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

Raleigh (Part 1)

Raleigh? Really? Raleigh? Nothing against Raleigh, but lots of folks have questioned my characterization of that fair city as a transportation peer for Nashville. As we all know, Raleigh is a bit smaller than Nashville. Remember, though, that I am actually comparing the Raleigh-Durham-Cary Combined Statistical Area (CSA)—commonly referred to as “The Triangle”—to the Nashville -Davidson--Murfreesboro--Columbia CSA. As shown in my first post on peers, the Raleigh CSA is a bit larger in size and population than Nashville, especially when one looks at just the data for the counties that are at least partially in a 25 mile radius of the center of the core county. Of note, the density for the population within this 25 mile radius is very similar.

I’m going to talk just a little about what transportation options look like currently in the Triangle, but I am mainly going to discuss the admirable planning efforts of their local metropolitan planning organizations (MPO) and their business community. The Triangle is served by Triangle Transit (formerly the Triangle Transit Authority). Triangle Transit (www.triangletransit.org) provides transportation and transportation planning services for the region, to include bus and vanpool routes. Triangle Transit also provides park and ride lots and an express airport route. The scope of service appears to be very similar to MTA’s service in Nashville. Triangle Transit’s operations are funded through a $5 vehicle registration fee while its capital projects are funded through a 5% gross receipts tax on vehicle rentals. The Triangle is also served by various local transit agencies, to include the Durham Area Transit Authority.

It is the region focused planning efforts of the Triangle’s MPOs and its business communities that can serve as a model for Nashville and other regions to emulate. The Triangle is served by two MPOs, the Durham-Chapel Hill-Carrboro Metropolitan Planning Organization (DCHC MPO) and the Capital Area Metropolitan Planning Organization (CAMPO). Recognizing that they serve separate areas of what is really one big region, the two MPOs jointly formed the Special Transit Advisory Commission (STAC) to recommend a plan for major transit investments in the Triangle area. The STAC met several times during 2007 and 2008 before releasing their final recommendations in the May 2008 report, Regional Transit Vision Plan: Recommendations for North Carolina's Research Triangle Region (http://www.transitblueprint.org/stac.shtml). STAC recommended extensive improvements, to include an enhanced region-wide bus network, circulators, and rail enhancements. I will detail their recommendations in part 2 of this post. The report also includes an extensive section on how the Triangle’s current auto dependency negatively impacts the region’s economy, community, environment, and mobility. STAC noted that their present sources of funding are inadequate to pay for these improvements and that federal funding is uncertain. They recommended a half cent sales tax increase and a $10 vehicle registration fee increase to fund the improvements. STAC forwarded its recommendations to both the DCHC MPO and the CAMPO for consideration during the preparation of their long range transportation plans.

The government’s efforts have been augmented by the efforts of the Triangle’s business community. Leaders from more than 100 of the Triangle’s top companies joined together to form the Regional Transportation Alliance to work to solve critical mobility issues that they saw affecting the Triangle’s economic vitality and quality of life. The Alliance draws on the strength and leadership of the business community to identify and accelerate transportation solutions and policies that will relieve traffic congestion and enhance mobility in the Triangle. Twenty-three chambers of commerce in ten counties anchor the efforts of the Alliance.

I have been encouraged by recent efforts by Mayor Dean, the MPO, Leadership Middle Tennessee, Cumberland Region Tomorrow, and others to build similar momentum here in Nashville. Perhaps the Triangle’s efforts can serve as one more example of public and private sectors working in concert build and support a transportation vision.

-Cliff