Articles / Lincoln, Nebraska
Population: 249,989
- Global warming initiatives
- High Transit Access
- Compact development
- Complete Streets
Credit:AreaRapidTransit
Lincoln, Nebraska
February 2011 Update: Lincoln has been named a 2011 Smarter City for Transportation. Nebraska’s capital city is home to 90 percent of the population of the Lincoln metropolitan region, the University of Nebraska, and the region’s primary transit authority, StarTran. Yet, the city's most distinctive quality is its aggressive policies to rein in sprawl.
Lincoln has very strong citywide zoning and development laws that have ensured more compact housing and street development. Even though Lincoln is out in the middle of the Midwest, with plenty of space, city planners have worked hard to avoid sprawl and all of the environmental and transit problems that come with it.
Alongside strong development laws and citywide smart-growth policies, in 2010 the Lincoln Metropolitan Planning Organization adopted a more extensive complete streets program (PDF) with significant community input during open public meetings (PDF). The program aims to encourage denser developments with a mix of both commercial and residential properties, along with sidewalk- and biking-friendly streets, as well as green space.
In 2007 Lincoln's primary transit authority, StarTran, conducted a comprehensive study, the Transit Development Plan, to further improve transit efficiency. StarTran began an Alternative Fuels Program in 1994, one of the first nationwide. StarTran’s 60 fixed-route buses now use more than 341,000 gallons of alternate fuels, reducing tail-pipe emissions by 556 tons of carbon dioxide each year.
Photo Credit: Megapolis2024/FlickrIt feels a bit strange to be sitting in the middle of one of the world’s wealthiest neighborhoods, and to be so thoroughly engrossed in...
No Cars But Plenty of Life on Broadway. Credit: Paul McRandleThe Natural Resources Defense Council's Smarter Cities project has named fifteen U.S. metropolitan regions...
No Cars But Plenty of Life on Broadway. Credit: Paul McRandleThe Natural Resources Defense Council's Smarter Cities project has named fifteen U.S. metropolitan regions...
No Cars But Plenty of Life on Broadway. Credit: Paul McRandleThe Natural Resources Defense Council's Smarter Cities project has named fifteen U.S. metropolitan regions...
A recumbent cycle on Martin Olav Sabo Bridge Credit: Livewombat/FlickrDuring the recent bicycle tour of Minneapolis, Mayor R.T. Rybak stressed that in these lean economic...
The nation’s first major bikesharing program hit the streets in Minneapolis in June 2010, quickly followed by Denver, Washington, D.C. Boston and Toronto—with Seattle, Chicago,...
Credit:Courtesy of the City of BostonIn fall 2009 Boston Mayor Thomas M. Menino established the city’s Complete Streets program with the words, “The car is no longer the...
Credit:Courtesy of the City of BostonIn fall 2009 Boston Mayor Thomas M. Menino established the city’s Complete Streets program with the words, “The car is no longer the...
Credit:Courtesy of the City of BostonIn fall 2009 Boston Mayor Thomas M. Menino established the city’s Complete Streets program with the words, “The car is no longer the...
Credit:DMFK/FlickrContrary to common perception, Boulder is not a bedroom community to Denver; it actually serves as a regional subcenter for surrounding cities such as...
Credit:DMFK/FlickrContrary to common perception, Boulder is not a bedroom community to Denver; it actually serves as a regional subcenter for surrounding cities such as...
Credit:DMFK/FlickrContrary to common perception, Boulder is not a bedroom community to Denver; it actually serves as a regional subcenter for surrounding cities such as...
Credit:NonsequitorlassBremerton lies in Kitsap County, Washington, just a ferry ride across the Puget Sound from Seattle. With its semirural population, the region is an...
Credit:NonsequitorlassBremerton lies in Kitsap County, Washington, just a ferry ride across the Puget Sound from Seattle. With its semirural population, the region is an...
Credit:NonsequitorlassBremerton lies in Kitsap County, Washington, just a ferry ride across the Puget Sound from Seattle. With its semirural population, the region is an...
Credit:Wikipedia CommunityIn the Champaign-Urbana metro region in Illinois, the focus of the transit district is on getting people out of their cars by offering a full...
