Mayoral candidates look ahead at potential transit plans for Nashville

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — Since the failure of the Amp project and a referendum on transit, Nashville has struggled to piece together a rapid-area transit plan.

Right now, Nashville's only mass transit is the WeGo buses and the WeGo Star.

We asked Nashville's slate of candidates if they think they could nudge the issue forward.

NewsChannel 5 sent every person running for mayor a questionnaire with the same questions. We have not edited these answers from the candidates, meaning these responses are straight from them.

A Nashville mayor hasn’t discussed rapid-area transit in earnest since Mayor Barry’s plan was rejected by voters. What are your thoughts on what the city needs for public transit?

Natisha Brooks

After visiting with NDOT representatives, agree that Rapid Bus transportation from Murfreesboro to Downtown and Downtown to the airport is a great start for Davidson County. We go “up” and do monorail system around the county starting with the airport location and transit it around Old Hickory Blvd - the County and monorail around Briley which circles the city. How to pay for it: First A Vote with the citizens and Second - take one penny from the three cent hospitality tax. NO fees/camera reading on licenses regarding Choice Lanes.

Fran Bush

Ultimately, the development of public transit in Nashville requires a comprehensive and long-term approach that considers the needs and aspirations of the community. It should address the city's unique characteristics and strive to provide a reliable, efficient, and accessible transportation system that meets the needs of residents, reduces congestion, and contributes to the city's sustainability goals.

Heidi Campbell

The time for stop-gap and small-scale solutions to this city’s traffic nightmare has long since passed. We need a major solution–now. Commutes that took 15 minutes an hour ago can now stretch on for over an hour, and as our population grows and our infrastructure ages, this problem will only worsen. A few years ago, TDOT studied relocating Radnor Yards to Wilson County, but no action was taken on the proposal. Relocating the facility would have incredible benefits, the largest of which would be that existing rail lines would be opened up for passenger service.

Additionally, the move would allow for Radnor Yard’s expansion, reducing freight bottlenecks, increasing economic productivity, and bringing new jobs to the Midstate. The best part, however, is that the entire plan would cost just 1/6th of the plan proposed in 2018. Relocating Radnor Yards is a feasible, sensible solution that would also catalyze the development of other multi-modal transit options across Davidson County.

Bernie Cox

There has been amazing growth and development in our existing and newer neighborhoods that has created traffic congestion within our city and suburbs. Many have proposed ideas that could not even become reality within decades. We need to manage growth, and with that, traffic into and out of the city. That is something that nearly every candidate approaches in their platform, and rightly so.

However, my position is that we must manage that growth within our budgetary constraints, which means, we cannot and should not, invest billions of borrowed money now to make a pipe dream of transportation solutions. We can do more with less, if we’re smart about incremental improvements. It’s time for our elected arm-chair-warriors to remove party affiliation from dialogue and create the best solution for Nashville.

Jim Gingrich

Years of unrestrained growth with no plan to manage it have put us where we are. We have had multiple transit studies. Yet, today our congestion is worse than ever, because those studies have gathered dust rather than created action. 

I will focus on three things:

First, last year, we had 49 pedestrian deaths. That is unacceptable. We must fix dangerous intersections, accelerate traffic calming, and invest in sidewalks.

Second, let’s get the basics right. Keep our roads in good repair, get our traffic lights synced, increase the frequency of buses and invest in rapid bus service on high volume routes.

Third, let’s recognize that 90% of our population growth as a region in the past five years has been in the surrounding counties. We need a regional solution, an effort I will lead.

Sharon Hurt

I believe that if you do nothing, you get nothing. The 2018 plan was not perfect but it was better than what we currently have, which is nothing. We need public transit in Nashville because this is an equity issue preventing our residents from picking up groceries and going to doctor’s appointments. I support a comprehensive multimodal transportation plan including light rail, bus-only lanes and expanding commuter rail.

However, I think we need to work on our public transit infrastructure one bite at a time rather than through a sweeping referendum. I want to start by building a bus-only lane on Murfreesboro Pike and other piecemeal projects. When people begin to see the progress in our public transit, and actually start using it and seeing how it benefits their life, I believe they will become less skeptical of it and we can fund more ambitious projects.

