On July 16, Nashville’s Metro Council approved a ballot initiative for the November 5 general election regarding dedicated funding to improve transit programs within the county. In the coming weeks, the Davidson County Election Committee must also approve the ballot initiative.
The affirmative vote is the next step toward dedicated funding for Nashville’s Choose How You Move transit plan. The campaign supporting it, Nashville Moves, is led by Mayor O’Connell advisors Jeff Morris and Scott Dietz. The group hopes to raise between $3.5 million to $5 million to support the referendum.
The process began in February when Mayor O’Connell and his staff launched a series of public and community meetings related to transit. Feedback from those meetings, combined with over a decade of community engagement and numerous completed plans and studies, including Vision Zero, Plan to Play, Nashville Next, Connect Downtown, and more, allowed the Mayor to refine and officially propose a transportation improvement program for Nashville, Choose How You Move, at an April event at the Southeast Nashville Community Center.
The proposed transit program is intended to benefit the entire county, with a focus on Signals, Sidewalks, Safety, and Service. Improvements include improved and expanded bus service with 285 stop upgrades and 12 new transit centers, updating 600 traffic signals to SMART Signals, and approximately 86 miles of sidewalk additions and upgrades throughout Davidson County. You can learn all about the proposed improvements at www.nashville.gov/transit.
The transit plan will cost more than $6.9 billion over the next 15 years. If approved, it will be funded by a half-cent sales tax increase. This will cost most average spenders around $70 per year, or an extra 50-cents for every $100 spent.
“Finally, obtaining dedicated local funding for transit elevates Nashville’s competitiveness for federal grants. The federal program that supports these types of infrastructure investments, the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA), is already halfway through its five-year historical authorization. So, timing is critical,” said Transit Alliance Executive Director Jessica Dauphin.
The Nashville Moves campaign is still in a growth phase as it preps for election day, engaging community groups and planning for a ramp-up of digital, TV, and other ads and mailings. Early voting begins October 16.
Mayor O’Connell has also engaged his technical advisory committee for the plan, of which Dauphin is a member. The Transit Alliance also leads the Nashville Transit Coalition, a diverse group of businesses and nonprofits from the Middle Tennessee region that support transit and mobility improvement in our communities.
Advisors on the Nashville Moves committee include Studio Bank co-founder Harry Allen, attorney Charles Robert Bone, attorney Sara Finley, state Rep. Bob Freeman, HNTB’s Robbie Hayes, entrepreneur Dan Hogan, Shugga Hi Bakery & Cafe co-owner Kathy Leslie, CNM CEO Wanda Lyle, and local nonprofit leader Renata Soto.
Learn more in this recent article from the Nashville Business Journal and these two from the Nashville Banner.
