The Transportation and Mass Transit Megathread

[nashvylle]

Hopefully we can implement what Birmingham is doing one day. 

https://alabamanewscenter.com/2020/12/18/birmingham-begins-work-on-rapid-bus-transit-system-first-in-alabama/

 

[BnaBreaker]

No offense to either of these cities, because they both certainly have their charms (especially The Ham,) but the fact that we are now well behind cities like Oklahoma City and Birmingham when it comes to mass transit is, frankly, disgraceful.

[downtownresident]

45 minutes ago, BnaBreaker said:

No offense to either of these cities, because they both certainly have their charms (especially The Ham,) but the fact that we are now well behind cities like Oklahoma City and Birmingham when it comes to mass transit is, frankly, disgraceful.

The Megan Barry scandal set this city back years on that front, IMO.

[BnaBreaker]

7 hours ago, downtownresident said:

The Megan Barry scandal set this city back years on that front, IMO.

Maybe... but if that's all it took to derail the momentum then I'm not sure how serious the city's mass transit ambitions were to begin with.

[KJHburg]

add Raleigh to the list of cities moving forward with Bus Rapid Transit.  Planning is ongoing now and the first corridor has been picked.    As for Nashville I think one Rapid Bus Line or even light rail line should be done on the corridor with the highest bus ridership now.  Let people see how it works then expand it.  

Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) | Raleighnc.gov

Here is a video on their first corridor

 

[carolina1792]

On 12/11/2020 at 9:12 PM, MLBrumby said:

A key thing that Nashville hasn't quite understood or valued is that a city must have a solid plan that's backed by its citizenry for such federal grants to be awarded to them.

Correct. Raleigh's first Bus Rapid Transit project was just awarded $35 million FTA grant. Plus Raleigh/Durham's GoTriangle transit org was awarded $20 million to build the new BRT/regional bus station in downtown Raleigh next to the new federally funded Raleigh Union Station. The region expects half a billion dollars in federal assistance as it builds out its BRT and commuter rail projects. All thanks to solid planning--lord knows you can't count on the state government or NCDOT. 

Edited January 17 by carolina1792

[smeagolsfree]

On 1/16/2021 at 8:11 PM, KJHburg said:

add Raleigh to the list of cities moving forward with Bus Rapid Transit.  Planning is ongoing now and the first corridor has been picked.    As for Nashville I think one Rapid Bus Line or even light rail line should be done on the corridor with the highest bus ridership now.  Let people see how it works then expand it.  

Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) | Raleighnc.gov

Here is a video on their first corridor

 

Thanks for posting. Until Nashville and the State can come together over dedicated lanes for BRT, we will still continue to have our cruddie BRT light.

If my memory serves me the state passed a law out of spite to keep Nashville from closing any lane for a dedicated BRT or LRT line that is a state highway.

Besides with the current administration,  there is no grand vision. There needs to be a change of Metro leadership and a melding of the minds between the State & Metro governments soon.

I am not saying this mayor cannot get it done, maybe he can, but right now I have not seen any kind of BOLD vision for Metro. If nothing is done over the next 4 years or so, then Nashville may end up having the worst traffic in the Nation. The Mayors current plan is lacking both substance and vision, not to mention is does nothing to help with traffic congestion and half of the money does not even address anything to do with mas transit. When the Covid crisis is over and things are back to normal, this will become a very real problem again. Right now its not, again because people are so blasted fickle, they can only deal with the elephant or elephants  in the room, and not the tidal wave that is coming in behind them.

The voter will demand change and demand it quickly, and it will end up having to be a regional comprehensive plan. Nashville will continue to be left behind the rest of the Nation.

One thing I will add about the Nashville BRT light is this. All it is, is a bus running the exact same route as a regular bus with less stops. I have seen the regular bus and the BRT lt. running right behind each other because they are stuck in traffic. So to call Nashville's BRT Lt. a BRT Lt. is not accurate even though that is what Metro calls it.

[LA_TN]

Key takeaway is 1/2 cent tax increase started in 2016. A dedicated funding source is step 1

[markhollin]

The city is negotiating with 3 scooter companies for the right operate in Nashville under new rules. They will each be able to place up to 500 scooters in Davidson County.  There had been as many as 4,100 scooters here in mid-2019 before Metro started cracking down. 

More details at NBJ here:

https://www.bizjournals.com/nashville/news/2021/01/20/nashville-scooters-bid-rfp.html?cx_testId=40&cx_testVariant=cx_34&cx_artPos=2#cxrecs_s

[PaulChinetti]

Hopefully the negotiation involves more bike lanes on the most popular routes. The companies will have plenty of data to show what the most popular routes are, that has to be super useful.

