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a new transit line (barely in) nashville

The new Route 70 will connect from Charlotte Pike Walmart, end of line for Route 50, over to the Coley Davis Park and Ride, end of line for Route 3B, then continue to the new James Lawson High School. The route will operate on an hourly frequency from approximately 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. each day.

So, a new transit line is coming to Nashville. This can only be good news, right? Umm. Well. Yes, it is good news, but I also have some more complicated thoughts to unpack about it.

(Route map from WeGo. You can view more details about the route here)

This route will provide service to the new James Lawson High School, which is a big deal. While yellow school buses provide access to school for zoned students, having access to a WeGo route allows students from out of zone to attend the school and could provide a way home for students who are staying after for sports, clubs, or other extracurricular activities.

But there are many other high schools in Nashville that don't have access to transit, including schools like Cane Ridge and Antioch, which are in the USD, a separate tax district that's supposed to provide more extensive services than the GSD, where Lawson is located. And despite that, Lawson already has access to the WeGo Link program that provides subsidized uber trips to connect to transit. Antioch and Cane Ridge do not have that. So why are we deciding to provide this extra service to an area that pays a lower tax rate?

The new Route 70 will also connect many apartments and condos that currently have no access to transit to the routes 3B and 50. It could also connect those on either the 3B or 50 to connect to the other line without having to ride all the way into downtown and back.

But there are other connector corridors like Trinity Ln from Clarksville Pike to Gallatin Pike or Old Hickory Blvd/Bell Road from Nolensville Pike to Murfreesboro Pike. These two corridors have a much higher number of existing and in development housing units and would connect much higher ridership routes. So why are we prioritizing this less dense connector route over what could be much more productive and useful routes?

Another thing that struck me was, this route isn't anticipated in the Better Bus plan or nMotion strategic plan. As always we extensively studied transit and transportation in Nashville and came up with a game plan for where transit service should be expanded. That plans calls for new crosstown routes connecting North Nashville and Bordeaux to Eash Nashville across Trinity Ln. That plan calls for new local routes in underserved areas of Antioch. That plans calls for improved frequency and span on major corridors and crosstown routes. But that plan doesn't call for additional service in Bellevue, so why is this the main priority all of a sudden?

Ultimately, the answer to all of those questions is the advocacy. Bellevue had a council member, Dave Rosenberg, who repeatedly and loudly asked about this specific transit connection. Wedgewood-Houston's Colby Sledge similarly deserves a lot of credit for the improved span and frequency coming to the 75 and 77 connector routes. Antioch and East Nashville haven't had similar advocates on the council.

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Disclaimer: While I am an employee of Metro Nashville Public Schools, and therefore Metro Nashville Government, the views expressed on this blog are my own and do not necessarily reflect the views of my employer or the city.
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