Credit:Wikipedia CommunityIn the Champaign-Urbana metro region in Illinois, the focus of the transit district is on getting people out of their cars by offering a full...
Credit:Wikipedia CommunityIn the Champaign-Urbana metro region in Illinois, the focus of the transit district is on getting people out of their cars by offering a full...
Credit:Chicago Tourism BureauHome to one of the largest and oldest transit systems in the country, the Chicago metropolitan region has long been a national transportation...
Credit:Chicago Tourism BureauHome to one of the largest and oldest transit systems in the country, the Chicago metropolitan region has long been a national transportation...
Credit:Chicago Tourism BureauHome to one of the largest and oldest transit systems in the country, the Chicago metropolitan region has long been a national transportation...
Kids getting ready to bike home at this primary school in Utrecht, Netherlands. Ninety-five percent of the older kids bike to school at least some of the time. Credit:...
With the growing popularity of cycling in the Netherlands, finding a parking place for your bike is becoming more difficult, as seen here in the Hague. Credit: Jay...
San Francisco board of supervisors president David Chiu looks out on Java Island, a new neighborhood in Amsterdam where bikes and pedestrians (and boats) take priority...
Credit: Recompose/FlickrCourts have handed defeat after defeat to New York City in its effort to replace gas-chugging cabs with fuel-efficient hybrids. The latest blow...
Credit:FHKE/FlickrThe Pacific island of Oahu, Hawaii, boasts towering mountains, gorgeous ocean views, and a dense metropolitan region that keeps on growing. Oahu Transit...
Credit:FHKE/FlickrThe Pacific island of Oahu, Hawaii, boasts towering mountains, gorgeous ocean views, and a dense metropolitan region that keeps on growing. Oahu Transit...
Credit:FHKE/FlickrThe Pacific island of Oahu, Hawaii, boasts towering mountains, gorgeous ocean views, and a dense metropolitan region that keeps on growing. Oahu Transit...
Jersey Central Terminal, Credit:Vilseskogen/FlickrJersey City easily captured a top spot among medium-size metropolitan regions in our transportation study. This densely...
Credit:AreaRapidTransitThe Lincoln metropolitan region can thank the unique characteristics of its central City of Lincoln for its place among NRDC’s top 15 Smarter...
Credit:AreaRapidTransitThe Lincoln metropolitan region can thank the unique characteristics of its central City of Lincoln for its place among NRDC’s top 15 Smarter...
Credit:AreaRapidTransitThe Lincoln metropolitan region can thank the unique characteristics of its central City of Lincoln for its place among NRDC’s top 15 Smarter...
Credit:AreaRapidTransitThe Lincoln metropolitan region can thank the unique characteristics of its central City of Lincoln for its place among NRDC’s top 15 Smarter...
Credit:Mary Logan BarmeyerFamous for urban sprawl, bumper-to-bumper traffic and seasonal smog, the Los Angeles region still has many challenges for integrating...
Credit:New HavenMore commuters walk or bike to work in New Haven, Connecticut, than in anywhere else in New England. One of the first planned cities in the country, New...
Credit:New HavenMore commuters walk or bike to work in New Haven, Connecticut, than in anywhere else in New England. One of the first planned cities in the country, New...
Credit:New HavenMore commuters walk or bike to work in New Haven, Connecticut, than in anywhere else in New England. One of the first planned cities in the country, New...
Credit:Wikipedia CommunityThe New York metropolitan region has one clear historic advantage when it comes to efficient transportation—population density like nowhere else...
Credit:Wikipedia CommunityThe New York metropolitan region has one clear historic advantage when it comes to efficient transportation—population density like nowhere else...
Credit:Wikipedia CommunityThe New York metropolitan region has one clear historic advantage when it comes to efficient transportation—population density like nowhere else...
Credit:Kyle Gradinger/FlickrDon’t see the link between transit and food? Philly does. The City of Philadelphia and the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority...
Credit:Kyle Gradinger/FlickrDon’t see the link between transit and food? Philly does. The City of Philadelphia and the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority...
Credit:Kyle Gradinger/FlickrDon’t see the link between transit and food? Philly does. The City of Philadelphia and the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority...
Credit:Portland Bureau of Transportation“In Portland it’s almost like cars don’t exist, right? They ride bikes! They ride double-decker bikes! They ride unicycles! They...
