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Regional Metropolitan Transit Board of Omaha - District 4

The Transit Authority owns and operates the public transportation system excluding taxicabs and railroad systems. The Board of Directors sets agency policy, oversees the budget, reviews procurement contracts and more.

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    Scott Dobbe
    (NON)

  • Candidate picture

    Daniel Padilla
    (NON)

Biographical Information

How do you plan to increase ridership?

Describe your vision for making this a truly regional transit system.

What are the most important challenges facing our public transportation systems, and how do you propose to address them?

Education Bachelor of Science in Design, University of Nebraska-Lincoln | Master of Architecture, Ohio State University
Volunteer experience ORBT Stakeholder Advisory Committee; Transit Oriented Development Stakeholder Committee, City of Omaha Landmarks Commission, Heartland 2050 Infrastructure Committee, Omaha by Design Advisory Council, ConnectGO Communications Committee
Transit is about connecting people, places, and opportunity. However, serving the community requires more than simply connecting riders with where they need to go, when they want to go there.

Whether we’re talking about someone who relies on the system today – or someone who might do so in the future – focusing on the rider experience is key to growth. This means extending service and enhancing frequency so that riders don’t need to consult a schedule, earning trust with on-time reliability, and respecting riders as valued customers with appropriate standards of comfort, courtesy, and convenience.
Even more important than coverage, what makes a transit system truly regional is its impact.

RMTA District 4, covering 24 square miles in south-central Omaha, is served by 10 bus routes. Yet whether you ride Metro daily, occasionally, or not at all – everyone benefits from the access these routes provide: cleaner air, less road congestion, and enhanced economic activity, to name a few.

As your elected representative, I will apply my depth of experience to enhance Metro Transit’s network in service of current riders, future riders, and the community as a whole. I will study the data to support expansion where it makes most sense, responsibly stewarding our civic resources while ensuring high-quality connectivity throughout the city.
Achieving goals such as increasing ridership and expanding regionally are only possible with the support of a dedicated team of drivers, mechanics, and staff. Metro Transit is not immune to the industry-wide challenge of recruiting and retaining skilled operations and maintenance personnel. I am aware that, in recent months, an acute shortage of drivers has caused on-time performance to slip.

As your representative, I would emphasize the importance of building a workplace culture of respect, appreciation, and teamwork. With robust support for training and career advancement, plus the technology, equipment, and facilities needed to do the job, I have every expectation that Metro’s hardworking team will tackle this challenge successfully.
Education B.A. International Business | Buena Vista University; M.B.A. Finance/Healthcare | Bellevue University
Volunteer experience Board of Directors, Nebraska Children & Families Foundation; Board of Directors, Yates Illuminates; Advisory Board, UNO College of IS&T; Buena Vista University National Alumni Association; Technical Working Group, ConnectGO Transportation Initiative
While Metro has been improving the network design, we need a comprehensive system which will maximize ridership, by maximizing access. We need to increase frequency to reduce waiting times and make connections easier to strengthen our network.
We need to re-think the impact land use has on transport planning. The good news is we can capture dozens of data points to measure density for each transit stop - including walkability, linearity and the proximity of where we want to go. By improving our multimodal connectivity with biking, ride-sharing and Park&Go services, we can further enhance the accessibility we must keep to our community.
The challenges we have are the solutions we have in front of us. Mass transit has a positive impact on our environment. It reduces our traffic congestion while stimulating economic growth and improved access to jobs. We hear from our state and city leaders we have a net negative growth and our young professionals have a strong preference to mass transit. Owning a car is an expense. A strong transit system gives us freedom.