BusLink

MTA continues to try innovative approaches to stretch Nashville's transit dollars. The BusLink service in Madison is a great example. BusLink is an on-demand shuttle that you can call for a pick-up and drop off at any of 36 marked stops in the Madison area. The service provides a transit option for an area that otherwise might not have the density required for more traditional bus services. It has been successful. It would seem to be a potential solution for lower density areas in the region and for special purpose runs where a larger bus is not appropriate. Call 862-LINK (5465) for more info.

-Cliff

Quality counts

Governing magazine has an excellent piece by Alex Marshall reminding us that transit is more than just commute times and route volumes... the experience matters.

One minute spent traveling one way is not the same as another. Yet we seldom acknowledge this. This squishy side of transportation has little place in serious policy discussions at city council tables and in legislative chambers. It isn’t easy to start talking about how transportation feels.

Instead, policy makers often present transportation as if it can be effectively summarized in miles traveled per hour, average commuting times, cost per passenger, or capacity figures. All of which is unfortunate, because how a transportation system feels determines how and whether it is used, as well as its long-term potential. It’s up to mayors, legislators and planning directors to find ways to talk about these softer sides without blushing.

http://www.governing.com/node/2926/

Public Hearing on Proposed Budget

Tomorrow evening, Tuesday June 2nd at 6:30 p.m., the Metro Council has scheduled a public hearing on Metro's operating budget for the new fiscal year. The budget includes funding for mass transit. If you believe mass transit is important to Nashville's future, please come out and voice your opinion or write your council person.

Town Hall Meeting on Transit

We are holding a town hall meeting on June 4th at the Civic Design Center from 5:30pm to 7:30pm to discuss our transportation future. Help us shape a new future for America’s transportation system, one that recognizes our need for safe, clean and smart transportation options.

Transportation for America is gathering input across the nation that will be used to influence transportation dollars being spent in our communities from both the economic stimulus bill
and the next federal transportation bill.

This Town Hall meeting is one of the few being held in the Southeast - Come join us, and let the President and Congress hear your voice and your vision for the future of transportation.

Click here for flyer

Riding the Bus In Nashville Video

CityTHINK

Please join us for the Nashville Civic Design Center's March CityTHINK, which will feature a presentation by Transit Now entitled “Infrastructure Investments for a Sustainable Downtown
Nashville - the Circulator.” The presentation is on Tuesday, March 10, 2009, from 11:30 am – 1:00 pm at the Music City Central community meeting room. The MCC is located on Charlotte Avenue between 4th and 5th Avenues.

$72 million for Tennessee

A preliminary analysis by Federal Funds Information for States estimates that Tennessee will receive $72 million in transit capital grants from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. $51 million of that amount is for urban projects while $21 million is for rural projects. Tennessee will receive an estimated $573 million for highway and bridge projects and an overall total of $4.2 billion in ARRA money. The estimates do not include the tax incentives received by individual Tennesseans.

The PBS program NOW recently had a segment called "Stimulus Roadblock?". The segment discussed mass transit's successes and roadblocks it faces in the United States. The majority of the segment was devoted to the successes and difficulties of the Charlotte LRT system. Like the NOW segment we posted earlier, it is worth taking the time to watch. I was glad to see that it stressed the importance of designing the cities along transit corridors so that they work together and the need to plan proactively for the certain future growth of our urban areas. Transit alone is not the answer, but it is a piece of the economic success of our region.

-Brian

Update: The Economic Incentive Package and Mass Transit

Just a quick note on the status of the Senate vs. the House versions of the package as it relates to mass transit. According to an analysis by the National Conference of State Legislatures (www.ncsl.org), the Senate version gives more money directly to Amtrak ($850 million vs. $800 million) but less in grants for intercity passenger rail ($250 million vs. $300 million). The Senate version has no money designated for Rail Modernization, while the House has $2 billion; however, the Senate version designates $2 billion for the High Speed Rail Corridor Program, so this may be just a terminology difference. Where the House breaks up its other grants between $6 billion in supplemental public transit grants, $2 billion in rail transit improvement grants, and $1 billion in New Starts grants, the Senate lumps them all together in $8.4 billion in supplemental grants for public transit. Assuming a final bill passes this week, I will post a quick snapshot of the final provisions and discuss what they might mean for Tennessee.

-Cliff

Transit and the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act

The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act was released last week. Many people have been speculating and waiting on the contents of the bill. The expectations were that it would contain a significant investment in our nation’s transportation infrastructure. Maybe my judgment is skewed by the large sums the government has been spending over the past few months, but the money allocated to mass transit seems quite small. It does not appear to be a major priority. The bill includes a total of $10.1 billion dollars for mass transit related projects across the country. Roads and bridge funding accounts for over $30 billion. It is not surprising that highway funding outpaces mass transit. The $10.1 billion for mass transit is broken down as follows:

New Construction: $1 billion for Capital Investment Grants for new commuter rail or other light rail systems to increase public use of mass transit and to speed projects already in construction.

Upgrades and Repair: $2 billion to modernize existing transit systems, including renovations to stations, security systems, computers, equipment, structures, signals, and communications.

