The Transportation and Mass Transit Megathread

[markhollin]

You would think with the Nashville MSA making up nearly a third of the state's population, as well as being the engine that generates all of the economic growth for the state, that this jazzbo would be a bit more proactive in trying to figure out how TDOT funds can be allocated in the transportation plan.

http://www.bizjournals.com/nashville/news/2016/09/26/get-real-tdot-commissioner-reacts-to-6nashville.html

[Hey_Hey]

To be fair, I believe TDOT has actually been fairly pro-transit.  TDOT cannot unilaterally fund these projects. It will take the state legislature to appropriate funds through TDOT, but TDOT cannot do it on their own.  It's a little unfair that the TDOT commissioner was seemingly characterized as being unwilling to provide funding in the article.  The truth is, the TDOT commissioner will fund what he/she can through the laws that the legislature passes. At this point in time any mass transit project will be funded entirely with local and/or federal funds.  

Edited September 26, 2016 by Hey_Hey

[nashvylle]

if anyone has an account with the WSJ, there appears to be an interesting article on Denver's transit system. If someone could give the summary points of the article, it would be appreciated.

 

http://www.wsj.com/articles/denvers-transit-system-makes-tracks-1474933438

[rookzie]

I have spoken with John Schroer personally on several occasions, most recently during my tenure at the 6-week RTA-sponsored Sixth Transit Citizen Leadership Academy late last winter.  The general reception during his interaction with us suggested that he himself, along with Steve Bland of the RTA-MTA, strongly supports such a bold plan, while being tactful in addressing the perceived shortcomings of the ill-fated, stillborn East-West BRT connector initiative.

It was TDOT who had been most instrumental in some major funded improvements for preparing the RoW for the Music City Star on the NERR (Nashville & Eastern RR), which included building an entirely new main between Stanley and Driftwood Streets, and which, with two new concrete and steel bridge underpasses, serves as the new alignment bypassing the NERR Nashville Terminal yard.  It also includes the current level-crossing at OHB in Hermitage; the elimination of the level crossing on Highway US-70 on the western edge of Lebanon, and more recently (several years ago) the completed new alignment and route-straightening at the sprawling metropolis of Martha, replete with an entirely new grade separation from SR-109.  And not in the least any less commendable, it was TDOT which pitched in about $1 million to cover half of the Music City Star’s then-anticipated deficit, back during the 2008-09 fiscal year.

Of course, a portion of this was funded with Federal support, but the fact is, TDOT, particularly while under the appointment of Gerald Nicely, has undertaken much more than what meets the normally unobservant eye, in terms of rail transit.  As Hey_Hey pointed out, and as I personally have witnessed in virtual votes of confidence with Commissioner Schroer, TDOT has shown a commitment as a proponent, to the extent that it has been empowered.  Just saying....

Edited September 29, 2016 by rookzie

[markhollin]

More than 20 middle Tennessee mayors gather to discuss funding of the new transportation initiatives.  Seems like there is consensus developing on how this should be tackled:

http://www.tennessean.com/story/money/2016/10/04/mayors-voice-optimism-urgency-regional-transportation/91241392/

[markhollin]

Nashville is one of 16 cities that will receive support from Sidewalk Labs, an offshoot of Google parent company Alphabet, and advocacy group Transportation for America as part of the groups' efforts to help shape the "smart cities" of the future.

Nearly 60 cities applied to be part of the T4A Smart Cities Collaborative, which will hold its first meeting next month, according to a news release. The member cities will focus on three core areas: automated vehicles, shared mobility and ways to use data to manage complex networks and measure performance.

http://www.bizjournals.com/nashville/news/2016/10/19/a-google-spinoff-will-help-nashville-navigate-the.html

[markhollin]

Nashville is now part of an autonomous cars initiative along with Austin, Los Angeles, Buenos Aires, and Paris:

http://www.nashvillepost.com/business/technology/article/20838128/nashville-part-of-new-autonomous-cars-initiative

[nashvylle]

12 minutes ago, markhollin said:

Nashville is now part of an autonomous cars initiative along with Austin, Los Angeles, Buenos Aires, and Paris:

http://www.nashvillepost.com/business/technology/article/20838128/nashville-part-of-new-autonomous-cars-initiative

I like that Nashville's tech community is strong enough to warrant this initiative, but if people think  autonomous cars are going to solve Nashville's traffic woes without any investment in other forms of mass transit... I will agree to disagree. 

A million autonomous cars on the interstate is the same as a million passenger driven cars on the interstate. 

