Back in 2018, proponents of the Nashville mass transit referendum argued that if the $8.9 billion dollar plan wasn’t approved, it would be years, if not a decade until a “Plan B” or anything else could be done. Voters weren’t intimated by the “vote for this or else” scare tactic and sent transit advocates and their consultants back to the drawing board defeating the measure roughly 2 to 1.
In response to the calls that nothing else could be done after the plan was defeated, Beacon released its alternative Traffic Reduction Proposal a few months later. The solutions offered were not only cost-effective and efficient but could also be implemented quickly to solve congestion problems. Several of those suggestions—like extending delivery hours for trucks downtown to free up rush hour traffic and the state working to make a “smart corridor” along I-24—were implemented without spending billions of dollars.
Our top recommendation was for Nashville to build an adaptive traffic control system (ATCS) that enables traffic signals to immediately respond to traffic demand in real-time. Think NASA mission control but for traffic, where adjustments could be made to lights and signals in real-time.
Luckily, Metro Nashville is beginning to implement this step. Recently, Mayor Cooper’s office announced that Nashville had received a $3.65 million grant to fully fund a new Traffic Management Center that will enable the city to “better manage traffic signals, gather traffic-flow information and share updates with drivers in real-time—all to improve safety and reduce congestion.”
Coming out of the pandemic with more and more people returning to work downtown, this could not be happening at a better time. Once the system is up and operational, Nashvillians should expect noticeable and significant improvements. In Los Angeles, this technology has proven to reduce travel time by as much as 12 percent and increase speeds by 16 percent. In other cities and countries that have adopted this technology, such as Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, travel times have decreased by as much as 30 percent. According to the Federal Highway Administration, “real-time management of traffic systems is proven to work, yet these systems have been deployed on less than 1% of existing traffic signals in the United States.” ATCS systems can also save lives by reducing emergency personnel response times by syncing lights along the route for ambulances, fire, or police traveling to an emergency like wrecks, fires, or other emergencies.
As the Middle Tennessee area continues to grow, local leaders and policymakers should continue to look for new and innovative policies and technologies like ATCS to help our community manage growth and improve quality of life. And at the very least, these solutions are proven to work, are quicker to build and deploy, and are certainly a lot cheaper than an $8.9 billion, 15-year construction project to build outdated light-rail systems.
If Nashville is going to continue to remain the “It” City, it must continue to be a desirable place to live and work. Becoming a “smart” city, both technologically and public policy-wise, are sure ways to do so.