Navigating Omaha’s Vision Zero Efforts

As you’ll recall from our last blog post, Vision Zero Update: Guiding Principles & Focus Areas, we shared the logo for Vision Zero Omaha and said the website launch would be coming in January 2023. Well the website went live last week, and it’s a pretty good website at that! This new website signifies to the public that the City’s Vision Zero efforts have officially begun.

We’ve heard from some folks on social media and via email that the website is hard to find when googling, which we think may be because it’s such a new site. . . tho we don’t really understand SEO ha. So bookmark https://www.omahavisionzero.com/ so it’ll always be at your fingertips.

WEBSITE

We dig the cover photo of the website which includes a lot of street users: pedestrians, cyclists, and drivers/passengers.

• The website is laid out clearly and is easy to navigate. It provides a lot of information about both Vision Zero in general and Vision Zero Omaha as well as a page dedicated to Upcoming Events.

• Beyond the informational portions of the website, there are also interactive aspects to the site:

  • SIGN-UP LINK: The website invites you to be kept up to date about upcoming events and ongoing information by signing up for their newsletter/updates. We don’t know yet what these email updates will look like, but we’ve signed up and encourage you to do so as well!

  • SHORT SURVEY: The 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 imperative for developing a fair and comprehensive Vision Zero Action Plan, so please take the survey. 

  • GIVE INPUT VIA MAP: The most exciting interactive aspect of the website is a crowdsourced map where you can submit an area in the city where you feel unsafe walking, driving, or cycling. The city of omaha is a large and spread out city, so - again - it is crucial for you to let the city know about areas that may be overlooked. As Vision Zero is specifically about fatalities and serious injuries, just because you submit a location does not mean that it will necessarily receive any improvements, etc. It’s more to show the Vision Zero team and the City the areas that YOU feel are dangerous. 

• TRANSPARENCY: One of the pages on Omaha’s Vision Zero website is dedicated to the TAC (Technical Advisory Committee) where you’ll find the purpose of the TAC, the members of the TAC, as well as slides and notes from past TAC meetings. As the TAC meetings aren’t public, we encourage you to review the meeting notes and slides. We were pleased these documents were made so readily available. 

SOCIAL MEDIA

Last week, the City launched a Twitter account dedicated to Vision Zero but it has since been suspended and all Vision Zero announcements are directed through the City’s Public Works Twitter Account (this account does have nearly 5,000 followers, which may be why the City decided to promote Vision Zero on an already well-followed platform). We aren’t sure what other social media, if any, will be dedicated to Omaha’s Vision Zero effort but we are sharing as much pertinent information as we can through our social media accounts and newsletter.

Do be aware that there is a defunct unofficial Twitter account that was launched in 2017 and is NOT associated with any current Omaha Vision Zero efforts.

CONTACTING VISION ZERO

If you’d like to make contact with Omaha’s Vision Zero folks, you can use this email: VisionZero@cityofomaha.org

PUBLICITY

The Vision Zero website is a solid website yet it has received little promotion at this time. It is disheartening to see the amount of media attention the newly launched streetcar website is receiving versus the attention the Vision Zero website is receiving. Vision Zero needs the feedback of the people. We are HOPING that the Vision Zero website will be promoted soon.

27 January 2023 Search

“Omaha streetcar” search

27 January 2023

“Omaha vision zero” search

INFORMATIONAL POP-UP EVENTS

Representatives from the City’s Vision Zero consultants are hosting 12 pop-ups across the city. The purpose of these pop-up events is to:

• Inform people about the Vision Zero project

• Gather input on issues, concerns, opportunities, and desires,

• Meet the people where they already are.

You can find scheduled pop-ups on the “Upcoming Events” page of the Vision Zero website. Expect six of these pop-up events over the next month or so, and the remaining to be held closer to Spring.

So far, two pop-ups have been held on the afternoons of January 25th and 26th. The next scheduled pop-up is scheduled for January 28th, see image below.

Since these pop-ups are intended to “go where the people already are,,” you’ll find them at already scheduled events. The pop-ups are not official open houses,, they are informal and scheduled at various times, at various events, across the city. Formal open houses will be held later in the Vision Zero process.

We dropped by the inaugural Vision Zero Informational Pop-up yesterday afternoon where Tim Adams (WSP) and Alyssa Vaughan (JEO Consulting) were catching folks as they walked by and engaging them in conversation about Vision Zero. This is not a job for the socially timid as most people start to walk right on by.

At yesterday’s first pop-up, I was reminded of just how many folks in omaha don’t even 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, which Tim and Alyssa were doing yesterday They asked folks what they’d change about the streets in their local area or what their biggest concerns about driving in in Omaha were. We were NOT surprised to hear both zipper merging and distracted driving as local concerns.

Here are a couple of photos from the first pop-up event. And if you happen to be at an event where the Vision Zero Information Pop-up table also is, please stop and engage.

Tim Adams and Alyssa Vaughan at the Vision Zero Pop-up Table 1/25/23

Tim, Alyssa, and Interested Citizen, Barbi Hayes (also mother of me, SOS Co-founder Trilety Wade) 1/25/23

Lastly, where do you think a hot spot for a Vision Zero pop up would be? And what do you think about the City’s new Vision Zero website? Let us know in the comments below.

Thanks for reading!