Transit in Nashville

[japan]

There's no way they could ever get away with taking away two lanes from traffic, unless it was time sensitive and people could dirve there if there wasn't a bus; people are resistent enough without taking away driving lanes.

If people can drive there, then it isn't a high speed bus lane.

[franktown]

If people can drive there, then it isn't a high speed bus lane.

I disagree. The lanes can be signalized allowing the bus to have the lane on it's own during peak demand periods, but turned off to allow others to drive in it at other parts of the day.

[timmay143]

Here are a few articles on transportation in the TN. The first one is by Rich Riebeling, a finance director for Davidson County. One of its points is the support from Mayor Dean. The second one talks about how our mass transit sucks and how the government is looking to spur better systems across the country. The third is by Diane Thorne, the RTA executive director. She, obviously, is pushing for better funding for transit and transit awareness.

Public transportation critical to our future

Jump-start for public systems could get country on track: Mass transit slow to meet demand

Dedicated funding would boost region

[timmay143]

Since things are sooo pokey around here I thought I would post this TN article about biking around Nashville. I haven't been to town in awhile so I can't say where there are or are not friendly areas for bicycling. However, I bet I can safely say Nashville is lacking and has a long way to go to be more bike friendly. Hopefully, with the all the problems (gas, economy, etc.), solutions like adding more bike lanes and better (more) transportation options (BRT, LRT, more commuter rail lines, shuttles, street cars, etc.) will be addressed now and for the future.

More cyclists are hitting roadways: Lack of bike trails puts them beside vehicles in traffic

[nashvylle]

I want to implement a half cent tax increase to fund a lightrail and or streetcar system within Davidson County. Anyone know what has to happen for this to take place? Is Mayor Dean open to this option?

[Nashville_maestro]

you can contact mayor dean to suggest this idea by emailing him at [email protected]

Or calling his office at 615 862 6000

I'm not going to get into the presidential race here because there's a huge discussion already going on in the urbanplanet coffee house but obama's running mate (Biden) is a huge advocate of public transit and rides the amtrak from DC to Baltimore everyday. Should he get put in office then it wouldn't be far fetched to expect more federal funding for public transit across America.

[nashvylle]

thank you

[timmay143]

Sounds like good news. Although I haven't had a chance to read the article yet. I'll post the link to the article and add more later when I get a chance to read it.

New dedicated funding for public transportation could be on the way

[jice]

Sounds like good news. Although I haven't had a chance to read the article yet. I'll post the link to the article and add more later when I get a chance to read it.

New dedicated funding for public transportation could be on the way

So... the state has to first give authority to a regional organization to create and oversee a dedicated funding source... then, once a plan is in place on how it would be used, they can ask the voters to pass it.

What doesn't make sense, though, is this 'power' would likely be given to RTA... yet... RTA is getting ready to turn over its operation of the Music City Star to MTA, because of budget concerns... so is RTA really the right organization to put in charge of how to use dedicated funding for mass transit??? Am I missing something?

Either way, I guess its good to see this finally happening... even if it won't really happen until next year at the earliest.

[nashvylle]

we need to do what Charlotte did. We need a lightrail throughout Davidson County. Please Karl Dean, lightrail or streetcar throughout Davidson County ASAP.

[monsoon]

So... the state has to first give authority to a regional organization to create and oversee a dedicated funding source... then, once a plan is in place on how it would be used, they can ask the voters to pass it......

Even when they get the authority to tax, it is not a sure thing. It's going to vary from state to state, but in most states the authority of a local government to tax comes from the state and this was the process used more or less in both Raleigh and Charlotte. I am going to guess that NC and Tennessee are not that different in make up so I will describe the process that occurred in Charlotte that led to the 0.5 cent transit tax and then the often controversial building of the LRT. It is complicated but here it is if interested:

• First the Charlotte transit tax is in fact a county tax. Thus it is collected in Charlotte + the 6 other municipalities that make up the county. Charlotte does not have a consolidated government with the county as that in Nashville.
  
• The county had to go to the NC Legislature to ask for permission for a tax such as this. This meant that legislators from all of NC's 100 counties had to vote on the measure. It passed because the law was made specific to Mecklenburg. At this time no other county in the state can pass such a tax though I suspect they could go to the legislature and get permission without too much trouble.
  
• What got passed was a modification of the state usury tax. This means that before it could go into effect, the residents of the county had to vote on the measure once the county decided to put it on the local ballot.
  
