Metro recommends $6 billion transit plan for Nashville region

The report is in and the verdict is big.

Connect Nashville and Clarksville with commuter rail. Build light rail on four busy Nashville corridors. Install bus rapid transit on three other major roadways.

There also are recommendations for “freeway BRT” and bus-on-shoulder service on Middle Tennessee interstates, a transit network serving the airport, new regional transit hubs and improvements to the city’s existing buses for more frequent, efficient and easier service.

A proposed regional transit plan for Nashville is finally on the table, and — as expected — it includes the full spectrum of options, bringing with it a $5.97 billion price tag over the next 25 years.

Mayor Barry: How to pay for transit is the challenge

Metro transit officials and consultants released the long-awaited transit plan, called nMotion, at a joint meeting of the Metro Transit Authority and Regional Transit Authority on Wednesday that followed a community input process that began a year and a half ago.

The boards of both entities voted to kick off a 30-day final round of public input before they consider the adoption of the plan next month.

“This is a big, bold plan, and that’s the kind of thinking we’re going to need to help people move around our city and our region,” Nashville Mayor Megan Barry said. “We know baby steps aren’t going to get the job done. I’ll be studying these recommendations carefully as we look at how we want to proceed and what the next steps are.”

‘Big and bold’ Nashville transit plans are not enough

MTA and RTA in January asked Nashvillians to weigh in on three scenarios on the future of mass transit in Nashville to combat Middle Tennessee’s rising traffic congestion as the region prepares to grow by 1 million people over the next 25 years.

Related:Read the full nMotion report

Map: See how the nMotion plan connects the region

At the core of the nMotion exercise in recent months was a question of scale: Go large or go small?

MTA's answer — billed as simply a framework — is to think big and regionally in the long run, but to also lay the groundwork for that move with more easily attainable steps over the short term, such as better bus service, extended service hours and improved pedestrian connections.

Nashville chamber backs robust, costly regional transit plan

MTA CEO Steve Bland, the top transit official in Barry's administration, said Nashville drives more and uses transit less than peer cities.

"I think it defies logic to think we can keep going the direction we're going with 1 million more people (expected to arrive) and not change," he said.

Although the 32-page nMotion report stresses that the plan is not meant to be an accurate projection of costs, the plan suggests operating expenses to both MTA and RTA would increase from $83.2 million annually to $338.4 million a year under a robust regional plan. That’s on top of the nearly $6 billion in capital costs.

“Frankly, it’s what people overwhelmingly asked for,” Bland told The Tennessean. “I think a general consensus of the opinion was that if you’re going to spend resources on this, spend enough to make it effective.”

The nMotion process, led by transit agencies, launched after former Mayor Karl Dean retreated on plans to build a controversial bus rapid transit project called the Amp on Broadway and West End Avenue nearly two years ago.

Leaders of nMotion say that after 15 months of community input, they generated 18,860 “engagements” with Middle Tennessee residents. That covers 15,569 survey responses and 3,291 public comments.

There was a clear “consistency” that Nashville residents favor a comprehensive regional transit system, according to the report. Among groups that support that vision is the Nashville Area Chamber of Commerce, which in a new report called Moving Forward has said the boldest of the three scenarios should be the “starting point” for transit investments.

According to the new nMotion report, the general consensus is that Nashville is behind other cities in developing transit options, has waited too long to address traffic issues and residents don’t want to “become the next Atlanta.” The Georgia capital is often cited as a place that allowed traffic and congestion to fester amid its seismic growth.

Bland said Nashville is at “its moment” to take action now on transit and can still avoid the Atlanta path.

“One of the things that I’ve heard over and over again is that it’s not going to get any cheaper,” Bland said. “Six billion dollars is not going to become $4 billion if we wait five years. Every year we wait, the conditions get more challenging.”

Action by the board next month to adopt a plan would only formalize a road map, not begin work on the plan’s transit suggestions. The latter would need funding.

On Wednesday, Barry said her administration plans to identify possible funding mechanisms by the end of this year. And though she said work on a transit system would extend well beyond her time as mayor, she said the time for action is now.

"At some point, you actually have to stop studying things and actually put a shovel in the ground," Barry said.

Transit network

Build high-capacity/rapid transit network: Over the next 25 years, the Nashville region should develop a large number of new high-capacity and rapid transit services, including bus rapid transit, freeway BRT, express bus-on-shoulder service, regional rapid bus, and “regular” express bus services, commuter rail and light rail.

