The Transportation and Mass Transit Megathread

[Bos2Nash]

I've had conversations with a transportation engineer in our company and one of the biggest problems with expanding the music city star is the fact that our track load is already at capacity in the area (engineers opinion i am pretty sure). To expand any type of commuter rail service we are going to have to go through the process of acquiring ROW land and then lay state owned railroad tracks.

The biggest hurdle with any form of system is that it will really need to be a State run organization where the funding comes from the State. The failed referendum and the failed AMP initiative proves that anything planned by the county will not work because it either does not do enough to help transit in the city, or it is too big of a bite by the county, there is no good solution. BRT/Light Rail./Heavy Rail are all options, but they would all need state permission to build on state roads. If the infrastructure for a BRT system is built as nashville_bound states to build confidence in the state run agency, it will NEVER be converted to another form. Money gets pumped into BRT dedicated lanes whether it be ROW acquisition, Signal construction and prioritization, lane protection. All of which would be the same for a more efficient electric train car.

Better yet, if all that money is being spent why not bring in the TBMs and dig subway lines? Makes the land acquisition process that much easier. Wouldn't take away from traffic lanes for those who love their cars. Wouldn't impact the commute because the TBM would be 100'-0" underground. Want to build confidence? dig a central subway line that goes from Vanderbilt to Nissan Stadium (use Nissan parking lot for TBM staging) and see how that line get used. You would connect Downtown, Midtown and West End all with one line and it wouldn't impact anyone while being built really. With the lone exception of station construction and that is something that would appear with any transit oriented system.

[grilled_cheese]

I've come to the conclusion that it will never happen.  My plan is to get a job in the downtown core so I no longer have to cross town on my commute.  I will vote down any plan that spends money on people from outside Davidson County. 

 

Let em fvckin burn

[titanhog]

55 minutes ago, grilled_cheese said:

I've come to the conclusion that it will never happen.  My plan is to get a job in the downtown core so I no longer have to cross town on my commute.  I will vote down any plan that spends money on people from outside Davidson County. 

 

Let em fvckin burn

Yeah...because it's the people outside of Davidson County who keep voting down Davidson County's chances of mass transit. 

[BnaBreaker]

1 hour ago, grilled_cheese said:

I've come to the conclusion that it will never happen.  My plan is to get a job in the downtown core so I no longer have to cross town on my commute.  I will vote down any plan that spends money on people from outside Davidson County. 

 

Let em fvckin burn

Seems a bit... aggressive... 

[Dale]

8 minutes ago, BnaBreaker said:

Seems a bit... aggressive... 

Yeah, wouldn’t that produce carbon ?

[Tennessine]

For the love of God, why. I try to foment discussion and comments like THAT are what I get out of it.

Thank you to the rest of you guys who responded to my question and stated your opinions like informed adults.

[Bos2Nash]

Little hometown pride that could prove to be VERY advantageous for Nashville. We want WeGo to improve and to be more noticeable? Some of these pilot programs would go a long way.  The most important part of the article is the video at the bottom so give it the 6 minutes. Well worth it.

https://usa.streetsblog.org/2018/12/05/see-it-bostons-bus-rapid-transit-is-working/

[grilled_cheese]

23 minutes ago, nativetenn said:

For the love of God, why. I try to foment discussion and comments like THAT are what I get out of it.

Thank you to the rest of you guys who responded to my question and stated your opinions like informed adults.

The people that live outside of Davidson County and commute in are the reason that traffic is bad. 

Prove me wrong.

[nashvylle]

32 minutes ago, Bos2Nash said:

Little hometown pride that could prove to be VERY advantageous for Nashville. We want WeGo to improve and to be more noticeable? Some of these pilot programs would go a long way.  The most important part of the article is the video at the bottom so give it the 6 minutes. Well worth it.

https://usa.streetsblog.org/2018/12/05/see-it-bostons-bus-rapid-transit-is-working/

BRT will be very successful in the right areas of Nashville. Pray that it happens. 

[titanhog]

37 minutes ago, grilled_cheese said:

The people that live outside of Davidson County and commute in are the reason that traffic is bad. 

Prove me wrong.

We get it.  You hate the suburbs and the people who live there. 

[Tennessine]

36 minutes ago, grilled_cheese said:

The people that live outside of Davidson County and commute in are the reason that traffic is bad. 

Prove me wrong.

Bro, you live in a city.

Traffic is bad in EVERY big city.