• During this time, in the late 90s, the state had signed up to a FTA project to demonstrate and encourage rail transit. They had borrowed a DMU from Europe and was running excursion rides through the cities that wanted it. When it was here in Charlotte, the $5 tickets sold out in one day and more than 4000 people rode the train. It did a similar run through the Raleigh area where a different transit tax was passed. This program unfortunately is no longer available.
  
• At this point the county had the authority to put the measure on the ballot, but had to work out the details of regional support. They created an authority called the MTC. The primary reason for this was to give partial control of the non-Charlotte municipalities over how the tax was spent.
  
• The tax was placed on the ballot in Nov 1998, an off year election. It passed somewhere around 54-57%. (don't remember the exact %)
  
• The MTC was now in charge of a then ~ $55M/year revenue stream that was supposed to be used for transit. What they decided to do was to disband the old Charlotte bus authortity, the CTA, and replace it with a new authority that was responsible for county wide transit. The new organization was called CATS.
  
• It is a complicated arrangement. CATS is a department of the city, but the tax is a county tax. They had to work out lots of details. Some of the solutions led to other problems, namely accountability on how funds are spent.
  
• In the late 90s CATS came up with a plan to build two rail lines in Charlotte. A LRT which is close to what was actually built. And a CR line that would run north to connect Charlotte to the northern towns in the county as well as cross the county line and provide service to Iredell county.
  
• Eventually this plan was replaced by a more comprehensive plan called the 2020 plan that identified 5 transit corridors. CATS was told to move forward with FTA approval on the original LRT when it said it could be built for something like $198M.
  
• By 2003 approval process for the LRT was in full swing. By this time the price tag had risen to $254M.
  
• In 2004 news came out that CATS had bungled some of the FTA modeling and they missed the funding decision for that year. The Charlotte Mayor had promised a shake up, but it did not happen.
  
• Around this time, the town of Pineville voted not to have a transit stop in its town. Thus the final station and about 2 miles of track were removed from the plan. They have since unofficially expressed regret at this decision.
  
• The FTA grants a FFGA for what is now known as the South LRT. The new price is $398M. It would be funded 50% Federal, 25% NCDOT, and 25% transit tax. Ground breaking is in early 2005 with a promised opening in late 2006 early 2007.
  
• In 2006 CATS reports that it is $30M over budget. They cite unanticipated costs in building materials. City addresses the problem by ordering CATS to cancel a plan to restore a historic trolley barn and more damaging, the LRV platforms are shortened to only handle two cars instead of three.
  
• In early 2007 more news comes out that CATS had not been managing its contractors properly. They have blown the budget by another $50M - $60M. The new price tag for the line is $454M. The contractors blame CATS management and CATS blame the contractors. The city promises a lawsuit but to my knowledge the money is never recovered. At the same time, CATS critics get very loud and the local GOP promises to end this "madness". They first try to get the county to withdraw the transit tax, but they don't have the votes to pull that off. So an independent petition drive is organized, which NC State law allows for this tax, and manage to get a measure on the 2007 ballot to repeal the transit tax.
  
• CATS also reports the line won't open until the end of 2007 or later. This along with the over budget items triggers a US Congressional review. End result is the FTA allows CATS to increase the budget to $454M, but all the extra money would have to come from the local sources. Also if they don't open the line by the end of 2007 CATS would have to repay the FTA their portion of the funding.
  
• During 2007 there is an intense media campaign for people to vote against repealing the transit tax. Most of the funding for this comes from Charlotte businesses. The repeal is defeated by an average of 70%.
  
• CATS opens the LRT the weekend after Thanksgiving 2007.
  

So in summary this turned out to be a decade long process which was full of controversy, price overruns and delays. When it was all said and done, and considering that some of the costs were carried by an earlier Trolley project, the LRT turned out to be a $500M project. (originally promised to be less than $200M) Likewise in Raleigh the train started as a $110M Commuter Rail project that ballooned to a $1,200M project by the early 2000s. It was eventually killed by the FTA in 2006 as being too expensive for the amount of ridership it generated. They still have not recovered from that rebuke. To be fair the Bush Administration and the still then controlled GOP congress changed the funding rules in 2006 to make it much more difficult to get approval. Raleigh got hit by the new rules and that project was killed. The Charlotte system was already under construction. It would not be approved under the new rules either.

