Will Nashville ever step up to the plate? (Murfreesboro, Lebanon: home, neighborhood)

[ariesjow]

Originally Posted by RetireFromOK

A quick search showed that current ridership on the Music City Star is about 225 people per day, and that it's losing money in a big way. It's hard to justify putting more rail in when ridership on the existing line is so low.

One might argue that the primary reason for Music City Star's low ridership though is that it was done haphazardly and on the cheap to begin with not because mass transit can't work in Nashville. It's hard to convince people in Lebanon to give up their vehicles for a slow train ride into town when an inadequate bus system and/or long walk to work awaits them upon arrival. In truth, the Music City Star was doomed to fail from the beginning because the city wasn't truly committed to offering effective mass transit at a competitive price.

Now, if Metro had shelled out the money for true light rail transit (not commuter rail with Chicago's hand-me-down trains) from downtown through West End (which is extremely needed!), LRT to a suburb that needs it immediately like Antioch, Murfreesboro or Hendersonville instead of Lebanon and Mt. Juliet and coupled this with better and more comprehensive bus service throughout the county, then Nashville would likely see the real benefits of having effective mass transit.

At this point, I believe it would be highly irresponsible for the city to abandon mass transit. Nashville needs to learn from the mistakes of its' larger neighbor Atlanta and commit right now to building a thorough transit system before the growth further constrains the metro.

[alleycat]

Well, it can't be done primarily with Metro money (especially running it through neighboring counties like Rutherford and Sumner). It will take Federal and state dollars.

In any event, that's years and years down the road. My opinion is to first get the bus service in some kind of shape that the ordinary citizen would ride it.

[ariesjow]

^ As usual, I agree with you. The bus system in Nashville seriously needs work. Here in Ann Arbor, the bus system is amazingly effective. I was in awe at how people from all demographics utilize the bus system on a frequent basis for simple trips around town. Of course, Ann Arbor is a much smaller, pedestrian-scaled college town. But it is nice to see that the bus system isn't looked upon merely as the chariots of the poor as so many believe in cities like Nashville where mass transit is frowned upon. Why is this and how can the Nashville metro curb this?

This is one problem that really concerns me about my move back to Nashville in August. My partner and I share a vehicle here and we're already worried about having to shell out the money for another one just to survive in Nashville.

[storey13]

Some good points mentioned here so far. I'm glad to see other's concerns for mass transit. My fiance sometimes says all I talk about is mass transit and ways to improve traffic conditions in Nashville. One crazy idea i had was for Brentwood to make Concord Rd a one way street in the morning from Crocket Rd to Wilson Pike where traffic would flow out to Franklin/Brentwood/I-65 much faster in the morning and reverse it at 4pm in the evening. People that need to go the opposite way in the morning and evening could take Crockett Rd which pretty much parallels Concord Rd.

AriesJow, my fiance and I only have one car. We work fairly close to each other though which is what makes this possible.

[alleycat]

Originally Posted by ariesjow

This is one problem that really concerns me about my move back to Nashville in August. My partner and I share a vehicle here and we're already worried about having to shell out the money for another one just to survive in Nashville.

It sort of depends on where you live and where you work, and what time you go. You might be able to commute with your husband, or find someone who lives nearby to ride with (MTA has some kind of "RideShare" program where you can search for someone to commute with). But, it is kind of a "drive your own" kind of town. Most couples would find it difficult to only have one car. The couple next door to me, who have two teens, apparently find it difficult to exist with six vehicles! ;-)

[Mel23]

I'm hoping I can figure out the bus system myself. I'm moving to Nashville with a really old car, not even sure if it will make it there. Anyone have suggestions on affordable areas where transportation to the university area is decent? I really want to trust the public transportation, but until more people start using it, it probably will only get worse.

[hew2a]

As crazy as it sounds, I'm planning to move to NYC partly for this reason. I live in Murfreesboro, and commute to Nashvile EVERYDAY! Yeah, I know, it's my choice. But explain to me why on earth would you start a rail line in Lebanon/Mt. Juliet and then wonder why it's not doing well? Craziness. I laughed hysterically when I first heard about it. I mean, here's the I-24 corridor with South Nashville, Antioch, LaVergne, Smyrna, and Murfreesboro. No other are can boast as many well populated areas and cities at the I24 Corridor...yet we get by-passed. Not to mention the commuters to MTSU. But they put the train in Labanon/Mt. Juliet? Where are they getting this uncut heroine they're snorting.

