NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — In the last month, violent deaths at a WeGo bus stop and the main terminal in downtown Nashville have prompted questions to the mayor's office about safety measures given the passage of the new transit plan.
A Metro Nashville Public Schools student was shot and killed by another teen a week ago at the bus station at around 4 p.m. In mid-November, a suspect was arrested after attacking and stabbing a woman in the face at 5:15 a.m. She later died from injuries. The two were sitting on a bus bench on Harding Place at Antioch Pike. Police said surveillance video showed they both rose as the bus began to approach and that the suspect attacked the woman unprovoked.
On Tuesday, Mayor Freddie O'Connell addressed the safety of bus stop services given the Choose How You Move plan passed on election day.
"These were very troubling incidents from a public safety perspective," O'Connell said. "And I think where we are is we have a comprehensive report looking at the entire system that was underway as we were working on Choose How You Move. But one of the four key pillars of Choose How You Move is safety for this very reason."
A few days after the shooting, an extra police presence was noticeably visible, but that was tapered back after a couple of days.
The Choose How You Move plan would improve bus service, add more sidewalks and create smarter traffic lights among other elements. But it comes at a cost. The mayor's plan called for a half-cent hike in the sales tax. The sales tax increase is expected to cost families an extra $70 a year.
As detailed, the plan calls for $3.1 billion and promises 86 miles of new sidewalks in the first 15 years, along with a dozen new transit centers, new crosstown bus routes, 24-hour bus service, and nearly 600 traffic lights upgraded to a connected smart network.
"We have talked to both Steve Bland, the CEO of WeGo, and Chief Drake at MNPD about how we would dedicate some of the funding to personnel and technology," O'Connell said. "Our hope is having this report — ideally before the end of the year — is gonna help us make rapid progress on the safety of not just facilities like WeGo Central, but the network as a whole. We are expecting a significant step forward in safety system-wide."
At the time of the shooting, a Metro Nashville Police Department spokesperson said the WeGo bus terminal has bus security and police regularly patrolling the area. Bus riders told NewsChannel 5 that they have seen violence surrounding WeGo and some MNPS parents shared they had been hesitant after this month to allow their students to use the public transit system. Around 4,000 with MNPS use the public bus system.
The Choose How You Move plan is just getting started. The city is looking to hire a transit czar, and O'Connell said Tuesday they will look to the original technical and community advisory committee before making a new one.
"I think we want this to be something that's got a balanced focus on implementation details, including everything from design and safety elements, but also making sure we are doing community engagement along all the corridors where we expect the most significant changes to take place. But we don't have a complete list of who we expect to be participating in that yet," O'Connell said.
Do you have more information about this story? You can email me at emily.west@newschannel5.com.
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