Nashville Mayor Freddie O’Connell is reportedly planning to introduce a major mass transit project this year that will need to be approved by voters in November, and would likely require an increase to the city’s sales tax.
A report published Monday by Axios claims O’Connell is days away from announcing a “mass transit funding proposal” that will be “less downtown and tourist-focused than” the proposal previously defeated by voters in Metro Nashville in 2018.
The outlet also claims O’Connell will call for expanded bus services with “rapid bus lanes” as well as more sidewalks, but claimed it was unclear whether the proposal will include light rail from downtown to the airport.
It is reported that O’Connell’s transit plan will likely require a half-cent increase to the city’s sales tax.
News that O’Connell may be planning a mass transit project comes just weeks after he signed an executive order calling for “car-free streets” and a series of other actions to make Nashville more friendly to pedestrians and compliant with Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) principles.
O’Connell’s order called for “car-free streets, pedestrian-scale lighting, shade trees and landscaping, public art, walkable destinations, street furniture,” and for the city to give “specific attention” to “the safety and comfort needs of the most vulnerable individuals on our streets – people walking, biking, taking transit, and using wheelchairs or other mobility devices” while balancing with the needs of people who drive vehicles.
It also called for Nashville’s streets to equitably serve “disenfranchised populations and communities” that purportedly have not been included in transportation decisions.
Before he took office, O’Connell’s transition committee recommended he plan any public transit referendum to coincide with a major national election, with some citing the timing of the 2018 vote for its failure and pointing toward 2024 as a “high-turnout election” where a transit proposal could be approved by voters.
While any transit proposal would need to be approved by voters, likely during the 2024 elections, Axios notes that O’Connell would first need legislation passed calling for the referendum, and suggested “a pro-transit political group, buoyed by the city’s business and Democratic political establishment” is likely “to emerge in conjunction with the referendum push.”
The outlet predicted such an apparatus will push messaging claiming Nashville’s traffic congestion will be eased with the addition of mass transit, while critics are likely to point toward the city’s sparely used bus network as evidence its residents are not interested in substantial mass transit.
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Tom Pappert is the lead reporter for The Tennessee Star, and also reports for The Georgia Star News, The Virginia Star, and the Arizona Sun Times. Follow Tom on X/Twitter. Email tips to [email protected].
Photo “Nashville Mayor Freddie O’Connell” by Mayor Freddie O’Connell.
