Nashville voters have cast their ballots in favor of a new transit plan designed to improve buses, upgrade traffic lights, build sidewalks and more. Speaking at co-working space The Malin in the Gulch, O'Connell declared victory after early-voting results showed overwhelming support for the measure.
“There have been people carrying the torch for this conversation for such a long time," O'Connell told his supporters. “We all came together for the past couple months to do something good, big, important and popular.”
The plan calls for $3.1 billion in spending over the next 15 years. Funds would go to improvements to the public WeGo bus system, constructing sidewalks, upgrading traffic lights and more. The “Choose How You Move” plan will be funded by a half-cent increase to the sales tax. The mayor and transit advocates say having a dedicated funding source will help Nashville apply for and receive federal grants for transportation improvements in the future.
Mayor’s $3.1 billion transit plan focuses on buses, sidewalks, transit centers and traffic signals
Since O’Connell unveiled the plan in April, the transit referendum enjoyed broad support, including from local business leaders and community advocates like the Tennessee Immigrant and Refugee Rights Coalition. The campaign in favor of the transit overhaul raised more than $2 million.
Opponents to the plan never mounted a concerted or well-funded campaign. Some local conservatives banded together, and some locals criticized the reliance on a regressive sales tax to fund the plan — saying it placed more burden on poorer Nashvillians — but these efforts were grassroot and disjointed. While the Koch-funded Americans for Prosperity played a part in killing a 2018 transit referendum — which, unlike “Choose How You Move,” included plans for light rail — the organization declined to challenge O’Connell’s referendum.
The sales tax increase goes into effect Feb. 1.