[Hey_Hey]

13 hours ago, nashvylle said:

I like that Nashville's tech community is strong enough to warrant this initiative, but if people think  autonomous cars are going to solve Nashville's traffic woes without any investment in other forms of mass transit... I will agree to disagree. 

A million autonomous cars on the interstate is the same as a million passenger driven cars on the interstate. 

I would agree with you that autonomous cars won't completely solve our transit issues.  However, I disagree that a million autonomous cars on the interstate will be the same as a million passenger drive cars.  Autonomous cars will take up less space on the interstates because of decreased follow distances and will crash less often.  We should be able to fit more autonomous cars in a given space than we can passenger drive cars, and traffic backups from things like accidents, merging, and rubber necking will be much improved.  

[Will]

And the benefits of autonomous cars are more apparent on city streets, where some studies have pegged as much as 30% of congestion is caused by people looking for parking spots during certain times of the day. Autonomous cars will be able to park themselves and come back when you call, almost eliminating the search for parking. We might need to figure out ways to enlarge drop-off areas, though.

[titanhog]

What type of control do you have over autonomous cars?  There's just something about the idea that has me thinking I'm going to die in a crash the first time out.

[markhollin]

Chamber proposes 7 ways that taxes can be utilized to pay for the proposed $6 billion transportation plan:

http://www.bizjournals.com/nashville/news/2016/11/09/chamber-proposes-7-ways-your-taxes-can-pay-for.html

Full study is here:

https://s3.amazonaws.com/nashvillechamber.com/PDFs/110916+Nashville_Moving+Forward+Report.pdf

[Andrew_3289]

9 minutes ago, markhollin said:

Chamber proposes 7 ways that taxes can be utilized to pay for the proposed $6 billion transportation plan:

http://www.bizjournals.com/nashville/news/2016/11/09/chamber-proposes-7-ways-your-taxes-can-pay-for.html

Full study is here:

https://s3.amazonaws.com/nashvillechamber.com/PDFs/110916+Nashville_Moving+Forward+Report.pdf

So are they saying they want to leverage all seven ideas or just select a few of them? 

[smeagolsfree]

A lot of the ideas put the burden on drivers which should be the case. They need more autos off the road and more people taking mass transit.

As far as a increase in the wheel tax, I am 100% in favor. The price of tags in Tennessee is a bargain as compared to other states.

Many states tags are based on the value of the vehicle, so the newer your vehicle the more expensive the tags. That sometimes brings the tag total to 4 or 5 hundred dollars. 

[nashvylle]

will the general assembly intervene and stop anything from happening?

[Titans101]

When we first moved to Houston from Nashville a few years ago. I sold my Nissan Titan because I knew we would live on the light rail line next to the medical center. That was a great idea. We kept my wife's Camry for use just in case we needed to drive out. To get Texas plates which you are issued two for the front and back was about $175.00 initially and the inspection was around $35.00. Tennessee I believe emissions are about $10.00yr but Texas requires an inspection every year before you renew on all vehicles. So just imagine if that same scenerio was used in the state of Tennessee for transit.

[Rockatansky]

22 hours ago, Andrew_3289 said:

So are they saying they want to leverage all seven ideas or just select a few of them? 

As I understand it, they will be doing additional research on the 7 to estimate the amount of revenue they will generate (and other factors such as political feasibility). MTA/Metro Mayor will do additional research (the Chamber report contains only recommendations) and choose one or more to pursue. Many of the 7 would require both State approval and local referendums.

Edited November 10, 2016 by Rockatansky

[Andrew_3289]

Just now, Rockatansky said:

As I understand it, they will be doing additional research on the 7 to estimate the amount of revenue they will generate (and other factors such as political feasibility). MTA/Metro Mayor will do additional research (the Chamber report are just recommendations) and choose one or more to pursue. Many of the 7 would require both State approval and local referendums.

That makes sense. I'm personally all for raising everything but property tax. Mainly because I feel as if all the options besides the property tax affect all people living/spending time here. Where as the property tax only effects home and land owners and not renters (I do understand rent rates will go up for renters and effect them indirectly though). 

[Canuck87]

Anyone with subscriber access care to enlighten the rest of us regarding the contents of this article?

http://www.bizjournals.com/nashville/news/2016/11/22/nashville-biz-leaders-pushing-for-6b-transit-plan.html

[Andrew_3289]

1 hour ago, Canuck87 said:

Anyone with subscriber access care to enlighten the rest of us regarding the contents of this article?

http://www.bizjournals.com/nashville/news/2016/11/22/nashville-biz-leaders-pushing-for-6b-transit-plan.html

Some of Nashville's biggest and most influential business names are backing plans for a $6 billion transit overhaul, but it turns out there's a limit to their connections.