Transit Capital Assistance: $6 billion to purchase buses and equipment needed to increase public transportation and improve intermodal and transit facilities.

Amtrak and Intercity Passenger Rail Construction Grants: $1.1 billion to improve the speed and capacity of intercity passenger rail service.

The Federal Transit Administration already has $2.4 billion in pre-approved projects and the American Public Transportation Association has identified 787 ready-to-go transit projects totaling $15.5 billion. The repair backlog for mass transit is estimated to be nearly $50 billion. Obviously, not all needs will be met and for the most part, we should not expect any newly proposed projects to be funded by this legislation. Especially with the short start times required by the bill. Priority will be given to projects that can award bids in 120 days. However, Nashville and the region may see some small upgrades to the existing mass transit system. We will have to wait and see what they are. For more information see the links below.

Links
Summary of American Recovery and Reinvestment Act
Committee on Appropriations Website (Details of Bill)
Transportation for America Analysis of Legislation

-Brian

Driven to Despair Video Worth Watching

The PBS program NOW recently had a segment called "Driven to Despair" that profiled the connection between the housing crisis and gas prices. It is not often the discussion on these issues focuses on how we plan our cities. It was a welcome change and well worth watching.

-Brian

Setting Ideas in Motion

During the Leadership Middle Tennessee transportation forum last Thursday (link to article), two recurring themes emerged: the region lacks a unified vision and we need a dedicated funding source. The Nashville MPO Director addressed both issues with the following solutions. (link to pdf of presentation)

The vision is underway as the MPO works to gain public input in The Transportation Plan for the Greater Nashville Region, which is due Fall of 2009. The dedicated funding source can be created by seeking legislative approval to ask voters for regional funding. See the timeline provide by Nashville MPO: (link to image)

We ask Transit Now readers to participate in the Transportation Plan and encourage your legislators to draft enabling legislation. Go to the MPO website to take their survey, let your elected officials know what you think, and find out how you can get involved at the MPO's public participation site.

-Mary

Support the Music City Star - Take a ride on the train!

If you are reading this blog, chances are that you want mass transit in Nashville - but are you are riding existing transit?

Recently, several Transit Now supporters rode the Music City Star together. Sure, it is not the most convenient system - given the schedule and that most stations are surrounded by asphalt instead of places to live and things to do - but it is the first step in the commuter rail vision.
Our challenge to you is to ride the Music City Star and experience first hand this important step toward a multi-modal system in Nashville.

-Mary

What is the key to improving commuting in the mid-state?

If you ask anyone who drove to work today, “How was your trip this morning?” their answer will likely focus on how long the trip took, the amount of traffic, or maybe an accident on the interstate. If you ask someone who rode the bus, their answer might be about the conversation with other riders, whether the bus was on-time, or the article they read in the paper. If you ask someone who bicycled or walked to work, their focus might be on the weather or the happenings on the street. Each person above is a user of our transportation network with different needs, capabilities, and experiences. There are several ways we can improve commuting and transportation in our region, but the key thing we must improve is our mindset about what “transportation” means.

For the last 60 years our nation has primarily been solving our need for transportation with a single solution – the automobile. While the car is undeniably one of the greatest successes of our society, our over-indulgence on this single solution is making us fat (literally). Too much of a good thing can become a bad thing, and our children will be faced with the unintended consequences of a car-centric diet. By focusing on the car we have lost sight of what makes a community a community, people.

Transportation is about moving people. So what is the best way to move people? -- With cars, buses, bicycles, trains and feet. No single type of transportation is the solution for everyone. Our transportation system needs to be balanced, both in funding and in the type of options provided. Think moderation. To solve our transportation woes Nashvillians need to broaden our transportation horizons. We need to work with developers and city planners to create communities that embrace all types of transportation. We need to get serious about regional funding for transit, as well as greenways and sidewalks, and we need to look at innovative ways to maximize our current transportation assets (roads, buses, sidewalks, trains and greenways).
As a nation and here in the mid-state, we have the knowledge, capability, and technology to solve our transportation troubles. It appears that what we are lacking is the vision to distinguish the symptoms from the disease. The worsening congestion on our roadways is not the problem, it is the symptom. The disease results from years of neglect in providing a balanced transportation system and our dogged focus on an auto-centric solution. While it can be reassuring to hope for quick fixes and instant solutions to our commuting quandary, the answer is very simple, it’s just hard -- provide funding, resources, and planning toward a balanced transportation network for cars, transit, bicyclists, and walkers. It’s not unlike what your doctor might tell you…you can take a pill to lose weight or you can change your behavior, one of them is expensive, has side effects and won’t really solve the problem; the other is free, up to you, and difficult. You decide what’s best for your kids.

-jimbuktu

Video Opened My Eyes to BRT

I never fully understood the fascination with bus rapid transit (BRT). After watching this Streetfilms video reporting on Bogotá's amazing BRT network, I now have a greater appreciation for it. It seems like it can be an effective form of mass transit when it is comprehensively implemented with permanent supporting infrastructure (i.e. transit stations, dedicated lanes) as in Bogotá. Its permanence can encourage investment around the stations offering opportunities for transit oriented development (TOD). You can find the video here. Worth watching.

-Brian