(upbeat music) - Now, transit.

If we was in the elevator together, right?

And you had to pitch me on why we need mass transit in Nashville, Middle Tennessee, what would that pitch be like?

- Individual freedoms are directly tied to mobility.

- Okay.

- Bottom line.

- Okay.

- I can tell you, and regale you with stories and anecdotes of how it impacts our health, our access to jobs, - Mm.

Hmm.

workforce, economic prosperity, equity, you name it, but in a nutshell, individual freedoms are directly tied to mobility.

(music grows louder) (music fades) - Hello, and welcome to another episode of A Slice of the Community.

I'm your host, Jerome Moore, and today we have the CEO and President of the Transit Alliance of Middle Tennessee, Jessica Dauphin.

How you doing Jessica?

- Good.

Glad to be here.

- Now, glad to have you here.

Now, transit.

If we was in the elevator together, right?

And you had to pitch me on why we need mass transit in Nashville, Middle Tennessee, what would that pitch be like?

- Individual freedoms are directly tied to mobility.

- Okay.

- Bottom line.

- Okay.

- I can tell you, and regale you with stories and anecdotes of how it impacts our health, our access to jobs, - Mm.

Hmm.

- workforce, economic prosperity, equity, you name it, but in a nutshell, individual freedoms are directly tied to mobility.

- So, I want to go a little to your background a little bit.

Right?

I know we talked about like you growing up in the rural area of Tennessee and just how like you seen transit, Because you don't have an engineering degree.

You don't have a planning degree, but you entrench in this thing that we really need, which is transit.

Tell us a little bit of that background story, because I just think it also connects the rural and like kind of urban areas, and how transit is important, and how it affects us all, albeit maybe on a little different levels.

- Well, you just nailed that.

Right?

Transit, affects us all.

- Yeah.

- Our ability to be mobile.

Growing up on a dirt road in south Cheatham County in Pegram, Tennessee, and then Kingston Springs, - Mm.

Hmm.

- I didn't have the ability to walk anywhere.

If there wasn't someone with a car that could take me - Right.

- into town, as we used to call it, go to town, - In the town.

It ain't no small thing.

We're going into town.

- Then, I wasn't going.

So, if there wasn't a school bus to take me to school, then I wasn't going.

- Okay.

So, I really got firsthand experience about how access - Mm.

Hmm.

- or in-access, or not having access - Mm.

Hmm.

- to opportunity can really affect a person.

- Yeah, and so the equity piece, that justice piece.

Right?

I want you to speak on that.

Like when, because we hear, like justice, and a lot of times it's like around like criminal, legal justice, you know, housing justice, but like, what, how does transit connect to justice?

- Okay.

- Yeah.

- I do have a friend.

Her name is Ashley Northington, and she does, and she can tell you from her heart - Mm.

Hmm.

- what that means, and she said, "Transit is justice," - Mm.

- and ever since she said that, I want, to give her the quote.

- Yeah.

"Transit is justice."

- "Transit is justice," because as we've said, it's directly tied to individual freedoms.

- Okay.

- It is for every person, - Mm.

Hmm.

- and when you think of justice, it's really the equitable access to opportunities.

Right?

- Okay.

So, if we're talking strictly economic prosperity.

- Mm.

Hmm.

- Alright?

We live in an area that is car-centric, - Mm.

Hmm.

- So, we don't live in 15-minute cities.

I can't walk from, I don't know where I live in Bellevue, 15 minutes, and get to a really high paying job, - Right.

- in theory.

I have to use my car.

- Okay.

- So, if I have to own, operate, buy a car - Mm.

Hmm.

in order to participate in the economy, it's not an equitable economy, - Right?

- because not everyone's able to participate, - Right?

- and beyond that, like if I have to get in a single occupancy vehicle, or a vehicle that I own and operate, or pay - Right.

- a ride share, for instance, to get even to some educational opportunities or training opportunities to further my ability - Mm.

Hmm.

- to increase my economic prosperity for myself and my family, - Right?

That's not equitable.

- Right?

- So, in the very basic terms of justice, in terms of equal opportunity, - Right?

- for success, - Right?

transit is, you know, queen.

- I wanna talk about money, and I wanna talk about money in two different ways.

Right?

- Okay.

The first one I wanna talk about more is affordability.

Right?

How much money could people, or put it like this, I'm, you know, Nashville's already, you know, unaffordable for many people.

Right?

Because just cost.

There's not a lot of affordable housing.

- Because affordability - Yeah.

- and transit go hand in hand.

- Affordability and transit go hand in hand.

Right?

- Mm.

Hmm.

So therefore, I may want to work in Nashville, or even live in Nashville, but I'm gonna decide, I'm gonna live in Murfreesboro, because, you know, I can't afford, you know, to live in Nashville at this current moment.

However, you know, I may have still have to drive in.

- Mm.

Hmm.

Right?

And that might cost me five, six, seven, eight, depending on the vehicle that you have, in gas.

You know, So, you're still paying for transit in that particular way, Right?

So, how would that minimize those costs?

Because, if you're paying six, seven hundred dollars extra in gas.

Right?

(Mm.

Hmm.)

That could go to a mortgage.

You probably can afford to live in Nashville, but you might not be able to afford to have a car.

- That's right.

- and so, how does that affordability piece work in those type of situations?

Especially for people that's like, okay, I just won't live in Nashville, but I'll just work in Nashville.

Are they really saving money?

- No.

Unfortunately, that's pretty much a myth.

- Mm.

- I think that at one point that may have worked, - Okay.

