Freddie O'Connell, one half of the excellent Liberadio team, believes improvement is needed in Nashville's public transportation system. O'Connell speaks as one who has experienced the system firsthand.
For the past three years, he and his girlfriend have depended upon public transit for their transportation needs. The effort was workable when they lived in the Vanderbilt area, but now that they've moved to Salemtown, the situation has changed.
"Now, though, as I evaluate our safety in our new neighborhood and the routes to and from Meharry's campus, the limited hours and lack of flexibility of MTA have forced my hand from a public safety perspective. I'm buying a car. It's not a satisfying decision," he writes in a letter to Mayor Karl Dean.
"As we are set to unveil Music City Central, a brand new downtown transit hub, it stands to reason that we would also unveil a fully funded transit authority, with expanded routes and service. MTA unveiled a 5-year plan 6 years ago that could never be satisfactorily initiated due to lack of funding. This plan would have brought Nashville's service level up to average for cities of our size. After several years of flat ridership, ridership has increased dramatically in the past few years. Ridership is expected to top 9 million during 2008. If we fully funded our transportation system, I think our ridership numbers would increase even further."
O'Connell's suggestion makes sense. Each day Nashville's automobile population swells as workers living in the surrounding counties come here to work. Improving Davidson County's transportation system would keep a lot of cars belonging to local residents off the road and reduce the space needed to park the cars.
In a tight budget year, it's a tough decision, but providing more funds for public transportation might well solve many problems at a bargain price.
-- Jim Grinstead
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