Benefits

For individuals with limited mobility, transportation can be a significant barrier that separates them from essential services and opportunities. ORBT stations and vehicles will include level boarding, auditory bus stop announcements, visual cues for stop locations, and real time bus arrival updates, making our system more accessible and convenient for everyone.

The cost of car ownership is a major expense in any family’s budget, especially for those in poverty. Public transportation allows households to reduce their reliance on driving, freeing up thousands of dollars to be spent in other ways.

With a low regional unemployment level, many businesses have difficulty finding workers, and some learn that prospective hires are unable to work due to lack of transportation. Rapid and reliable transit can fill this gap, connecting people to jobs across the metro area.

Public transportation provides upward mobility to those in poverty through access to education, employment, and other opportunities. By accelerating these connections, ORBT will empower members of our community to pursue and achieve a higher quality of life.

Public transportation encourages an active lifestyle, and has been linked to a lessened risk of high blood pressure, diabetes, and obesity, and is correlated with happiness and psychological well-being. You can be much more productive on board than when you’re driving!

People of all ages are choosing to live in places with robust transportation. Additionally, many businesses are choosing to locate near strong transit systems, reducing their costs for parking infrastructure and employee health insurance, as well as positively contributing to their employees’ quality of life.

Investment in transit stations has been proven to boost economic development in the nearby areas. As residents and businesses seek to locate near ORBT stations, the surrounding neighborhoods will transform into more bustling, vibrant, and walkable communities.

In many areas of our city, traffic continues to grow, but we’re running out of room to widen the roads. Public transportation helps move more people within an existing street space, reducing road maintenance costs over time and allowing our city to grow without slowing down.

Driving alone is a daily routine for many of us, and yet it is one of the greatest contributors to harmful environmental impacts. ORBT buses, powered by compressed natural gas, emit less harmful emissions and have the capacity to replace thousands of daily vehicle trips on Dodge Street, allowing all of us to breathe easier.

This first ORBT line will establish a foundation for a future network of rapid transit, connecting major destinations and contributing to a prosperous and successful regional economy.