The Transportation and Mass Transit Megathread

[nashvylle]

13 minutes ago, tragenvol said:

Agreed; the plan is guilty by association with Barry....rightly or not.....and this association with the disgraced Mayor will have bearing on this vote.  Mayor Briley has stated he's pro-transit, but how pro-transit is he truly when he could disavow any ownership to this plan when he runs for Mayor later this year?

I haven't seen him out in front of this vote for the plan at more than a minimum.

I disagree. He has been a staunch supporter, and wouldn't have signed the declaration of transit independence etc. 

[markhollin]

I am seeing more and more Vote Transit yard signs in my area (12 South). Haven' t seen a single NO sign. Have also received several pieces of direct mail from the Pro Transit group, but nothing from the negative side.  Additionally, I have seen plenty of airings of Pro Transit TV spots, and none for the negative.

[Edgefield D]

I've seen a lot more For Transit signs in my neighborhood in the last week or so. 

[PaulChinetti]

I still can’t get a sign. But I am starting to see more on Nolensivllle/4th Ave S. 

Hopefully the Pro folks are starting to kick into gear, let’s get this ball rolling!

Edited April 5, 2018 by PaulChinetti
Can’t spell good

[fishsticks176]

They finally emailed me back about a sign this morning, after I requested one about six weeks ago. Every poll and forum discussion I've seen is still leaning pro-transit!

[nashwatcher]

I sure hope so. The Pro side needs big wooden frame signs on public corners like the NoTax side has (in green hills, even driving into downtown on the State fences) Step up your game PRO TRANSIT! Don’t lose this thing because you’re too lazy to find good corners with lots of traffic. At least put them in the high traffic areas where the NoTax signs already are

[e-dub]

i got an email asking for my address, too.

[henburg]

That's good to hear that things may be ramping up. I agree that they need some more prominent signage as well. At lot of the time for things like this, the opposition is simply louder, not larger. I would be pleased if that were they case again. 

[volsfanwill]

10 hours ago, PaulChinetti said:

Got this in the mail yesterday.

"That's too much for a plan that leaves out large portions of the city." This plan costs TOO much, we need a bigger plan, that would costs LESS??

Scratches head... screams into the abyss 

I just read this out to my girlfriend and point by point broke down where it is misleading or outright lying, or the one point with 100% facts used in a way that is 100% misleading. 

[Edgefield D]

13 hours ago, PaulChinetti said:

I still can’t get a sign. But I am starting to see more on Nolensivllle/4th Ave S. 

Hopefully the Pro folks are starting to kick into gear, let’s get this ball rolling!

I had emailed a friend at the chamber, and she emailed someone at For Transit but never heard back (not good in my opinion).  When I saw your post about getting a response I was hoping they were just backlogged trying to get signs. I think they should have focused on getting the sign distribution running smoothly before now.  I HAVE seen more lately...it’s odd that it’s so difficult to get a sign though.

[Will]

Interesting interview with a member of the activist group PATHE, which is against the May 1 plan. 

https://www.nashvillescene.com/news/features/article/20999320/grassroots-organization-pathe-wants-better-transit-but-not-the-citys-9-billion-plan

This person hits on what I think is the most compelling reason to oppose the plan:

"We’ve been to the Metro Council meetings, and one of the things that we consistently say is: 'Let’s make our existing system better.' We could have more of the [bus rapid transit] routes — the fast bus routes. We could have better dedicated bus lanes, and we could do that for a tiny fraction of the amount of money they’re planning to spend on this transit plan."

[WebberThomas4]

I understand their frustration with the lack of affordable housing and displacement, but building new affordable housing in Nashville is not easy. 

http://nashvillepublicradio.org/post/why-it-s-especially-hard-build-affordable-housing-nashville-according-one-state-agency#stream/0  

[e-dub]

This was just sent out by Transit for Nashville:

 

The anti-transit NoTax4Tracks group, led by car dealer Lee Beaman, has purposefully been using made up cost numbers to scare voters into voting against the transit plan.

This morning, WPLN exposed their blatant, misleading math, including the fact that the group had to retract their latest mail piece due to easily debunked cost figures!

They apologized, but the bad math still lives on their website. They are being dishonest with their figures and when pushed by the reporter, they immediately backtracked and tried to pivot.

You know why they can’t get an independent expert to verify their claims? Because no expert ever would!

