As Middle Tennessee continues to grow, the demand for service is growing outward to new areas, especially along the freeway corridors that radiate outward from Nashville. This demand is being driven by factors including:
- Rapidly increasing population and employment
- Changing demographics
- Increasing levels of travel to and from Nashville
- Increasing levels of travel within the six counties surrounding Davidson County
- Development patterns that are becoming more conducive to transit use
In order for transit to be successful, it must also be frequent, fast and easy to access.
John W. says
The Bellevue Park and Ride isn’t near the major population center of Bellevue, which has shifted to Old Hickory; there are thousands of people living along that road, or access I40 via that road. It is a major traffic bottleneck. I would gladly take the bus from there, but there isn’t a good option.
Peachie J. says
I would suggest an extension of the route 7 line. Currently, the 7 turns around at the Green Hills Mall/Hillsboro High School eliminating public transit access to all of the shopping, restaurants, and other businesses that extend much farther down Hillsboro Pike. I frequent the 7 and wish it went a tad farther down. (Perhaps the 7 could use the Burton Hills Blvd road to loop around?)
Rhonda Clark says
I have lived in Nashville/Davidson County for almost 20 years and I use Access Ride five days a week sometimes more to get to work, physical therapy etc. It is time for Access Ride to expand outside Davidson Country and there need to be more vans and drivers to keep up with the demand. I have to get to work 2 hours before I’m supposed to be there just to ensure that I get there on time. Also, those of us that have to use Access Ride should not be restricted to work, live, and have social activities limited only to Davidson County because of transportation.
John Cannon says
During the years when our politicians were not interested in transit and operating money was in short supply, many routes were cut and eliminated or combined. These routes and their descriptions are in the MTA’s Scheduling Manager’s office. I left them there upon retirement.
1. Bring back your neighborhood routes as feeders to your major trunk lines where you already have BRT service with timed transfers to the BRT lines. Speed up your existing BRT service with signal preemption and queue jumps for your BRT buses.
2. Shorten up your local express routes that run through the various neighborhoods that were combined to maintain service. Many of these routes are so long that no one wants to ride them. Examples of these are the Tusculum – McMurray and Edge-O-Lake – Antioch routes. Bring back the Oak Hill Express – a route carrying almost 20 passengers per hour when eliminated and serving a major metro high school and private schools.
3. Start exploring crosstown routes and do timed transfers to your existing BRT lines.
Transit did exist in Nashville until it lost political backing and as a result funding.
Mary Ellen Basgall says
I’ve wondered about going through neighbors. To go downtown I have to drive or walk a mile. That’s not always optional for people. A couple of blocks maybe.
What about adding routes that go out Briley West (like a park and ride spot) to companies in the Cockrill Bend Centennial area and also Cockrill Bend Circle.
nMotion says
Thanks for the comments, Mary Ellen. You raise a good point. The first and last mile is often a determining factor when a potential transit user decides to use public transit or their own vehicle. I would encourage you to read more about it here: https://www.nmotion.info/first-and-last-mile-connections/
nMotion says
Thank you for taking the time to read through the Service to New Areas Transit Strategy paper, John. We also encourage you to read other transit strategies, such as Route Simplification and Rapid Bus.
cathy says
I would ride the MTA if there was a bus that ran through Crieve Hall or Caldwell Hall that would connect to I-65.
Teresa says
I work at Vanderbilt and live in the Mt. Juliet area. The Star is available to use, but once you get downtown your only option is the bus. The bus route can easily add another 30-40 minutes to the commute. At that point, it actually takes longer to get to/from work than sitting in the horrible interstate traffic.
I would love to use Star. However, I will continue to drive until there is a faster way to get to campus from downtown.
Mary says
100% add to underserved areas. Would need to do survey to figure out where…
Tony Birmingham says
I live in Hermitage and would use the Star if I worked downtown. I don’t and often have need my vehicle during work. I think the main thing is schedules, the more convenient it is, the more people will use it.
Jan says
I would be very excited to be able to take transportation in to work on a daily (or near daily) basis. It would also be helpful if I decided to come into town on the weekends. If I didn’t have to drive and find parking, I probably would attend weekend activities more than I currently do.
Michael says
I live in hermitage, the bus only runs in the early morning and late afternoon Monday through Friday, no service on the weekends, same thing for the train,I never heard of such a thing, I guess transit doesn’t think people in hermitage travel on weekends, whoever made the schedule for hermitage is a complete idiot