Downtown Circulator Charrette

One of the highlights of Transit Week was the Urban Design Forum hosted by Transit Now and the Nashville Civic Design Center to discuss the design of a downtown circulator. We were very pleased with the turnout, particularly the number of design professionals. We started the evening with a brief overview of previous studies, best practices, and peer cities, and then went into a three stage mapping exercise. The crowd was broken into three teams. During stage 1, each team identified the assets they thought should be served by a downtown circulator. During stage 2, they each designed a "money is no object" ideal route. During stage 3, they had to prioritize their routes' service features using a "taping" exercise developed by Transit Now. The tape exercise represented a simplified cost comparison based upon the relative operational costs as determined by vehicle frequency, hours served, and other factors. We used colored tape to represent four options:

White tape = basic service with 10 minute headways, M-F business day hours
Yellow tape = increased frequency with 5 minute headways
Red tape = increased hours with evening and weekend service
Blue tape = increased frequency and increased hours

Each table was given approximately “5.5 miles” of white tape. The map scale was 1 inch equals 400 feet, so they each got 72 inches of white tape (72” equaled 28,800 feet, or 5.45 miles). They could use all of this tape toward covering the ideal route they had already identified in the previous stage, or use some or all of it to buy enhanced miles. For simplicity’s sake, the tape was dispensed in standard lengths (white in 12” strips, yellow and red in 8” strips, and blue in 6” strips). The teams could trade one for one a longer white piece of tape for a shorter piece of tape of another color. So, for example, they could choose to make their entire route with increased frequency and enhanced hours and receive 36” of blue tape. They could choose to use a mix of tape colors, as long as the total didn't exceed an amount equal to 72” of white tape. For comparison, Chattanooga operates a 1.5 mile route with extended hours and 5 minute headways. The cost for their system in this exercise would be 20 inches of blue tape, equal to 40 inches (3 miles) of white tape.

Over the next couple of days, I will post pictures of each of the teams' maps and discuss their proposals. Over the next few weeks, the Transit Now crew will use the charrette material to develop a more in-depth document to submit to MTA. We also plan to make Google maps version of the routes for further input and collaboration.

-Cliff