E minus How Long before there is regular Bus Service to Franklin/Brentwood

[Moving_South]

Thanks to all of you all for the thoughtful responses... good reading and good food for thought

Originally Posted by Wmsn4Life

This area cannot handle the expected growth without addressing public transit immediately.

I think you are absolutely correct. Do the government leaders in Nashville, Williamson County and the State of Tennessee also understand this?

[BirdieBelle]

Originally Posted by Moving_South

Thanks to all of you all for the thoughtful responses... good reading and good food for thought



I think you are absolutely correct. Do the government leaders in Nashville, Williamson County and the State of Tennessee also understand this?

Yes, that is the majority of who makes up the Metro Planning Organization and the Regional Transit Authority. City and county mayors make up the executive boards of these organizations.

Most of the real opposition I've heard comes from old CEOs.

[Moving_South]

Wouldn't Nashville need State and Federal funding to develop commuter rail or greatly expand inter-county bus services?

Is there resistance to this in the Tennessee state government?

[BirdieBelle]

Yes, definitely would need federal funding, usually in the form of grants.

State has long been focused on highway building, and this has driven the thinking up to this point.

Our leading state and federal legislators are not keen on anything that is going to increase government or taxes. (I'm Republican, BTW, so not trying to start a political fight here.) Tennessee brags about the fact that it has enough highways to circle the world three times. (Nearly 100,000 miles of highways). The governor's "new" head of the state dept. of transportation is the first one in decades who did not come from a road construction background. He was a city mayor (Franklin), so it is hoped that he will approach the job from a user standpoint.

Nissan's US headquarters now is in Franklin, and everyone is quite distracted by the Leaf and electric charging stations etc. TN recently got a Dept. Of Energy grant to build car charging stations.

Still, it is going to take a LOT of work to shift the thinking at the state level away from building roads and toward public transit.