The good news about Charlotte's LRT was that it was projected to have a daily ridership of 9,800/day the first year, and it is instead carrying between 16,000 and 18,000. Unfortunately the decision to shorten the platforms to 2 cars has come to bite them already as there can be long waits to get onto a train during special events.

If Nashville decides to go a similar route, I would say that it would be worthwhile to examine what happened in CLT and Raleigh to avoid making these same mistakes and to also learn how to pull it off as it is especially difficult given the number of political bodies involved.

[knoxster77]

That was an excellent post!

[jice]

^ Yes, thanks for the overview of what Charlotte went through.

Meanwhile... I heard about this the other day on the radio... Gray Line is going to start an express bus service from Gallatin/Hendersonville to 4 stops around downtown Nashville. Starting Sept 15. Contracted through RTA. This is a result of the routes cut by MTA.

Buses will feature restrooms and TV's. Gallatin-Nashville bus link

Interesting to see the private segment getting somewhat involved.

[nashvylle]

Good article in the City Paper's "City Voices" expressing the sentiment I feel. We need a funding system now for middle Tennessee, but first and foremost for Davidson County (Lightrial and streetcar).

[jice]

Good article in the City Paper's "City Voices" expressing the sentiment I feel. We need a funding system now for middle Tennessee, but first and foremost for Davidson County (Lightrial and streetcar).

Hear, hear

I agree... a great article

Now if we could just get the majority of residents in Middle TN to think like this... that's going to be the real challenge, i'm afraid.

[timmay143]

Another article about people riding their bicycles for their commute. If the recent gas "scare" and high prices isn't a wake up call for more transit options then we are in trouble. Hopefully, more bike lanes will be available throughout Nashville and the surrounding region.

Avid cyclists pass pump and smile

[timmay143]

I am not sure what this really means, the article is not very detailed.

State to improve intercity bus service

[nashvillwill]

^^^very interesting, but also very vague.

[jice]

A little more info from the NBJ..

State offers grants to improve public transportation

[nashvillwill]

I think their hopes are a little high. First off, I cant image that 3.6 mil can go very far. Second, is expanding bus service in rural areas really a priority. If it is truly "inter-city" and helps improve travel between say Nash-Memphis with a few rural stop in between then fine. If it is intended to create a circulator route in Bucksnort, i would consider it a waste of money.

[timmay143]

It will be interesting to see what comes about from this workshop.

Planners will study transportation needs in 3 counties

[Nashville_maestro]

I can't seem to find the article on the website but there is an article in todays Tennessean about how Brentwood's mayor is eager to cooperate with Dean in establishing a regional approach to a "much needed light rail system". They hinted that they wanted to run a leg of the future system from Nashville to Brentwood "on or above I65". I am very, very glad that they are taking a look at the bigger picture here and realize that the majority of people living here don't live or work downtown and confining the system to the downtown limits will alienate the majority of Nashville's population. Nashville's light rail should mimic the development of the area by keeping downtown Nashville as the hub but not limiting it to city limits. Keeping it close to the interstates as much as is possible would be good. The ultimate marketing comes when you're sitting in your car in bumper to bumper traffic and a train full of commuters speeds past you. Successful light rail systems also need to take into account that all of the stops can't be near just buisnesses but also must have stops within walking distance of residences. My experiences with MARTA when I lived in Atlanta showed that the most successful stops -that is the stops with the most traffic- were located in Atlanta's residental areas. People hate driving to take the train. I mean what's the point? Commuter rail serves that purpose. Chicago as well; people use the CTA because they can WALK to it.

From what I understand Charlotte's LYNX system is very successful so far although I can't attest firsthand. We should look to their system as a model example.

[timmay143]

^^^Here's the link to that article.

Dean, Williamson officials want more regional transit cooperation

[nashvillwill]

^^^some of the comments on that article are very....interesting. It's amazing how dark peoples blinders can be.

[timmay143]

Agreed...IMO Nashville wouldn't be the same without Franklin/Brentwood/Mufreesboro/Mt. Juliet/Lebanon/Hendersonville/ etc. and vice versa! People need to stop with the mine's bigger/better contest and realize the overall good for the whole. If we want mass transit to work we need multiple options (bus, BRT, LRT, commuter, etc.) for various needs and everyone to pitch in a little. That's what is wrong with the economy today, people's selfishness! Okay, off the soap box now. Hopefully, we have some decent regional leaders who can make this work.