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?