Tag: Let’s Move Nashville

Andy Martin Analysis: Why They Lost the May 1st Nashville Transit Plan Referendum

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by Andy Martin   The May 1st County Primary vote on the $8.9 billion transit tax referendum is one for the record books. 123,963 votes: 44,636 FOR and 79,327 AGAINST. For reference, the last County Primary May 6, 2014 had 38,804 total votes. What happened? In a rush to scoop the story every major Nashville news organization has opined on the results with little reflection. Here are the real reasons why the referendum failed in a landslide. We already have transit This will come as a shock to out of state meddlers like StreetsBlog USA, CityLab, and the National League of Cities, but Nashville has transit. Likewise, based on the convulsions from the mayor (Nashville “will fail” if the referendum does not pass), metro council, and local media, you would think even locals don’t know this. The Nashville Metro Transit Authority budget is $80 million. We have buses, shuttles (AccessRide and airport shuttles), private/public partnerships, ride sharing, car and van pooling, BRT lite (non-dedicated lanes), the Music City Star, and bike paths. According to MTA there are roughly 10 million riders (or rides) per year. One wonders what MTA CEO Steve Bland thinks when Nashville leaders say we “do nothing.”…

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Weak and Wounded, Acting Mayor David Briley Big Loser in Nashville Transit Plan Blowout

Tennessee Star Staff

Acting Mayor of Nashville David Briley’s aura of inevitability came to a sudden and devastating end Tuesday night when voters soundly rejected the $9 billion transit plan he championed to the bitter end by a 64 percent to 36 percent margin. The man who less than two months ago had been praised by the Nashville Business Council as the only possible person who could provide “continuity” to the city after the resignation of disgraced former Mayor Barry on March 6, found himself reduced to blaming the deplorable voters of Nashville for their lack of wisdom in rejecting the boondoggle his predecessor introduced and he embraced whole heartedly. “We all can agree that we have to do something about traffic and transportation, but voters didn’t get behind this plan,” Briley said after it became clear that his cherished plan of “continuity” was going down in flames, adding:    My responsibility as Mayor is to get back to the drawing board and find the common ground to develop consensus on a new way forward. Our transportation problems are not going away; in fact, we know they’re only going to get more challenging as we continue to grow. I’ll get back to work…

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Nashville Transit Plan: On Track or Off Track?

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Gill Transit plan

by Steve Gill   As Nashville voters head to the polls on Tuesday to determine the fate of the $9 billion/$5.4 billion Transit Tax there are few public polls that give insight into what voters are thinking. One of the only public polls was one conducted by The Tennessee Star a few weeks ago that showed Nashville likely voters overwhelmingly opposed to the interim Mayor David Briley-supported plan.  (Briley himself faces voters in a May 24 election that will decide whether or not he keeps his temporary job.) While there have been rumors that other polls have been conducted, none have been released publicly. Presumably, if the pro-transit forces had a poll showing an imminent win they would have primed the pump with that information to energize their voters. They haven’t. Another indication of what may be coming with tomorrow’s election results is the bleed of support among Metro Council Members and mayoral candidates. Few, if any, notable public leaders in Nashville have moved TOWARD the plan in recent weeks. Plenty have moved AWAY. Meanwhile, the increasingly hysterical pro-transit reporting by The Tennessean has moved from encouraging taxpayers to embrace the plan to demonizing any and every individual or group…

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‘Iron Lady’ Mae Beavers Blasts $9 Billion Transit Plan as a ‘Typical Tax and Spend Liberal Scheme’

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Mae Beavers

As early voting is underway, former State Senator and current candidate for Wilson County Mayor Mae Beavers is urging voters in nearby Davidson County to reject the controversial proposal. “The transit plan proposed by Mayor Megan Barry, before scandal forced her to resign, is a typical tax and spend liberal scheme that taxpayers can’t afford and which won’t fix the problems of traffic congestion and needed road repairs,” Beavers said in a statement, adding: This is the same sort of wasteful spending that produces dollars for insiders and brings no benefit to taxpayers that I have spend a career in public service opposing. I hope Wilson County voters will speak up in opposition to this tax increase and call their friends in Nashville to encourage them to vote “NO.” Beavers notes the Nashville Chamber of Commerce estimates that about half (47 percent) of the tax increase will be paid by residents of surrounding counties, which means Wilson County citizens will be paying a heavy price for a plan that won’t work with a tax increase that isn’t needed. “As Wilson County Mayor I will be focused on keeping taxes low and controlling spending in our county, but what happens around us…

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Metro Council Member Robert Swope Unveils Alternative to $9 Billion Barry-Briley Light Rail Plan with ‘Intelligent Transit Plan For The It City Nashville’