• Commuter rail: Build commuter rail on existing rail lines that lack CSX presence. This includes upgrades to seven-day-a-week service on the Music City Star line that currently goes from Wilson County to Nashville and a new proposed Northwest Corridor line that would connect Clarksville and Nashville. RTA is nearing completion of a transit study on the Northwest Corridor. Though some have expressed interest in commuter rail from Murfreesboro to Nashville, CSX freight lines — which are heavily trafficked in Middle Tennessee — limit options for commuter rail in most parts of the region.
• Light rail: Build light rail — electric urban rail that runs on exclusive rights of way — on Nashville corridors where transit demand is expected to be the highest and where there is greatest potential to spur development: Gallatin Pike, Murfreesboro Pike toward the Nashville International Airport, Nolensville Pike and Charlotte Avenue.
• Bus rapid transit: Build bus rapid transit — which operates without track but in dedicated lanes on roads — on Dickerson Pike, 21st Avenue/Hillsboro Pike and Broadway/West End. The plan calls for “full BRT” on Dickerson Pike with dedicated lanes along most or all of the alignment and “arterial BRT” with more limited facilities and infrastructure and longer sections without bus lanes on the West End and Hillsboro Road corridors.
• Rapid bus service: Add rapid bus service — BRT service without dedicated bus lanes — on these regional corridors: from Gallatin to the outer end of Gallatin Pike; from Nolensville to the outer end of Nolensville Pike; and from Smyrna, La Vergne and Murfreesboro to downtown Nashville via Murfreesboro Pike and Interstate 24.
• Freeway BRT: Freeway BRT refers to service on interstates that operate within dedicated or managed lanes in freeway rights of ways, with stations directly linked to freeways. The nMotion report identifies 11 routes on three corridors in the region. That includes routes from Murfreesboro and Smyrna on Interstate 24; Columbia, Franklin, Spring Hill and Cool Springs on Interstate 65; and White House, Gallatin and Springfield along Ellington Parkway.
• Bus-on-shoulder service: This is a service that allows buses to use freeway shoulders when general traffic lanes are congested. The report outlines bus-on-shoulder service on six total routes covering Interstate 24 West, Interstate 65 North, Interstate 40 East and Interstate 40 West.
• New airport service: A new transit network to improve service between the Nashville International Airport and downtown. The nMotion report outlines light rail between the airport and downtown along Murfreesboro Pike; express bus service between the airport and West End; rapid bus service between Murfeesboro Pike and downtown via Elm Hill Pike; and local bus service between the airport at the Opryland area.
• Projected benefits of regional system: 430 percent increase in daily transit ridership in region; 70 percent increase in number of Davidson County residents within a half-mile of transit service; 165 percent increase in number of residents from outlying Middle Tennessee counties within a half-mile of local service or five miles from a commuter lot. 

Other nMotion recommendations:

Make service easier to use

• Simplify existing bus routes after performing a comprehensive evaluation of each individual bus route.
• Develop MTA and RTA into a single seamless system with new branding, consolidated passenger information and a similar unified fare system.
• Highlight bus information in clearer ways, including a single website for regional transit information, real-time information on website, smartphone apps and at stations.
• Create a simpler fare payment system and utilize smarter technology. That includes a “one-stop” shopping platform for a variety of transportation options.

Improve existing services

• Establish a more frequent transit network that includes earlier and later service for Metro buses as well as more regional routes.
• Better AccessRide service to improve services for the disabled, including real-time information, and eliminate need to reserve in advance.
• Faster service in — and through — downtown Nashville. Recommendations include a new second transit center south of Music City Center to complement Music City Central.
• Much simpler circulation patterns and more frequent service on identified transit corridors to provide shuttle-like service downtown.
• New crosstown and through-city routes developed on several stretches across Nashville.

Improve access to transit 

• Greater improved pedestrian access and better bicycle connections to and from transit options.
• Conveniently located park-and-ride lots. 
• Private/community shuttles that could be operated by private employers, cities or towns, or transportation management associations. These would be located where traffic volumes are too low for traditional transit service.

Make services more comfortable 

• Improved stations and bus stops, including a new initiative to improve amenities at all stations and stops. MTA and RTA would develop "an hierarchy of stops" to help define the types of facilities and amenities that are needed.
• More comfortable vehicles, particularly on BRT rapid bus routes, commuter rail and light rail, and  inclusion of Wi-Fi for long-distance transit services.

Develop a network of regional transit centers 

• New transit centers throughout the region to facilitate non-downtown Nashville travel. Centers would act as “mobility hubs” that provide connections between local and regional services. 
• Each center would include strong pedestrian connections, parking, bike-share and bicycle parking, space for drop-offs for companies such as Lyft and Uber, and real-time passenger information.

Expand service to new areas 

• New transit services into “gap” areas such as Springfield, Goodlettsville, Hendersonville and Gallatin, Lebanon, Smyrna and La Vergne, Spring Hill and Dickson that currently lack transit.

Timeline

Lay the groundwork in the next five years with improvements to existing transit service, create an improved regional network over the next 15 years and have a fully integrated, robust regional transit system by 25 years. 

Reach Joey Garrison at 615-259-8236 and on Twitter @joeygarrison.