Nashville, Tenn., Mayor Freddie O’Connell’s Choose How You Move Transportation Improvement Program will go on the Nov. 5, 2024, ballot following approval by the Davidson County Election Commission. Choose How You Move: An All-Access Pass to Sidewalks, Signals, Service, and Safety will remake Nashville’s transportation system by building 86 miles of sidewalks – enough to stretch from Nashville to Cookeville, expanding transit to a 24/7 operation, increasing the frequency of transit service on Nashville’s busiest roadways, increasing safety for all roadway users and modernizing traffic signals at more than 600 intersections.
In July, the Metro Council unanimously passed the program’s ballot language. The Election Commission’s vote marked the final step in placing a better transportation future in the hands of Nashville voters.
“Nashvillians, we’ve heard you. We can do better than our current transportation reality. For a decade, we conducted more than 70 transportation plans that got more than 66,000 opinions from residents. It’s time to stop planning. It’s time to start doing,” Mayor O’Connell said. “This is about working families, letting people feel more connected as a community and bringing down the cost of living so that we can more easily afford to live here.”
Of the top 50 major cities in the U.S., Nashville is one of just four without dedicated funding for transportation improvements.
“As I said when we introduced the Choose How You Move program in April, this is how we stop kicking the can down the road on a problem and start moving forward on a solution,” Mayor O’Connell said.
A snapshot of what’s included in the Choose How You Move program
- 86 miles of sidewalk improvements.
- 54 miles of upgraded corridors to provide faster, safer and more reliable transit options.
- A transit system that runs 24/7, doubling the frequent service and adding nearly double the number of crosstown routes. Plus, there will be new express routes to get Nashvillians to popular locations more quickly.
- 12 community transit centers that will connect to each other so riders don’t have to go downtown just to get to some other part of the city.
- 17 new park and ride facilities.
- 35 miles of upgraded and new bicycle facilities.
- Upgrades to traffic signals at almost 600 intersections.
“Since taking office, our team has used two goals to guide not only our work on transit, but on all opportunities. Those goals are improving quality of life and lowering the cost of living for more Nashvillians. This program does both,” Mayor O’Connell said.
Kraft CPAs, an independent certified public accounting firm, examined the Choose How You Move transportation improvement program’s plan of finance and determined that the financing plan for the program is feasible.
The ballot language approved by the Davidson County Election Commission can be found here.