The time I've spent in New York has sold me on public transportation. I mean you can keep your ego of having some fancy car. Give me a $20 unlimited Metro Card and I'm good. Keep your carpayments, insurance, ridiculous gas prices, oil changes, traffic, and all the other crazy expenses that come with owning a car. I'll gladly trade that for a more expensive rent. This may sound a bit extreme, but some of the beauties of living in a smaller city get lost whan you're stuck in traffic or have to shell out $500 dollars ou tof the blue to replace an axle or something. Ok, I'm ranting, but seriously. Just look south-east to Atlanta. That's the reprocussions for not having a public transportation system in place before the population explosion hits. I think Nashville and the surrounding counties are ready. They need to get together on this, not be afraid of something different than a bus, and lay the foundations for a railway sytem in places that will actually use it.

[JMT]

Originally Posted by hew2a

As crazy as it sounds, I'm planning to move to NYC partly for this reason. I live in Murfreesboro, and commute to Nashvile EVERYDAY! Yeah, I know, it's my choice. But explain to me why on earth would you start a rail line in Lebanon/Mt. Juliet and then wonder why it's not doing well? Craziness. I laughed hysterically when I first heard about it. I mean, here's the I-24 corridor with South Nashville, Antioch, LaVergne, Smyrna, and Murfreesboro. No other are can boast as many well populated areas and cities at the I24 Corridor...yet we get by-passed. Not to mention the commuters to MTSU. But they put the train in Labanon/Mt. Juliet? Where are they getting this uncut heroine they're snorting.

The time I've spent in New York has sold me on public transportation. I mean you can keep your ego of having some fancy car. Give me a $20 unlimited Metro Card and I'm good. Keep your carpayments, insurance, ridiculous gas prices, oil changes, traffic, and all the other crazy expenses that come with owning a car. I'll gladly trade that for a more expensive rent. This may sound a bit extreme, but some of the beauties of living in a smaller city get lost whan you're stuck in traffic or have to shell out $500 dollars ou tof the blue to replace an axle or something. Ok, I'm ranting, but seriously. Just look south-east to Atlanta. That's the reprocussions for not having a public transportation system in place before the population explosion hits. I think Nashville and the surrounding counties are ready. They need to get together on this, not be afraid of something different than a bus, and lay the foundations for a railway sytem in places that will actually use it.

I agree with you completely. Atlanta has gotten way out of hand. I mean come on, 16 lanes of freeway??? The amount of money they spend, and the time it takes, and the shere HASSLE of continually building, widening, improving, repairing highways would be MUCH better used providing viable alternatives: light rail, trains, more complete bus networks.

I would gladly take a train from Knoxville to Nashville if it were possible. The state of Tennessee has talked about building a high-speed train between Memphis and Knoxville, and I hope they really do it.

[storey13]

My dream one day is for the United States to have the high speed rails so you can get any where in the country like you can in Europe. Nashville is growing so fast that if light rail isn't deployed in the next few years we will probably be in the same place as Atlanta. The last time I drove through Atlanta, it was 11 pm at night and traffic was still very heavy. If you drive in Nashville at night now, it usually is fairly light but I can tell over the last few years that it is getting worse as time moves on. So many people are moving here from California and Florida that it is only a matter of time. Fortunately for me I live in South Nashville and commute to Franklin every day so traffic isn't too bad yet but I do feel sorry for those folks that are going the opposite way from Spring Hill/Franklin to Nashville in the morning. A light rail system just makes plain sense here. Start building one that goes from West End to Downtown to Airport, then from Downtown to MTSU, then from Downtown to Franklin to Spring Hill, then from Downtown to Rivergate to Hendersonville. I realize this is a lot of $$$ but i-24 and i-65 are running out of expansion area in some places.

[hew2a]

Perfectly stated storey13. But as a guy put it to me...it's all about big business. If they build a rail system and it does work, car sales go down. Then no one is buying as much gas...so that industry suffers. Then tire manufacturers, motor oil producers, auto parts stores, mechanics,...the list goes on. All these industries that relay on that darn automobile suffer. This is the only reason I can come up with as to why these legislators and politicians who are smart enough to turn hundreds of dollars into millions in their own businesses, can't see that a simple rail system is the ONLY true relief from traffic nightmares. Too expensive? I'm just not buying it. I know it's not cheap. But neither is hiring all of these workers to pour asphalt, buying the machinery to laydown the asphalt, repaving the interstates after a few years, and undoubtedly having to widen them again. I swear the east coast has so got it together. As close to Europe and Japan, as you spoke about, as you're going to get in the US.