NashTransit

When the Metro budget shortfall hit MTA back in the summer of 2008, the Vine Hill route was nearly dead last in ridership and revenue. It would have taken the complete restoration of funds cut by the Metro budget, plus $2.5 million, to save it along with all the other cut routes. Obviously, that didn't happen.

So why is the route back*? Vanderbilt Health 100 Oaks. Or more succinctly, I believe, Vanderbilt. While all the new business growth coinciding with the new 100 Oaks Health is great, it's not enough to support a bus all by itself. The new #1 100 Oaks bus is primarily a commuter route for employees - that much is clear from the bus' schedule. I have no proof to back it up, but I wouldn't be surprised if Vanderbilt used some of their considerable pull to make it happen. I wouldn't be surprised if someday they do it again elsewhere! The university certainly has an interest in regional mass transit.

But there are still plenty of people in the Vine Hill area and other parts of south Nashville who also welcome the restoration of service through their neighborhood. If you want this bus to succeed, enough that its schedule could expand to include the midday and weekends, the solution is simple and obvious: ride!

If you're not a regular rider, a good time to start is during Transit Now Nashville's Transit Week, April 12-18. Try out the new Music City Circuit, also starting today.

This downtown circulator is an important step for mass transit in our city. It’s one thing to get to downtown by bus. It's another thing to get around downtown without a vehicle. (Anyone who's ever tried to walk to and from the Farmer's Market knows what I'm talking about. My feet are sore just thinking about it.) Will downtown workers feel comfortable leaving their cars at home all day? How about tourists, or those folks who live downtown? Will they take advantage of Music City Circuit? Will it in turn help build ridership of the Music City Star? Time will tell, but again the best way to make it all happen: ride!

As for me, I'll be trying them all out today!

* Before some pedant catches me: I have to be careful when I say the old route is back - it's a slightly different route, with a new name. But it serves most of the same destinations that the old Vine Hill bus did.)

# posted by dotsandlines @ 12:15 AM 0 Comments

Talk about the future of mass transit in Nashville was all over the Tennessean's editorial page today. The message: it's time to get started, and time to be thinking big, and long-term.

• Region looks at mass transit
• Guest editorial: Effort is crucial for growing city - Mayor Karl Dean
• Guest editorial: Job creation hinges on transportation - Charles W. Bone, Chairman of the Transit Alliance of Middle Tennessee
• Reader comments

# posted by dotsandlines @ 9:41 PM 0 Comments

So, uh, I've been away for a bit.

A good portion of the reason is that on most days I find myself either too busy or too lazy, and seldom anywhere in between. Turns out I'm not much of a blogger!

But I had to come back at least for a moment to celebrate the good news that MTA is introducing a new bus from downtown to 100 Oaks. This new bus route is similar (though not identical) to the one I used to ride, the #1 Vine Hill. That route, along with several others, was eliminated due to MTA budget shortfalls in the summer of 2008. It was because of those cuts that this blog started in the first place.

It's fair to say that if it wasn't my own personal daily ride that had gotten cut, this site wouldn't be here, and I probably wouldn't have gotten involved, even in the peripheral way I've been. And now that 'my' bus is coming back, I could just decide to close up shop. But these are exciting times for public transportation in middle Tennessee. A lot is happening!

So from now on NashTransit is going to mostly hang out on Twitter. You already ought to be following @transitnownash and @walkbikenash, but I don't think I'll overlap them too much. I'm not an urban planner or a transit policy wonk at heart; I'm just a guy who rides the bus every day. I hope to bring that sort of perspective, and I'd love to hear comments from other riders. Anything from local transit news to that weird guy who sat next to you on the bus is fair game. Let's have a conversation! And if I think of anything else worth saying that takes up more than 140 characters, this blog will still be here.

(I'm tempted to also point to news from MTA, but I'm hesitant because it would be far better if MTA did that itself, especially when it comes to schedule changes and detour announcements. So MTA: get on Twitter too!)

See you at @nashtransit!

# posted by dotsandlines @ 8:22 PM 0 Comments

JB at Imagine Title Here asks some good questions about Bus Rapid Transit, in response to yesterday's City Paper article. Is mere BRT 'Light' (without a dedicated lane) enough to get BRT established and accepted in Nashville?

He compares to the choice to begin passenger rail in Nashville by building a route to Lebanon. While less expensive to build than other options, that's not where the most demand is.

That's a difference - there is demonstrated demand for public transportation along the route to Gallatin. the #26 route is far and away the best performing MTA route. BRT, even in incomplete form, will get used. When funds are available to free up or build a dedicated traffic lane, all the better.

Still, the City Paper has a point - being stuck in traffic on a BRT bus isn't much different from being stuck in traffic on a regular bus. Only a dedicated lane will highlight the distinct advantages of commuting by BRT. Here's hoping we get to see it's full potential soon.

# posted by dotsandlines @ 11:40 PM 0 Comments