Laura Baigert
Robert Swope unveils transit alt

NASHVILLE, Tennessee – Metro Council member Robert Swope unveiled a new plan with a play on words, “Intelligent Transit for the It City Nashville,” Tuesday at an event at the Wildhorse Saloon on 2nd Avenue North in downtown Nashville. Joining Swope on-stage were Tennessee State Senators Bill Ketron (R-Murfreesboro) and Mark Green (R-Clarksville). Senator Ketron spoke of his personal experiences with increasing traffic issues as he travels to the state legislature, and Senator Green talked about the benefits of autonomous vehicles, including increased roadway capacity due to the ability to have vehicles in closer proximity to each other. Swope put on a high-tech presentation in conjunction with Paul Doherty, President and CEO of The Digit Group, Inc., (TDG) who connected to the meeting via telecomm from Japan, where he had been meeting earlier with the Prime Minister. TDG specializes in holistic smart city solutions, “using technology solutions as the basis” for planning, designing, building and manufacturing smart city solutions that provide safe and comfortable transportation, among other elements with solutions implemented in China, Southeast Asia, India, the Middle East, Europe and through the U.S., according to the TDG website. Swope told The Tennessee Star that he has served on the…

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Richard Grant Commentary: We Can Do Better Than the Nashville Transit Plan

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by Richard J Grant   The proposed Nashville mass transit plan is not exactly what we would call a “lean startup.” With an optimistically estimated cost of $9 billion to be spent over the next 15 years, the new transit plan makes the Metro Nashville 2018 budget of only $2.2 billion look lean by comparison. If the transit money were spent evenly over 15 years, that would be $600 million per year of additional spending, a 27% increase over the existing budget. The trouble with the transit plan is that the benefits are leaner than the costs. But it is worse than that. Those who pay for it, the majority, are not the same people who would really benefit, a tiny minority. And of that minority, the biggest beneficiaries would not even be passengers but rather those who would be paid to build, maintain, and rebuild the infrastructure and trains. The $9 billion is just the beginning: every few decades the whole system will have to be refurbished or replaced. We (and our children) will get to pay for it all over again, probably before we have paid off the debt for the first round of expenditures. The cost estimate…

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Enter Another Opposing Voice On $9 Billion Transit Plan: Nashville Plan ‘B’

Laura Baigert

Former Nashville Mayor Megan Barry loudly proclaimed “There is no Plan B” to her $9 billion Let’s Move Nashville transit plan. It turns out she was wrong. A new voice has entered the transit debate that focuses entirely on mass transit alternatives. The group is calling itself Nashville Plan “B.” The tagline for the website declares, “We aren’t against mass transit. Just this plan.” Nashville residents John Maddox and Johann Porisch are two of the voices behind the Nashville Plan “B” Alternatives. Porisch, a public relations professional, burst on to the scene during the Resign Now! Megan Barry Rally where he introduced his effort to organize a recall election to replace Mayor Barry, now moot with Barry’s resignation March 6. Nashville Plan “B” joins the first group against the $9 billion Let’s Move Nashville plan, No Tax 4 Tracks, which launched two months ago with the headline that paying for the $9 billion transit plan would raise Nashville’s sales tax to the highest in any major U.S. city.  The effort to defeat the plan on May 1 was then joined, as reported in the The Tennessee Star, by the grassroots movement Better Transit 4 Nashville. Proponents of the $9 billion Let’s Move…

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Metro Nashville Begins Taxpayer Funded Propaganda Campaign in Favor of Transit Plan

Jason M. Reynolds

Nashville Metro wants to tell you all about the light rail transit plan ahead of the May 1 referendum — and wants the taxpayers to pick up the tab. The “Transit Talk” offers groups a speaker to answer any questions about “Let’s Move Nashville.” All you have to do is go to the city’s Let’s Move Nashville website, fill out a questionnaire with the time and date, and tell them how many attendees you expect, and the city will send a speaker. “If you are a part of a Neighborhood Association or other group that meets regularly and would like to learn more about the proposal, please fill out the form below. We will be in touch to schedule your transit talk,” the Let’s Move Nashville says. Erin Hafkenschiel, director of the Mayor’s Office of Transportation and Sustainability, said the talks will help voters make an informed vote at the polls, WKRN reports. Even though Metro Council voted last week to publish a more accurate cost estimate of $9 billion on the May 1 ballot, the Let’s Move Nashville website, which aims to “educate” voters, continues to claim the transit system will cost $5.2 billion. It is not known if…

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Experts at Beacon Center’s ‘Off Track: What’s Wrong With Nashville’s Transit Plan & What We Should Do Instead’ Summit Slam Mayor Barry’s Scheme