[smeagolsfree]

 

3 hours ago, markhollin said:

The city is negotiating with 3 scooter companies for the right operate in Nashville under new rules. They will each be able to place up to 500 scooters in Davidson County.  There had been as many as 4,100 scooters here in mid-2019 before Metro started cracking down. 

More details at NBJ here:

https://www.bizjournals.com/nashville/news/2021/01/20/nashville-scooters-bid-rfp.html?cx_testId=40&cx_testVariant=cx_34&cx_artPos=2#cxrecs_s

I hate those blasted things and they should not be allowed in bike lanes or anywhere IMO. I ride a bike every now and again and the people that ride these things have no regard for anyone or anything but themselves. They do not follow the rules about riding on the sidewalks and they do not follow the bike lane rules either. I have had them crash right in front of me and seen idiots almost run over by trucks.

As a pedestrian, I have gotten into verbal confrontations with these FOOLS for almost hitting me and the response was, "then get out of my way dude". Nashville does not Need THEM! 

Again the discussion starts... Ban These things... The people that rent them are rude or inexperienced riders. Downtown was much more pleasant without them before they were ever here.

[PaulChinetti]

Lots of, get off my lawn vibes.

They are another useful tool that keep more cars off the road. They are also fun to ride. 

I've seen plenty of bikes on sidewalks too, so should we ban them outright? No, we should educate everyone and provide more options to ride (bikes, scooters, etc, etc) safely. 

 

[smeagolsfree]

The bikes happen on sidewalk too and in many cities you can be fined for riding your bike on the sidewalk and that should be the case here too. That happens a lot with the bike rentals and they should follow the rules like every one else. We just have not had the same issue with the bikes that we had with scooters because of the shear numbers.

Hopefully this new police chief will enforce the rules and start cracking down on the dummies'.

[donNdonelson2]

The scooters, even now, are left strewn everywhere, blocking sidewalks and  the ADA ramps of sidewalks. They are toys that are cast aside by the careless in total disregard of the results to others. If the scooter rental companies and their customers can’t be more responsible, I’m in favor of their complete and total banishment from our city. (If used appropriately  and within the guidelines established, they could be a reasonable transportation option. So far, they have fallen far short of that goal.)

Edited January 20 by donNdonelson2

[BnaBreaker]

5 hours ago, PaulChinetti said:

Lots of, get off my lawn vibes.

They are another useful tool that keep more cars off the road. They are also fun to ride. 

I've seen plenty of bikes on sidewalks too, so should we ban them outright? No, we should educate everyone and provide more options to ride (bikes, scooters, etc, etc) safely. 

 

Agreed.  Cities like Nashville especially that have a hard time nailing down funding for effective mass transit need any alternative modes of transportation at their disposal that they can get. 

That being said though, it does irk me when people just leave them laying in the middle of the sidewalk.  I mean, how devoid of the most basic sense of obligation to your neighbor do you have to be to not even be willing to lean it up against a wall or something?  It's the same people that leave their shopping carts sitting in a parking space rather than taking five seconds to push it over to a corral.  

[LA_TN]

Scooters or bikes or homes or .......

ownership equals responsibility 

[PaulChinetti]

Well can’t legislate people being a-holes other than giving tickets. 

I bet the scooter companies would kick in for a dedicated ticket-er if it helped them make more money. 

[Nicholson]

There should be a carrot and stick way to keep the scooters used and parked correctly. Riders could recieve a credit for parking the scooters in designated areas. There could also be a fee for leaving them strewn across sidewalks. 

[smeagolsfree]

I prefer a really big stick!

[timmay143]

Shopping theory/psychology.

Charge a crazy fee ($50.00?) made at rental.  The fee is only returned when scooter is "returned appropriately."  The only problem is what is appropriate (crowd-source corrals, etc.?) and how do you determine the return (picture, gps, etc.?).  Maybe some small form of structure like car or moving vehicle rentals?

[Nicholson]

2 hours ago, timmay143 said:

Shopping theory/psychology.

Charge a crazy fee ($50.00?) made at rental.  The fee is only returned when scooter is "returned appropriately."  The only problem is what is appropriate (crowd-source corrals, etc.?) and how do you determine the return (picture, gps, etc.?).  Maybe some small form of structure like car or moving vehicle rentals?

There might still be time to submit input on how these contracts are finalized. 

