Nashville, Tennessee’s Winning “Choose How You Move” Plan

November 2024

The Outset

A report released in early 2024 declared that Nashville had one of the worst commutes in the nation. In fact, the city has spent most of this century analyzing how to improve its transportation systems, having long struggled with outdated transit infrastructure, delayed bus routes and traffic. Nashville’s two most notable transit disappointments occurred in 2015 and 2018. In 2015, planning for the Amp, a proposed bus rapid transit project on what was historically regarded as the spine of Nashville, was discontinued due to lack of local and state support. A few years later, in 2018, Mayor Megan Barry sought voter approval for an ambitious $5.2 billion transit plan. In addition to a significant increase in bus service, it incorporated 26 miles of light rail and a train tunnel under downtown. Voters resoundingly rejected the plan with only 36% in favor.

But last year, on the heels of an influx of residents post-COVID, the need for a long-term solution became urgent to ease commute times and ensure the city’s transportation systems were meeting the needs of Nashvillians. That’s why in late 2023, the newly elected Mayor Freddie O’Connell, who supported both plans as a Metro Council member, was determined not to repeat past failures while capitalizing on decades of smart, thorough work that had never been implemented.

The Funding Solution

Over the next few months, O’Connell and his team drew from more than 70 existing plans and more than 65,000 pieces of input from community members to create “Choose How You Move.” Announced in April 2024, the initiative was equal parts commonsense, comprehensive, and communal. Every Nashvillian was able to identify an improvement that would directly benefit them. The plan also addressed two major issues for Nashvillians: the high cost of living and poor commute times.

O’Connell’s $3.1 billion proposal, which was significantly less than the 2018 plan and funded with a ½ percent sales tax increase, was anchored by four basic guarantees to residents of every neighborhood—sidewalks, signals, service, & safety. If approved, the tax increase would fund the accelerated expansion of Nashville’s bus system, build out dozens of miles of sidewalks and bike lanes, and upgrade nearly 600 traffic signals to better handle vehicle congestion.

The Campaign Strategy

The Nashville campaign utilized the “Public Transit is Local” message to mobilize voters, with a plan that benefited all Nashvillians, regardless of whether they used public transit. They emphasized how the measure would fund infrastructure to meet the local community needs—sidewalks, signals, service, and safety. By committing to building connections across the city, the strategy leaned into the idea that the measure would improve the local quality of life by helping residents get to destinations safely, reliably, conveniently, and affordably; increase connectivity and link together ways Nashvillians get around their neighborhoods, including via bike routes and greenways; link existing and potential affordable housing to jobs and other necessities of daily life; and improve social connectivity by increasing accessibility to places Nashvillians go to daily or weekly.

The driving idea behind this was to create “a better Nashville for Nashvillians.”

The Outcome

This plan flipped the 2018 result on its head, with voters approving the tax, 65.50% to 34.50%. The tax increase is expected to cover around 46% of the plan’s total cost and help fund…

Smart traffic signals;
24/7/365 transit service for the first time in Nashville’s history;
Improvements to roads and streets that consistently contribute to accidents; and
The chance to bring in $1.4 billion in federal matching funds.