About
We’re uniting the people and businesses of Greater Omaha around shared goals for our region by focusing on equitable, accessible, and modern transportation.
Over the past 12 months, we’ve met with community groups to learn about neighborhood needs, issues that continue to challenge us and how they feel better transportation could increase access to opportunity in the region.
Diverse stakeholders coalesced around our need to address workforce issues, particularly how to connect people who need work to available jobs in the region. Transitioning neighborhoods also ranked high, along with how we can take advantage of evolving and emerging technologies to serve our future needs.
A wealth of information mined from countless community conversations, focus groups and input from civic leaders was layered over feedback from more than 4,000 individuals across the region about transportation preferences.
What emerged was a significant disconnect between how people currently move around versus what they would prefer.
The ConnectGO strategy will reimagine and modernize our transportation system to ensure it helps to further four fundamental community goals. The goals were identified through public engagement, reviews of past plans and studies, and the collective expertise of people living and working across the region.
Access to Opportunity
- Our multimodal transportation system will enable people to reach their preferred destinations in a reasonable amount of time, regardless of age, ability, or neighborhood.
- We will maximize access to education, employment, and health care for people traveling by any mode.
Talent Attraction & Retention
- Our transportation system will contribute to a quality of life that is appealing to local residents and attractive to people living elsewhere.
- Greater Omaha will support a diverse range of lifestyles by offering a variety of enjoyable neighborhoods, from rural to urban.
Economic Growth Throughout the Region
- Our transportation system will help us all prosper as individuals, as communities, and as a region.
- Our transportation system will safely and reliably move freight, as well as people.
- We will catalyze higher value real estate development and neighborhood revitalization through strategic infrastructure investment.
Stewardship of the Transportation System
- We will take pride in the condition of our existing transportation infrastructure, prioritizing its maintenance and rehabilitation.
- ConnectGO will account for long-term operations and maintenance costs when planning for future projects.
ConnectGO Principles
A set of five community-defined principles have emerged to guide the ConnectGO initiative. These principles will shape the projects, policies and programs that will ultimately coalesce into a unified regional transportation strategy.
Put People First
The quality and character of our built environment have a profound impact on people’s lives. ConnectGO will attempt to improve people’s lives through transportation strategies that support health, safety, fun, and economic security.
Ensure Equity
ConnectGO will strive for equity in both the process of the strategy’s development and in the outcomes proposed within the strategy. Together, we will build a transportation system that helps address the enduring impacts of inequity and includes options to serve people of all ages and abilities throughout the region.
Be Transformative
The ConnectGO initiative will take a holistic approach to tackling some of our region’s greatest transportation-related challenges, incorporating strategies related to land use, placemaking, and workforce development in addition to more traditional transportation projects, policies, and programs. We will not shy away from bold, visionary actions.
Create Resilient Communities
ConnectGO will offer innovative approaches to transportation that promote fiscal, operational, and environmental sustainability. With an eye toward emerging technologies and a future-focused approach, ConnectGO will play a key role in our region’s competitive future.
Collaborate
Success at a regional scale is only possible when we work together. To build an implementable plan that stands the test of time, we will develop the ConnectGO strategy through community-wide input, preserving local decision making while coordinating transportation strategies across city, county, and state boundaries.
Key Engagement Findings
Phase 1 collected feedback from more than 4,000 individuals across the region about transportation preferences. What emerged was a significant disconnect between how people currently move around versus what they would prefer.
ConnectGO is all about asking the right questions:
I’ve been hearing a lot about transportation in the news lately. Why do we need another transportation plan if so many people are already working on it?
- ConnectGO addresses how all current and future transportation efforts can connect to create an equitable, accessible, and modern regional transportation system. Together, we’re developing a coordinated strategy among existing transportation initiatives and developing an action plan to ensure we are addressing our larger community challenges.
- Our work to date shows that access to safe, affordable, and efficient transportation is a priority for residents, businesses and institutions across the region. However, some of us lack access to our existing transportation system because of their income, ability, age, or where they live. This prevents people from getting to and from good-paying jobs, school, recreation, and limits growth in our region. Lack of access equates to lack of opportunity.
What do you mean by “bold”?
We believe this transportation strategy must be transformative in order to be effective. If we don’t act now – and act boldly – our region’s competitive value diminishes.
It’s imperative that we keep talented people here — and attract new residents — if we are going to realize our future vision for regional success. Data shows that good access to a variety of transportation modes is attractive to the next generation.
How big is the ConnectGO footprint?
- The ConnectGO goals and principles were defined through input input from people in the urban, suburban, and rural communities that make up the Greater Omaha region – people like you.
- ConnectGO encompasses all forms of transportation, including how we maintain and preserve our roads and how we use land. Transportation makes a meaningful difference in people’s lives because it’s how we access education, employment and each other. While you may or may not see a significant change in your own transportation experience, our community will become stronger and more connected as a result of ConnectGO.
I don’t think ConnectGO is going to impact my area much, so why should I care?
- The ConnectGO goals and principles were defined through input input from people in the urban, suburban, and rural communities that make up the Greater Omaha region – people like you.
- ConnectGO encompasses all forms of transportation, including how we maintain and preserve our roads and how we use land. Transportation makes a meaningful difference in people’s lives because it’s how we access education, employment and each other. While you may or may not see a significant change in your own transportation experience, our community will become stronger and more connected as a result of ConnectGO.
I will always need to drive a car to get around. How will better regional transportation affect me?
Of course cars will remain a key mode of transportation. But having fewer of them on the roads — because we have more choices — means shorter, safer commutes for those who drive and, with less wear and tear on our roads, can help us better manage the costs of road repairs in the future.
It also means safer and more efficient movement of freight and can impact how neighborhoods grow and develop to provide access to school and jobs.
ConnectGO is a bold transportation strategy uniting the people and businesses of Greater Omaha around shared goals for our region. Focusing on equitable, accessible, and modern transportation to improve our quality of life and bolster our economic strength, ConnectGO will connect people, opportunities, and communities through an actionable transportation strategy for today and tomorrow. ConnectGO is an initiative of the Greater Omaha Chamber, Metro Smart Cities, and Metro Area Planning Agency (MAPA)