Here's the metro website for the Transportation Licensing Commission (A Division of Public Works) 

and contact info:

Looking at these memos, there's language about "dedicated and preferred parking areas where SUMDs can park without penalty as long as they are properly parked and upright... [and] 3. Parking an SUMD outside of a corral within the restricted parking zone shall result in a $10 fine assessed upon the operator. The fine shall be remitted to the Metropolitan Government within 60 days. Operators are not prohibited from seeking reimbursement of such fines from users whose actions incurred the assessment of fines."

Shared Urban Mobility Device (SUMD) Memo: https://www.nashville.gov/Portals/0/SiteContent/TLC/docs/SUMD-StreetParkingMemo.pdf

SUMD Restricted Zones Map  https://www.nashville.gov/Portals/0/SiteContent/TLC/docs/SUMD-RestrictedParkingMapDowntown.pdf

These restrictions are limited to the most tourist-heavy parts of downtown only.

A city-wide policy seems like a no brainer, so maybe I just haven't found that yet.

Edited January 21 by Nicholson

[Bos2Nash]

On 1/20/2021 at 11:45 AM, smeagolsfree said:

Ban These things... The people that rent them are rude or inexperienced riders. Downtown was much more pleasant without them before they were ever here.

By removing the context of the conversation this can be applied to Cars, Trucks, Bikes, Pedestrians, Scooters.

I come from a region that is notorious for brave/rude/reckless driving, but the benefit of that is I know to drive defensively and was never in a major accedient. I have experienced more bad driving (trucks, cars and scooters) than I have ever seen in my life. The biggest danger is I never know if that driving is going to be over agressive driving overly defensive driving, both of which cause major concerns.

Scooters are only a very small perecentage of the problem. I agree that is it is a good mode of transportation around the city. I have used it countless times moving around the city. Scooters are still better than the Transpotainment Vehicles.

[Nashvillain]

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-02-01/urban-highway-removals-could-get-federal-help?srnd=citylab

Federal Government looking to provide $10 billion for highway removal projects. Just posting for anyone interested in the idea

[Bos2Nash]

On 2/2/2021 at 8:01 AM, Nashvillain said:

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-02-01/urban-highway-removals-could-get-federal-help?srnd=citylab

Federal Government looking to provide $10 billion for highway removal projects. Just posting for anyone interested in the idea

I saw CityLab's post on instagram about this and considered posting about it. My mind also thought about which portion of highway could downtown remove effectively while maintaining certain vital connections. From an idealistic standpoint it would be great if we could remove the innerloop altogether and have 440 be the closest highway to the downtown core. That is unrealistic though. 

Here is my proposal based on the goal of dismantling our urban highways:

RED = Re-align and improve the 24/65 corridor that divides East Nashville from the East Bank. This was my first thought for a teardown, but if this stretch of freeway was to be removed, there isn't a ton of connections that can be re-created. Plus with developments such as River North, the redevelopment of the Truck Stop, Nissan Stadium Redevelopment and the future for PSC Metals, those will all be big money developments that will turn their back on the low income folks anyways.

Magenta = 440 and 40 become the same road and circulate around downtown to provie East/West connection. This would require a massive re-configuration of the 24/440/40 interchange along with Murfreesboro Road, but moving the East/West traffic out of downtown would be great.

BLUE = Removal of Interstate 65 extension. This provide the best chance to reconnect a decimated part of the city. North Nashville needs to have the street grid re-connected and those historic neighborhoods need to be woven back into the every day life of the city. The preferred route for drivers coming from the west and heading north would be to take Briley Parkway (see blue in second image).

GREEN = Removal of Interstate 65 from 440 to the Inner Loop. Redirect traffic east on 440/40 to connect to points north or east on 440/40 for points west. This will sow WeHo back together with the likes of Melrose and Edgehill.

CYAN = Removal of the inner loop entirely! There has been talk about the capping of this section, but that is unrealistic because the amount of ventilation and infrastructure that be needed (think Big Dig)

Obviously this would be a massive overhaul of our interstate system and would take someone an unfathomable amount of political power, but the benefits for our city - I think - would be tenfold. Sewing neighborhoods back together, expanding the plauisble footprint of our core and also remove alot of vehicle traffic out of the core. Not to mention the amount of land that could become available for actual taxable land that I'm sure the state would be able to solicit some big money for!

Here would would be an idea of what the core could look like with the inner loops whited out. Unrealistic in the grand scheme, but really not so far-fetched that it seems impossible.

 

 

Edited February 3 by Bos2Nash

[Bark At The Sun]

Mt. Juliet Rd. Bridge Widening Project over I-40