E minus How Long before there is regular Bus Service to Franklin/Brentwood (Spring Hill: renting, homeowners insurance)

[Moving_South]

I know that commuter rail to and from Williamson County is likely many many years (decades?) away, but has there been any talk of a more regular bus service from Nashville to & from Franklin and Brentwood?

I know there is a commuter bus during rush hours, but any talk of expanding that service?

[BirdieBelle]

The Regional Transit Authority only last month received approval for a bus rapid transit system out the West End Corridor.

The commuter bus service is mainly a park & ride system that is used primarily by state employees and others who can get off work at 4:30.

It's complicated and depends a lot on how much funding they want the cities to contribute etc. I would honestly say a bus service to Brentwood is at least a couple of years away. Some are trying to get creative and involve more employers in vanpool situations, but any bus to Brentwood still would most likely be a park & ride situation.

[nashvols]

I think eventually it will come...but one thing that will hold Williamson County (especially Brentwood) back when it comes to bus service is the affluence of the community. I think a lot of the professionals that live there (aside from those who transplanted from communities where public transit was more of a necessity) wouldn't be caught dead on a city bus. They'd have better luck renting a coach.

But as the county continues to grow (183k at the 2010 Census...probably 190k-195k now), and I-65 starts to resemble I-24 more and more, the more I think you will see the call for expanded public transit.

But it might not come from the professionals and white collars living there...Cool Springs (and Brentwood, to an extent) have a large number of hourly employees that could benefit from public transit, especially as the price of gas remains high.

I think the white collar crowd would respond better to a commuter train rather than a bus. JMO.



And I would really like to see that day come. I think the rail line is very well positioned to serve Brentwood and Franklin very well (assuming they use the current CSX line).

[nashvols]

Originally Posted by Wmsn4Life

Some are trying to get creative and involve more employers in vanpool situations, but any bus to Brentwood still would most likely be a park & ride situation.

I think the system could be successful if they create mini-hubs in different zones (Brentwood, Cool Springs, and Franklin) and have shuttles carry riders from the main stops to various points in the area. For instance...integrating Franklin's trolley system with a scheduled RTA stop. Make it where someone can get from any point in the Nashville system to anywhere in the Franklin system.

Park and ride is half-assed public transportation IMO.




I would also like to point out that a lot of people commute to Williamson County...and I think it would be advantageous to go ahead and not only work on public transit that collects in Williamson County, but distributes in Williamson.

The RTA needs to work on routes that not only run between Davidson and Williamson, but Rutherford and Williamson...and perhaps a one-stop from Sumner to Williamson (and Rutherford).

We need a layered system, ranging from long distance (relax/park and ride) and BRT to regular routes, to highly localized routes with smaller buses (or vans) with greater frequency.

I believe a lot of the reason why a lot of people don't utilize public transit here is because it is so inflexible, and so infrequent.

Of course there is a cost for everything...but the cost of doing nothing will likely be increased commute times, which could eventually lead to stagnated growth. I'd rather not be behind the 8-ball when it comes to addressing these issues.

[BirdieBelle]

The biggest hindrances here involve perception. People are very reluctant to give up the "freedom" of their personal vehicles to be "tied" to a bus or train schedule.

The other misperception is the "public transportation vs. public transit" issue. Some people put a LOT into their move to a place like Brentwood, where the housing is so expensive. So their version of the American dream did not involve them saying, "When I grow up, I'm gonna ride the bus!"

The biggest actual hindrance is that there really is NO infrastructure, even for rail. The tracks at Brentwood are at least 50 feet below street level in places. You would need stations, parking lots, not to mention CSX is harder to work with than the federal government.

For BRT, you'd need a dedicated lane on Franklin Road and, well, you can imagine how much fun that would be.

[septimus]

I'm not sure there is a huge demand. Most people I know in Williamson County work in Williamson County. There are plenty of huge business in Maryland Farms and Cool Springs.

[vivelafrance]

Here's a fairly recent breakdown of suburban ridership:

Per month (change over same month last year):
Wilson Co (Music City Star Rail): 26,989 (up 52%)
Rutherford County: 8,534 (up 25%)
Williamson County (Spring Hill Express + Brentwood/Franklin Express): 4,549 (Spring Hill up 34% and Franklin/Brentwood up 52%)
Sumner County: 2,728 (up 20%)
Robertson County has just recently started service and I couldn't find numbers for them.


Williamson seems to show the most new interest in bus service and the Franklin mayor has been actively campaigning for more service. As of summer last year bus ridership was up a total of 65% for Brentwood/Franklin and up 49% for Spring Hill. By far the largest increases of any suburban transit line.

Officials say that current rail tracks cannot be used for a Williamson route and are looking at BRT as a possible option.

[bmrisko]

Here is an interesting article I came across discussing Nashville's sprawl and public transit ideas for the future.

Can Nashville Shake Its Sprawling Past? - Commute - The Atlantic Cities

[Hey_Hey]

Interestingly, there might be more ridership potential from Nashville to Cool Springs than than Brentwood or Franklin into Nashville. Cool Springs has turned into a major employment center, and I would assume a large number of the employees who work there live in Davidson County.

For transit to become successful in Williamson County it's going to have to do these things:
1. Be regular and fast - Two trips in the morning and two in the evening are going to prohibit about 90% of people from riding. If someone gets off an hour early or an hour late they need to be able to get home.
2. Connect with the high employment centers in Nashville - Right now the buses all go to the Transit Center downtown and then people would have to get onto busses to get to work. Once the West End BRT is done the busses from Williamson County can jump on the BRT and hit up the big employment centers in the West End before going downtown.
3. Be clean and offer services - How much would it cost to put a coffee machine on the bus and have free wifi? Probably not much. If you can make the commute to work productive then you can capture additional riders.
4. Be affordable - Undoubtedly riding busses takes away the freedom of driving a car, so if it isn't cheaper or faster then there's no benefit of taking the bus. And calculating total cost of operating a car isn't going to work....people think in gas costs alone, meaning a round trip from Brentwood to Nashville and back is going to have to cost $4-5 or less.

[BirdieBelle]

I think most drivers here haven't really calculated the cost of driving their cars.

They still think they can absorb it, when actually we spend 65% of our income on housing and transportation.

On a community level, maintaining our car-centered way of life will actually destroy the quality of life we came/stayed here for. We would develop and/or pave thousands of acres of the green space we all love in Middle Tennessee.

We would need to build hundreds of miles of new roads (which don't reduce traffic, BTW, but invite it). In our watershed, this means more impervious surfaces, which will exacerbate the flood plains and increase the cost of homeowners insurance.

The gas tax will HAVE to go up to pay for all these new roads.

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