Please read this article and share far and wide. The people of Nashville need to know this story.

The opposition knows they can’t win this without lying to voters, and we can’t let them succeed.

May 1 is our chance to tell them we are FOR transit. Early voting runs April 11-26.

[PaulChinetti]

9 minutes ago, WebberThomas4 said:

I understand their frustration with the lack of affordable housing and displacement, but building new affordable housing in Nashville is not easy. 

http://nashvillepublicradio.org/post/why-it-s-especially-hard-build-affordable-housing-nashville-according-one-state-agency#stream/0  

"Had another city's development been chosen, "by now, we’d have real-world apartment homes that people would be living in," the agency says. "Instead, the $1.7 million per year never got spent. and no construction happened.”"

Wait, where in the world does the money go? It doesn't go to another developer if the site never gets built?

[samsonh]

12 minutes ago, e-dub said:

This was just sent out by Transit for Nashville:

 

The anti-transit NoTax4Tracks group, led by car dealer Lee Beaman, has purposefully been using made up cost numbers to scare voters into voting against the transit plan.

This morning, WPLN exposed their blatant, misleading math, including the fact that the group had to retract their latest mail piece due to easily debunked cost figures!

They apologized, but the bad math still lives on their website. They are being dishonest with their figures and when pushed by the reporter, they immediately backtracked and tried to pivot.

You know why they can’t get an independent expert to verify their claims? Because no expert ever would!

Please read this article and share far and wide. The people of Nashville need to know this story.

The opposition knows they can’t win this without lying to voters, and we can’t let them succeed.

May 1 is our chance to tell them we are FOR transit. Early voting runs April 11-26.

If NoTax has to make up facts and fudge numbers for their side to win, they might be on the wrong side.  The fact is we are not going to have flying taxis in the next 5-10 years, and we need to invest in the future of our city. 

[markhollin]

How the Transit plan---that initially helps just Davidson County---will ultimately help the whole region:

https://www.tennessean.com/story/money/2018/04/06/transit-plans-scope-limited-nashville-what-does-mean-region/483483002/

[Pdt2f]

Are we going to be able to early vote on the transit issue, or is it only going to be voted on May 1?

[GreenHillsBoy]

Early voting begins April 11 at the usual places and all items will be on the ballot including  the transit referendum. 

[nashvillwill]

I guess the April ramp up by the Pro group has some legs to it after all. I’ve seen/heard more Pro-Transit ads in the last 3-4 days, than I have for the last few months combined. 

I will say, I don’t like party-line stance they are taking with it. Leave that to the anti crowd. I would have liked to see them to take the high road and focus on the benefits of the plan. After all, this system is to serve everyone, regardless of political affiliation. Alas, I guess that just not the way of the world anymore, if it ever was. 

[Pdt2f]

I saw several For Transit volunteers dropping material into mailboxes earlier, and I’ve noticed several of the large wooden signs. Notably at the corner of old hickory Blvd and Franklin Road, at the shell station corner. Weird spot, since that’s barely Davison county and not really in an area where transit would touch, but tons of people pass it daily so the exposure must be worth it. 

[Pdt2f]

The sales tax and two tourism-related taxes are pretty self-explanatory, but could someone with some financial or accounting savvy explain the potential business tax increase? Like how much it is now, what the burden typically is for businesses, how raising it will affect businesses currently in Nashville and those potentially looking to relocate to Nashville, etc. I’m fuzzy on those kinds of taxes so it could be informative and useful to know more. 

[MidTenn1]

The TENNESSEAN took a poll on February 25 that gave the following results...

Quote

The new poll, released Sunday exclusively to the Tennessean, found that 42 percent of registered voters support the plan compared with 28 percent who said they oppose it.

.......

Thirty percent of people said they still don't know enough to say how they will vote.

The sample consisted of 723 registered voters.The poll seems fairly credible indicating the opposition will need to persuade 77% of the undecided voters to kill the referendum. That's a tall mountain to climb, and I would suspect the undecided would not be motivated to go to the polls regardless of their ultimate choice.

[WebberThomas4]

Erica Gilmore, who is running for mayor, just announced on Twitter that she is now against the transit plan. The tweet has since been deleted. 

[nashvylle]

what is needed- 51%?

[Rockatansky]

25 minutes ago, nashvylle said:

what is needed- 51%?

50% +1