Bill Nigh, regional CEO of Bank of Nashville, serves on the public engagement committee of Moving Forward, a Nashville Area Chamber of Commerce-fundedcoalition. He said the committee has not been as successful as they originally hoped at reaching out to people outside the business community. Nigh noted that this is problematic since those people are largely the ones using the city's existing transit system.

Enlarge

Nashville traffic

NATHAN MORGAN | NASHVILLE BUSINESS JOURNAL

"We probably don't know how to reach out to the maids in the hotels," Nigh said. "We really want to, but we haven't been able to do it yet."

Nigh said connecting with those not in the city's business circles is important because it will ultimately take the area as a whole to fund the $6 billion plan, which includes extending operating hours, expanding services and adding light rail.

Earlier this month, the Moving Forward finance committee revealed the results of a study conducted by the Victoria Transport Policy Institute to figure out the best possible paths for funding the region's nMotion plan. The seven options included everything from direct taxes on residents to fees that impact the area's growing tourism industry.

And while the committee is hoping to increase its engagement with those not running the city's top industries, Nigh said having the backing of those in some of Nashville's most prominent offices is also critical to moving the plan forward. Nigh said the selling point the committee tries to make to local business leaders is that having a sustainable and well-planned transit system will improve the health of the community, which will typically impact the success of the region's businesses.

[Canuck87]

Another NBJ article from today discussing the transit situation in Nashville...

http://www.bizjournals.com/nashville/news/2016/11/22/denver-official-says-city-not-a-fair-comparison-as.html

[Dale]

19 minutes ago, Canuck87 said:

Another NBJ article from today discussing the transit situation in Nashville...

http://www.bizjournals.com/nashville/news/2016/11/22/denver-official-says-city-not-a-fair-comparison-as.html

In a sense, Nashville may be right on pace.

[KJHburg]

I read that article too about comparisons to Denver. I live in Charlotte and our transit plan I would think would be more comparable to Nashville than a Denver.  Denver is so much bigger than both Charlotte and Nashville. We will by next summer have 19 miles of  light rail trains from the southwest side of Charlotte through our downtown area to end northeast of Charlotte at UNC Charlotte (a 28,000 student university) Ours is funded by half cent sales tax and state and federal grants. However our sales tax is not as high in TN and in Charlotte it tops out at 7.25% which is higher than the rest of the state. Our Blue Line LYNX rail has spurred lots of growth along the line mainly apartment complexes in our South End area and now office buildings outside of the center city are starting to migrate nearby. There are free parking lots or garages at toward the ends of the lines.

Here is a link to the existing line that opened in 2007 http://charlottenc.gov/cats/rail/lynx-blue-line/Pages/default.aspx and here is the new Blue line extension to UNC Charlotte http://charlottenc.gov/cats/transit-planning/blue-line-extension/Pages/default.aspx  As someone who spent several days last summer driving around Nashville believe me you need some light rail. The congestion is bad. This is my opinion but I don't think your splitting highway intersections help either. Everyone local knows what lanes to be in but anyone passing through does not and it makes for some last minute lane changes that slows everything down.  Light rail has not solved traffic problems in Charlotte but I can't imagine not having it now as an option. 

[claya91]

This is way into the future, but if and when Radnor Yards is relocated and/or we get the rail rights, there is a line that is literally perfect for light rail north to south. Some of your may be familiar with this track; it runs next to I 65. These would be the stops in Metro based off its track:

Capital Hill/View

Gulch

Wedgewood/Houston 

Melrose (Next to the Berry Hill Post Office)

100 Oaks

Harding Place/Trousdale (near I-65)

Crieve Hall @ Hogan Rd.

Brentwood @ OHB

Down into Williamson Co. it continues to mirror I-65 until you hit Cool Springs where it splits SW-ward towards Downtown Franklin and continues towards Spring Hill. One can dream, right?

 

 

[Neigeville2]

2 hours ago, KJHburg said:

...here is the new Blue line extension to UNC Charlotte http://charlottenc.gov/cats/transit-planning/blue-line-extension/Pages/default.aspx  ...

I've never been to Charlotte but I got really excited watching this video.  I hope I get to see something like this in Nashville before I die.