Freddie O'Connell

There is no other candidate in the race as committed to or capable of building the transit system Nashville urgently needs. As a former chair of our transit board and regular rider, I know how important transit is for cost of living and quality of life. We don’t have to wait; we just have to put into action the 3-year WeGo Public Transit work plan already written, which can be done without raising taxes.

That plan will create crosstown connectivity and bring traffic out of the downtown core to help everyone get where they need to go faster, and it will bring transit closer to communities, extend hours and frequencies, and introduce more technology.

We will also intentionally work on increasing participation in the WeGo Ride program, an employer-sponsored commuter program, especially among businesses receiving incentives. Work I led on Council means that our historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs) will be able to participate like their peers to allow faculty, staff, and students to ride without fares.

And 5 years after the failure of a transit referendum, we’ll resume the effort to secure dedicated funding, joining the ranks of every other major American city. Right now, the airport and convention center are literally waiting on the city to create the single light rail line that makes the most sense—the one linking the airport to the heart of the city.

Transit is the biggest missing ingredient to Nashville’s long-term success, and I’m ready on day one to fix that.

Alice Rolli

For all the discussion of what the state is taking away from Metro, we were given the ability to levy dedicated transit funding and we failed spectacularly in 2018 when we took a go-it-alone approach. Davidson County voters — and just as importantly voters from the surrounding counties — are absolutely ready to engage in a thoughtfully planned process which should culminate in a ballot referendum either in November 2024 or 2026. As Mayor Alice Rolli will absolutely support running a process that listens to residents and is transparent, clear, and regionally aligned. Without dedicated funding we are not able to draw on federal and state dollars and we are putting our taxpayers at a disadvantage relative to other cities that are able to leverage those funds.

Near term, incremental improvements can be made with expanded schedule for the STAR commuter train and identifying expansion for satellite park-n-ride and neighborhood bus centers that can serve to reduce car trips into downtown. Where feasible, using technology (such as Adaptive Signal Control Technology) to improve traffic synchronization and flow can also alleviate some congestion. We are in for a painful decade ahead as we work to catch our infrastructure up to our expanded population.

Vivian Wilhoite

We must have a regional transit plan that works with our neighboring counties and cities, the state government, and the federal government to address a long-term transit strategy. We will work on this long-range plan as regional approach.  Nashville and Davidson County taxpayers should not bear the cost alone.  While we are planning for a comprehensive long-term regional transit plan, we must do what we can to address transit here in our city with areas that are low-hanging fruit. This means we need more buses and that our buses need to go to more parts of Nashville. We need to invest in carbon-neutral technology, and we need to explore options of rerouting commercial traffic around our city to free up the interstates.

Matt Wiltshire

Anyone who has traveled around Nashville knows this system is completely broken. Every hour a mom or a dad spends sitting behind the wheel coming home from work is an hour they’re not spending at home with their kids or doing something they enjoy. We’ve got to do better.

I have a plan that I will put into motion in my first week in office and I want folks to hold me accountable to that. I believe our first investment into mass transit needs to be gold-standard rapid transit between the airport and downtown along Murfreesboro Pike. This will accomplish a few things. First, it will pull cars off the interstate. Second, by building affordable housing at transit stops, we can create the opportunity for folks who work downtown or at the airport to go to work without having to pay $40 or $50 a day to park. This project also will help Nashville build a culture of mass transit that will lead to more investments in the future. Here’s the best part — the federal government and the Airport Authority likely will pay for a large portion of the cost of this project.

We also need to get back to the basics on a few things. We need to invest in our infrastructure and fill the potholes. And we need to increase the frequency of some routes to make the bus system and invest in the physical infrastructure, such as sheltered bus stops, to make transit a more viable option for more families.

Jeff Yarbro

As our city continues to grow, we need to find transit solutions that reflect the changes in Nashville and keep up with the pace of our growth. As Mayor, I will be committed to supporting public transit efforts such as expanding bus routes, bolstering our bike lanes, and taking initiatives to protect pedestrians so that all Nashvillians can feel safe and have options with their transit choices.