Laura Baigert

NASHVILLE, Tennessee — The Beacon Center of Tennessee hosted a free conference open to the public on Saturday featuring the nation’s foremost experts discussing “Off Track: What’s Wrong with Nashville’s Transit Plan & What We Should Do Instead.” The title reflects the sentiment of attendees, primarily interested citizens versus special interest groups, that there is a congestion problem in the greater Nashville area that needs a solution, but one that is more efficient and cost effective than the $9 billion Let’s Move Nashville plan being put to referendum on May 1. The event included two power-house panels, the first on “What’s Wrong with the Nashville Plan,” featuring Randal O’Toole, Senior Fellow of the Cato Institute; Michael Sargent, Policy Analyst, Transportation and Infrastructures from the Heritage Foundation; and, Ron Shultis, Policy Coordinator of the Beacon Center of Tennessee, moderated by Ralph Bristol, former WTN 99.7 Nashville Morning News Host. The second panel included Transportation Policy Analyst Baruch Feigenbaum from the Reason Foundation; Marc Scribner, Senior Fellow of Competitive Enterprise Institute; and Emily Hamilton, Policy Research Manager, Mercatus Center, moderated by Beacon Center of Tennessee President and CEO Justin Owen and focused on “A Better Plan for Nashville.” John Cerasulo, Chairman of…

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‘Let’s Talk Transit’ Event With Mayor Megan Barry Long on Slogans, Short on Substance

Laura Baigert

NASHVILLE, Tennessee – At a “Let’s Talk Transit” Nashville Chamber of Commerce event sponsored by Piedmont Natural Gas on Wednesday , keynote speaker Mayor Megan Barry delivered a number of campaign slogans and one liners, but her address was short on the substantive details about her proposed $9 billion mass transit plan. Mayor Barry was introduced by Jennifer Carlat, Nashville Area Chamber of Commerce Vice President of Policy, at the nicely appointed Nissan Stadium West Club where about 500 pre-registered guests were in attendance. Carlat said that most people attending said their “commute was easier than they thought,” and added that the Chamber is looking to engage members and their employees and get them the information they need before the vote on May 1. After recognizing several Metro Council members that were in attendance after a late public hearing on transit held the previous night that went from 6 to 9:50 p.m., Mayor Barry gave a “shout out” to the Titans for hosting the event. She joked that Kansas City barbecue would be coming her way, as a result of the Titans wild card win last weekend, and that she was looking forward to  receiving some “Boston clam chowder,”  after the Titans’ game…

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Metro’s Official Document Reveals That The Real Price Tag For Mayor Megan Barry’s Mass Transit Plan Is $9 Billion, Not $5.4 Billion

Laura Baigert

Nashville Mayor Megan Barry’s transit plan has been presented as having a cost of $5.4 billion during the 15 year construction plan through 2032. But that figure represents just the rail corridor improvements portion of the plan. But, in reality, he total cost is a whopping $8.95 Billion. The figures for costs and revenues were provided in greater detail within the Let’s Move Nashville Metro’s Transportation Solution Transit Improvement Program document dated December 13, 2017. In addition to the $5.4 Billion for the rail corridor improvements, which quickly increased from the original $5.1 Billion to address an extension to the Charlotte Avenue route, is $1.146 Billion for Bus System Enhancements, $1.185 for Interest, Principal and Financing Costs, $934 Million for Operation and Maintenance and $211 Million for Reserves for a grand total of $8.951 Billion. The corresponding $8.951 Billion in revenues are said to come from Local Option Surcharges of $3.387 Billion, Financing of $3.022 Billion, Federal Capital Improvement Program Grants of $1.434 Billion, TIFIA (Transportation Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act) of $500 Million, Contributions from BNA Airport, the Convention Center and Investment Income of $262 Million, Federal Formula and Capital Replacement Grants of $153 Million and Farebox Recovery, otherwise…

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Nashville Mayor Megan Barry Unveils Plans for Huge $5.2 Billion Mass Transit Project

Wendy Wilson

Nashville Mayor Megan Barry released a detailed proposal Tuesday for a huge $5.2 billion mass transit project for the Nashville area that calls for four different types of tax increases. Barry will ask Metro Council to schedule a referendum for May 2018 to ask voters to approve the plan, called “Let’s Move Nashville: Metro’s Transportation Solution.” The mayor and her allies have been involved in efforts for some time to promote a tentative regional mass transit plan for Middle Tennessee they say would cost $6 billion. That plans for Metro Nashville alone now carry a $5.2 billion price tag reflects the ambitious nature of Barry’s vision, and will subject the progressive Democrat to even more criticism from those already skeptical of the project. The project would include light rail and electric buses, as well as improvements to existing transportation. In recent weeks, Barry has come up with a controversial idea for an underground tunnel in downtown Nashville for trains and buses. The tunnel would cost more than $900 million, which has significantly added to the overall cost. Barry presented her proposal at the Music City Center. The Nashville Tea Party later slammed her for saying during her speech that “there’s…

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