Bill would study public transportation options

A council would be created to study public transportation options in Nebraska by a bill heard by the Transportation and Telecommunications Committee Feb. 24.

LB644, introduced by Omaha Sen. Jeremy Nordquist, would create the Nebraska Transit and Rail Advisory Council to study the feasibility of building and operating passenger rail and other public transportation options in the state. The governor would appoint the group’s 11 members, who would include state and local government representatives, Nebraska citizens and private railroad company representatives.

The council would be required to submit its findings to the committee by Jan. 1 2017, and would be terminated on June 30, 2018.

Nordquist said Nebraska’s public transportation systems have not been examined since the Legislature commissioned a study in 1999. Since then, he said, transportation technology, populations and travel patterns have changed substantially enough to necessitate a new review of the state’s transportation needs.

“This is just us taking a step to revise the previous study and find the best [public transportation] options to suit Nebraska now and for the next 40 to 50 years,” he said.

Milo Mumgaard, senior policy aide for sustainability in the Lincoln Mayor’s Office, testified in support of the bill. Lincoln is a “railroad town,” he said, with more than 3,500 employees working for local railway companies and manufacturers. Increased interaction between the labor markets of Omaha and Lincoln, combined with population growth, will create transportation challenges that must be addressed now, he said.

“This is a game-changing moment in respect to public transit,” Mumgaard said. “This bill is a strong policy move in right direction.”

Mike Davis, transit manager for Lincoln’s StarTran division, also spoke in favor of the bill. He said that Oregon, which is routinely the nation’s top state that people relocate to, chose to develop a light rail system decades ago. Now is the time for Nebraska to make the same kind of decisions, he said.

“It’s good practice to plan for the future, to plan for a quality of life for future generations,” Davis said.

No one spoke in opposition to the bill and the committee took no immediate action on it.