Lebanon Democrat
Xavier Smith
The State of the RTA System Report found regional service does not meet current demands for transit and will continue to fall further behind as Middle Tennessee grows unless its needs are addressed.
One area of improvement includes expanding service and improving schedules. Including the Music City Star, RTA provides 10 routes that connect the nine counties surrounding Davidson County with Nashville. These routes serve all major corridors but service is limited, typically providing only two or three trips in each direction each day.
To make commuter services available to a broader cross-section of Nashville’s commuters, more service will be required to provide more flexibility and trips that serve a wider range of work schedules.
The Music City Star operates only during peak periods on weekdays. Monday through Thursday, there are six trips in each direction. The first trip from Lebanon to Nashville departs at 5:45 a.m. and the last trip from Nashville departs at 5:45 p.m. Two trips during each peak period travel only between Mt. Juliet and Nashville. On Friday, there is one additional trip in each direction that departs Lebanon at 6:40 p.m. and Nashville at 10:30 p.m.
Based on several of the findings, the report presents key issues facing RTA and serves as a starting point for the strategies and recommendations that will be part of the final Nashville MTA/RTA strategic plan, nMotion, to be released next spring.
Increasing population and employment densities in traditional regional centers and in new emerging areas will greatly increase the demand for transit and for new types of transit.
The report highlighted the Regional Transportation Authority has expanded and improved its services as resources have allowed.
The Music City Star currently offers Game-Day Express tickets for all Tennessee Titans home games. Service begins in Lebanon with stops in Martha, Mt. Juliet, Hermitage and Donelson before arriving in downtown Nashville.
For noon games, the Music City Star will depart Lebanon station at 10 a.m., Martha station at 10:15 a.m. and Mt. Juliet station at 10:25 a.m. The return train to Lebanon leaves Riverfront Station 45 minutes after the game.
Free tickets are available, but they must be acquired in advance online at millerlitefreerides.com, or ticketsnashville.com, and printing a ticket. Four seats can be reserved per person. Children age 4 and younger will not need a ticket to board; however, they are required to sit in a parent’s lap. Tickets are not available on the train on game days.
“This is a great public-private partnership with Miller Lite and the RTA to get people to the Titans games, help keep our streets safe and prevent drunk driving on game-day. We hope residents in our community will take advantage of this generous offer and ride the train to the games,” said RTA board member and Lebanon Mayor Philip Craighead.
The RTA board of directors also recently approved a 5 percent increase to the nearest quarter for its far, including the Music City Star.
RTA had not adjusted its fares in nearly four years. Increasing fuel and related operating costs are the reasons for the fare changes, according to RTA representatives.