New York City has diversified public transit. Does that mean they don't have traffic? So does Atlanta. And DC. And Chicago. And Los Angeles.

People commute to work in big cities. That's why cities exist.

[grilled_cheese]

7 minutes ago, nativetenn said:

That's why cities exist. 

Wrong again

[Tennessine]

7 minutes ago, grilled_cheese said:

Wrong again

If that's your rebuttal, there is no further use of me wasting my time and everybody else's time arguing with you on this thread. 

[Mr_Bond]

5 minutes ago, grilled_cheese said:

Wrong again

Actually, cities exist because they are more efficient.  When a city doubles in size (grows by 100%), it only consumes 85% more resources.  Therefore, cities become more efficient, at a macro level and their efficiency attracts more people, especially those who live outside of the urban core (or course).

[titanhog]

[grilled_cheese]

Building any type of transportation system for people that live in Clarksville/Murfreesboro (gross) would be a slap in the face to the good people of Nashville.  It sickens me that people have a fetish for the suburbs and think they are good in some way.

Take your suburbanite welfare queens somewhere else.

[smeagolsfree]

Again that is what the RTA is for. There is co-operation between the various governments. 

[Armacing]

How about this:  A short Music City Star spur rail branches to the south and follows the stones river up to the shores of Percy Priest Lake.  There, it arrives at a station where commuter *Boats* are unloaded and riders are boarding the train for the last leg of their journey into town.  Where are these commuter boats coming from you ask?  Answer:  LaVergne, Smyrna, and Murfreesboro.  Most of this boat route is already suitable for commuter boats due to the depth of the lake, but the most southern portion would need some canals or other widening/deepenign done to reach into Murfreesboro.  In my opinion, the only thing more fun that riding a commuter train is riding a commuter boat.  Actually, this idea involves both, so it's double the fun!

[Mr_Bond]

59 minutes ago, Armacing said:

How about this:  A short Music City Star spur rail branches to the south and follows the stones river up to the shores of Percy Priest Lake.  There, it arrives at a station where commuter *Boats* are unloaded and riders are boarding the train for the last leg of their journey into town.  Where are these commuter boats coming from you ask?  Answer:  LaVergne, Smyrna, and Murfreesboro.  Most of this boat route is already suitable for commuter boats due to the depth of the lake, but the most southern portion would need some canals or other widening/deepenign done to reach into Murfreesboro.  In my opinion, the only thing more fun that riding a commuter train is riding a commuter boat.  Actually, this idea involves both, so it's double the fun!

Nashville, the Athens Venice of the South

[e-dub]

That feel when the 77, the 55 and the 18 are all late, letting you make both connections comfortably.

 

[KJHburg]

On 12/5/2018 at 4:54 PM, grilled_cheese said:

The people that live outside of Davidson County and commute in are the reason that traffic is bad. 

Prove me wrong.

That of course is the majority of the traffic.  But there is no real bypass for trucks and traffic whose destination is further south or north.  That I-840 needs to be completed to the north and hit I-65 so people whose destination is not Nashville can go around to get to Atlanta or Louisville or points north.  Is there any plans to do that? 

[smeagolsfree]

No, the plans for the northerm loop of 840 were cxled years ago. Thats does not mean theat they cant be resurected, but it would a,most be impossible to reroute trucking out of the innercore because of the number of warehousing and trucking firms close to the core. They could reroute thru traffic but enforcing that would be a nightmare.

[LA_TN]

2 hours ago, KJHburg said:

That of course is the majority of the traffic.  But there is no real bypass for trucks and traffic whose destination is further south or north.  That I-840 needs to be completed to the north and hit I-65 so people whose destination is not Nashville can go around to get to Atlanta or Louisville or points north.  Is there any plans to do that? 

You will not like the answer: no, permanently no

[grilled_cheese]

4 hours ago, KJHburg said:

That of course is the majority of the traffic.  But there is no real bypass for trucks and traffic whose destination is further south or north.  That I-840 needs to be completed to the north and hit I-65 so people whose destination is not Nashville can go around to get to Atlanta or Louisville or points north.  Is there any plans to do that?  

We talked about this in this thread months ago and someone linked a Tennessean article from the early 2000s stating that the northern part of 840 would close something like 3 billion.  So double that for today's costs.

zoinks

[Tennessine]

I doubt it would be worth the money to expand 840 farther west of Nashville into Dickson and Cheatham counties. Unless the population base expands out there, building the northern half of 840 would be a pretty big waste of money.