Credit:Portland Bureau of Transportation“In Portland it’s almost like cars don’t exist, right? They ride bikes! They ride double-decker bikes! They ride unicycles! They...
Credit:Portland Bureau of Transportation“In Portland it’s almost like cars don’t exist, right? They ride bikes! They ride double-decker bikes! They ride unicycles! They...
Credit: Oconomowoc Transport Co.The 11 new school buses in Oconomowoc, Wisconsin don’t look particularly special. They’re painted the same yellow, carry the same kids and...
Credit:Courtesy of the City of San FranciscoIn San Francisco, “we put transit first, ahead of the passenger car,” says Bridget Smith, acting principal engineer and...
Credit:Courtesy of the City of San FranciscoIn San Francisco, “we put transit first, ahead of the passenger car,” says Bridget Smith, acting principal engineer and...
People across the country were surprised last year when Bicycling magazine named Minneapolis America’s “#1 Bike City”, beating out Portland, Oregon, which had claimed the honor...
Credit: Kevin H/FlickrRecently ranked the most tightly packed metropolitan region in the nation, the National Capital Region (4,000 square miles in the District of...
Credit: Kevin H/FlickrRecently ranked the most tightly packed metropolitan region in the nation, the National Capital Region (4,000 square miles in the District of...
Credit: Kevin H/FlickrRecently ranked the most tightly packed metropolitan region in the nation, the National Capital Region (4,000 square miles in the District of...
Credit: Edgar Zuniga Jr./FlickrSalt Lake City has the ignominious distinction of ranking as the country’s seventh most polluted city by short-term particle pollution,...
Credit: Oconomowoc Transport Co.Partly rural, partly urban, and close to Sacramento without being under city jurisdiction, the Yolo metropolitan region (which encompasses...
Credit: Oconomowoc Transport Co.Partly rural, partly urban, and close to Sacramento without being under city jurisdiction, the Yolo metropolitan region (which encompasses...
Credit: Oconomowoc Transport Co.Partly rural, partly urban, and close to Sacramento without being under city jurisdiction, the Yolo metropolitan region (which encompasses...
Transportation: Bicycling
Cities for Cycling: National Association of City Transportation Officials project to catalog, promote and implement the world's best bicycle transportation practices in American municipalities. Includes several best practices sheets.
Cycling in the Netherlands: Guide to bicycling policies in the Netherlands (pdf)
Fietsberaad: Dutch cycling knowledge center
Bikeability: UK Cycling Proficiency Test
"At the Frontiers of Cycling: Policy Innovations in the Netherlands, Denmark, and Germany." World Transport Policy and Practice, Vol. 13, No. 3, December 2007, pp. 8-57
"How to Get More Bicyclists on the Road: To Boost Urban Bicycling, Figure Out What Women Want." Linda Baker. Scientific American, October 2009.
Bikes Belong: Research Resources
Designing Cities for Bicycle Transportation
Chicago Bike Lane Design Guide (pdf)
Los Angeles Bike Plan Draft, Chapter 5: Technical Design Handbook (pdf)
Minneapolis Bicycle Facility Manual (pdf)
New City York Street Design Manual
New York City's Ninth Avenue Bicycle Path and Complete Street, for ITE (pdf)
Portland Bikeway Design Best Practices, Appendix D
San Francisco Bicycle Plan Update: Supplemental Design Guidelines (pdf)
San Francisco Shared Markings Study (pdf)
London Cycling Design Standards, Transport for London (UK)
Cycling Guidelines and Practical Details Issue 2, Sustrans (UK)
Collection of Cycle Concepts, Danish Road Directorate (Denmark)
Learn More
- Lincoln, Nebraska: 2011 Smarter City for Transportation (note that the population for the entire Lincoln metro region, the primary unit for the transportation study, is 250,291 people.)
- Find out what “complete streets” are and how Lincoln is implementing them with Lincoln County Planning Department’s public presentation, public meeting flyer, and Complete Streets Concept Video.
- Read StarTran’s 2007 comprehensive study, the Transit Development Plan.
- Find out more about Lincoln’s City-County Planning Department Sustainability Workshop with the community engagement materials, panelists’ PowerPoint slides, and video of the workshop.
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