A Transit Plan for Nashville

The views expressed are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of ASPA as an organization.

By Cara Robinson
November 25, 2024

On Election Day, voters in Davidson County, Tennessee (Nashville) chose to approve Mayor Freddie O’Connell’s transit plan. Sixty-six percent of voters supported the plan via referendum. On a day when Tennessee continued its record of support for the Republican Party, voting overwhelmingly for President-Elect Donald Trump (64 percent) and incumbent Senator Marsha Blackburn (64 percent), Nashville voters elected to agree to a half a cent tax raise to invest in public transit infrastructure.  

The referendum results stand in stark contrast to the previous attempt at transit reform in the Music City. In 2018, then Mayor Megan Barry’s “Let’s Move Nashville” plan was handily defeated at the ballot box by a 64 percent and 38 percent margin. So what changed between then and now and what does the 2024 referendum mean for the future of transit in Nashville and the future of Nashville in Tennessee?

In order to focus on the substance of both proposals and their associated rollouts, one cannot mention the failure of the 2018 plan without acknowledging that then Mayor Barry was roiled in political scandal in 2018 after it was revealed she was having an affair with her bodyguard and used public monies to cover travel and overtime during the execution of the affair. This scandal necessarily impacted the public dialogue about the Mayor’s office and its policy proposals. 

There are other key differences between the two plans that indicate additional factors were at play.  Mayor Barry’s proposal came in with an estimated cost of $5.4 billion while Mayor O’Connell’s is estimated at $3.1 billion while the latter’s focused on using an increase in local sales tax (an increased of .5 percent from 2.25 to 2.75 percent) the former’s sourced revenue by increasing four areas of tax. Finally, Mayor O’Connell’s plan has been praised for its engagement with the community as well as the Metro Council (Abrams, 2024). He campaigned and won election to the Mayoral seat with transit reform as a key pillar of his message. He also has extensive experience working with WeGo as a Chairs of its Board of Directors.

The new transit plan, “Choose How You Move” builds 86 miles of new sidewalks, increases the bus operating hours to 24 hours, expands the number of bus routes and invests in smart traffic signals across the city (Mayor O’Connell’s Vision, 2024). It notably does not include light rail infrastructure (“Let’s Move Nashville did). The goal of the plan was to, “make the maximum amount of improvements for the least cost. (Mayor O’Connell’s Vision, 2024, para 1).” This focus on efficiency was foundational to the plan, and perhaps its public support—simplifying the plan, the tax changes, and required financing in order to make real change for Nashville residents. Critics point out, however, the plan still relies on fare revenue as well as state and federal resources for funding and that residents will see a hit to the wallet with the sales tax increase (Motycka, 2024). Some critics also do not think the plan “does enough” due to the lack of light rail and other public transit options. 

While we will not be able to measure the tangible impact of the transit plan on Nashville traffic and mobility patters for quite some time, we can discuss the continued role of Nashville as a home for Democrats in the larger red sea of the state. Nashville continues to serve as one of two large blue outposts (Memphis being the other). As in other states with large urban centers trending “bluer” than the rest of the state, Nashville has often faced the predicament of serving constituents with different visions for urban development and local policy and policymaking. Previously, Nashville has squared off against the State in regard to the size of its Metro Council with the Tennessee Legislature hoping to slash the 40-seat body in half. The legislature has also engaged in redistricting to reduce the influence of Democratic strongholds in state house and senate elections. As Nashville continues to grow, it is necessary for the city to increasingly work with its regional county and local partners to facilitate a regional growth strategy to identify strategies to adequately serve the entire Metropolitan area. While “Choose Where You Move” is an electoral win for Mayor O’Connell, it has yet to be seen how the role of the State will influence its progress and how the region itself will tamper its political divides to address issues that impact all of its residents.   

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Author: Cara Robinson, Ph.D. Is the Department Chair for the Department of Social Work and Urban Studies in the College of Public Service at Tennessee State University.  She is also an Associate Professor of Urban Studies and the Co-Director of the TSU Center on Aging Research and Education Services.   

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