Get Some Serious Transit

Salemtown Neighbors President Freddie O'Connell was able to get well over 100 signatures of support of a letter he addressed to Mayor Karl Dean asking for complete funding for the Metro Transit Authority in next year's Metro Budget. Freddie is forced to buy a car now because the lack of routes in and around and out of North-by-Northwest Nashville:

There's not a single route that travels from downtown out Rosa L. Parks Boulevard to Watkins College of Art and Design or Metro Center after business hours. Most routes rely on a hub and spoke system, and there are few lateral or crosstown routes.

Despite increased ridership and skyrocketing gas prices, it is not clear if Metro Nashville or the Mayor's Office is committed to helping people find alternatives. There is rising demand, especially in communities like Salemtown where service is lacking, to ride a better developed MTA.

I would use MTA to patronize the Downtown's Urban Market on Church Street as well as the Farmer's Market on Rosa Parks if we had a decent transit system. I just need a well-funded and better-developed MTA to do so. So, I signed Freddie's letter and I urge you to contact the Mayor's Office and your Council Member and ask them to support Freddie's initiative while the Mayor is holding budget hearings and then again in the spring just before Metro Council considers the Mayor's budget proposal in June.