Skip to Content
Streetsblog New York City home
Streetsblog New York City home
Log In
Nashville

Nashville Media Getting Played by Transit-Bashing Hired Guns

Randall O'Toole has never met a transit project he didn't hate.

The Cato fellow has a knack for inserting himself into nearly every local debate over transit expansion, arguing against investments in rail and bus service. He's done it in Albuquerque. And Atlanta. And Charlotte.

It's almost impressive, except O'Toole's shtick isn't hard to pull off when local media outlets are such easy marks. He slots right into their "two sides to every story" style of coverage, no matter how shallow, formulaic, or demonstrably wrong his analysis might be.

O'Toole is currently parachuting into Nashville, which will vote on a $5.2 billion transit expansion plan in May. He has a willing partner in the influential Nashville Business Journal, which treated an O'Toole anti-light-rail screed in the Wall Street Journal as a news event, rather than another rote performance of his well-worn routine.

As Nashville gears up for the vote, the Business Journal has been trotting out O'Toole as well as the Manhattan Institute's Aaron Renn and Vanderbilt professor Malcolm Getz to round out its slate of opponents to Mayor Megan Barry's plan.

But these pundits don't represent the prevailing expertise about what makes good transit, according to Jon Orcutt, director of communications at TransitCenter. "They’re all coming from a very particular point of view," he said, which can be summarized as "outside of Manhattan there’s no place for transit."

Real watchdogs distinguish between white elephant transit projects that won't move many people and good transit investments that will address real travel needs in cities. O'Toole only has one setting: oppose the project that's on the table.

TransitCenter isn't shy about calling out bad transit projects. Orcutt, for example, has been an outspoken critic of New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio's plans for a streetcar along the Brooklyn-Queens waterfront.

But in Nashville, he thinks the city has developed a very solid plan.

"I think that they’re reading it right, that now’s the right time to change things," he said, noting that the city has very little in the way of frequent transit service. The local transit system only carries about 30,000 trips a day, well below peer cities in the Sunbelt.

"The technical dimensions" of the Nashville plan "are great too," he added.

Graph: City of Nashville
Graph: City of Nashville
false

Barry's proposal calls for five light rail lines totaling 26 miles, 25 miles of bus rapid transit, a 1.8-mile transit tunnel to bypass downtown congestion, and systemwide bus improvements.

"A lot of times you see mayors go, 'Oh, shiny! I want rail,' without realizing there's some difficult dimensions to it," said Orcutt.

Take Denver, which has built an extensive rail system that caters more to unwalkable suburbs than city neighborhoods where transit works best. Or Detroit, one of several American cities which has built short mixed-traffic streetcar segments that serve a downtown niche, and not very well. Nashville isn't taking those shortcuts.

Barry's plan has several things going for it, Orcutt says. For one, it doesn't skimp on the basics of a good bus network. The first phase focuses on adding bus service over a three-year timetable to build up transit ridership. The full plan calls for buses to arrive at least every 15 minutes on the busiest routes.

Nashville is also paying attention to how it will make streets more walkable, so people can get to their transit stop comfortably. Barry has said she will create a stand-alone department of transportation and empower it to improve walking and biking infrastructure, with a focus on safety.

And the plan avoids political compromises that have weakened rail expansions in cities like Seattle and Los Angeles, which cater to distant suburbs. The Nashville plan is squarely about improving service in the city, where the need for good transit is greatest.

"Very few places put all that together," Orcutt said.

Stay in touch

Sign up for our free newsletter

More from Streetsblog New York City

OPINION: Actually, Amazon’s Cargo E-Bikes are Good!

Amazon’s e-cargo bikes alleviate the need for delivery vans and reduce traffic collisions. They also look rad.

August 5, 2025

Inside Instacart’s Astro-Turf Group Opposing Worker Minimum Wage

Instacart is trying everything to pressure the mayor to veto a bill that would require the company to pay its workers minimum wage.

August 5, 2025

Tuesday’s Headlines: Hit-And-Run Edition

A look at this year's traffic stats. Plus other news.

August 5, 2025

DOT Reveals Transformational Plan For Flatbush Ave. — But Needs To Get The Details Right

The bus-first transformation is an ambitious project that could speed buses by 20 percent while also calming the roadway's notorious traffic. But it's not perfect.

August 4, 2025

Monday’s Headlines: We’re Living Rent Free in Mayor Adams’s Brain Edition

Mayor Adams doesn't want you talking about his record on bike lanes. Plus more news.

August 4, 2025

Here’s A Bus Rapid Transit Plan For New York … If the City Cares

It sure beats the current method of guessing or simply basing the route on how strongly a given neighborhood opposes or supports it.

August 1, 2025
See all posts