to those who are using the bus system, called Park and Ride, with 15 locations across the city for the standard bus system, and one dedicated to the ORBT buses connected to the Westroads mall. When asked if the streetcar would have that kind of parking system at her press conference on November 7th, the Mayor stated that there were no plans in place at that time.

Another point worth noting is bikes, and how they are affected by the bus system as well as how they will be by the new streetcar. When it comes to riders who have bikes, there are ways for cyclists to store them on the bike racks that are attached to the buses. While the streetcar in KC has the capacity for storing bikes, it is unsure if our own streetcar vehicles will be able to do the same. There is also the issue of bike lanes, which already have issues in Omaha. The streetcar website has already stated at least one bike lane will have to be moved because of the new line, and it is unclear if more will be affected as well.

When asked if the new streetcar line will affect the current busing, as there is already a bus line that covers 80% of the new streetcar’s proposed path, Nicole Ebat, the Senior Manager of Communications and Community Relations with Metro, said that “it’s certainly too soon to really know how or if the streetcar could affect the route. While the streetcar is a totally separate system and separate project, we want to make sure riders have a smooth experience even when they move from one to the other.”

The Omaha Streetcar website explains the projects opinion on why the city isn’t funding more buses, stating that it feels options are important to citizens. “The streetcar will add one more way to move around the urban core. Unlike other forms of transit, the permanency of a fixed-rail streetcar ignites significant economic development and an increased tax base that strengthens city cores. Because they run on rails, streetcars are easy to understand, and the permanent stops attract foot traffic, which brings more life, vibrancy and retail activity to urban neighborhoods.”

The project feels that “while Metro and ORBT buses bring people to the urban core, the streetcar moves them around it.” They believe that the current bus system will complement the new streetcar service.

While the streetcar will service and improve the urban core, there are many ways the city could choose to uplift the bus service, such as making dedicated bus lanes that would ease traffic, or even investing in more vehicles to increase busing services and add more jobs. At this stage, it is unclear how much they will be able to work together, or if there will be any negative effects to the current busing system from the new streetcar.