- but with gas prices over three dollars a gallon, - Mm.

Hmm.

- and just kind of staying there, - Yeah.

- and inching into four dollars a gallon, - Yeah.

- with the price of cars now, through the pandemic, they really went through the roof.

- Yep.

Sky high.

- I can tell you a few years ago before the pandemic, someone came into our Transit Citizen Leadership Academy, and I can't remember the expert that came in at this point and said this, but they were showing us the data on the myth of, "I'll just move to Murfreesboro, - Mm.

Hmm.

- and commute in."

You wind up paying 70 to 80 cents on the dollar, you quote, save - Mm.

Mm.

- on for transportation to move there.

Right?

- Right.

- And you're losing time, because you're spending time sitting on the interstate.

- Right.

- Right?

- Right.

- or Murfreesboro Pike to come in and then go home, - Right.

- and then you've lost, what?

Two hours a day?

- Right.

- If you're an hour in and hour out.

- Quality of life.

- Quality of life.

You know that long commutes like that are associated with higher heart disease, - Hmm.

diabetes, higher BMIs, and - Really?

.

- higher divorce rates.

- (Jerome laughs) - Really?

- Yeah.

- Wow.

I would think the lone car ride, you know, would help relationships like, "Yeah.

Let me just take my time, getting home."

(Jerome laughs) - And I think I even, you know, I just, - Wow.

- Yeah.

I mean our commute can - That's crazy.

- Yeah.

It's - Transit can save relationships.

(Jerome and Jessica laugh) - There's the justice, right now.

(Jerome and Jessica laugh) - Transit can save your relationship.

(Jerome and Jessica laugh) That's the next campaign.

That's the commercial for the campaign.

- Yes.

(Jerome laughs) And so, okay.

So, I'm glad we broke that down.

Now, let's go to the other funding of new transit.

Right?

We did have a referendum in 2018, Let's Move Nashville.

It failed, unfortunately.

- Yeah.

- Right?

What did you all learn from that referendum, from that campaign that maybe, you know, things should be different next time, and then, I want to pivot into a new referendum, especially during, you know, mayoral elections in a possibly, you know, we gonna get a new mayor, and how that kind of plays into getting that back, back on a ballot.

- I think there were a lot of lessons learned, and this also depends on who you talk to, - Right?

- but for me, what I saw - Mm.

Hmm.

- is the need for really close communication with communities.

- Okay?

- Right.

People have to know what it is they're talking about, - Okay.

- what they're voting on, and what you're asking them to pay for.

- That goes into taxes and things like that, and so break that down, - Yeah.

- because a lot of people feel that, you know, okay, the money piece.

"What am I, as a taxpayer, going to have to put into this?"

- Mm.

Hmm.

- Right.

But that IMPROVE Act kind of tells you what can be pulled.

- That's right.

- Okay.

- So, in 2017, the state legislature approved, adopted, passed the IMPROVE Act, I-M-P-R-O-V-E. - Okay.

IMPROVE Act.

- It's a very long and tortured acronym, but so, in there, they raised the gas tax, - Okay.

- they lowered the grocery tax, they phased out the Hall tax, I think, and then, they did some enabling legislation that allows cities and counties above a certain population number threshold to take the request for dedicating funding to transit to the voter, - Okay.

- instead of having to go to the state legislature, Okay.

which is how it had been.

- Dedicated funding.

- Dedicated.

- Dedicated funding.

- Is that what we need?

- That's what we need.

- Dedicated funding.

Okay.

- Here's the thing.

Can I tell you why we need dedicated funding?

- Why do we need that dedicated funding?

- Okay.

Because, we need to remain competitive for federal dollars - Okay.

- at its base.

- Okay.

- Okay.

So, we get an automatic allocation based on road miles and population and blah-d-blah, so, - Right.

- you know that's that.

- Right.

- Now, that's typically FHWA or Federal Highway Administration funding, - Okay.

- but the FTA or the Federal Transit Administration also has funding, but typically, theirs are competitive grants.

- Okay.

- Okay, and as you know, when you're vying for federal dollars, - Mm.

Hmm.

- there has to be a local match.

- Right.

- Okay, and if you're looking at a bus priority, oh my goodness, a transit priority lane, - Okay.

- A bus only lane, - Okay.

- For, you know, five to seven miles, - Mm.

Hmm.

- we'll say, it's gonna be, and this is numbers, don't like hold me to this, (Jerome laughs) - like, say it's like four-hundred million dollars to build that.

- Okay.

- Right?

The local match would be 20, 30, or maybe even up to 40% of that.

- Okay.

- Okay, and that's just to build it.

- Mm.

- and then, once it's built, you've got to own, operate, and maintain it.

- Right.

Maintenance.

Yep.

Maintenance.

Right, and that, largely that is also paying our bus operators - Right.

- Right?

handsomely to do their job.

- Right.

- That's very important too.

I mean, that's bus.

Can I just give a shout out to bus operators - Yeah.

Yeah.

Shout out to them.

- for handling their business - Yeah.

during the pandemic - Right.

and keeping us going, because not everyone was able to work from home, - Exactly.

- During the height of the pandemic, we still had ten to fourteen-thousand people riding buses in Nashville.

- That goes into that justice piece, that goes into that equity piece.

- That's that justice piece.

- Yeah.

- Who was able to work - Mm.

- from home, - Yeah.

- and who wasn't?

Right?

- Right.

- So, we still had people heading out to work, to grocery stores, and gas stations, and to the hospitals.

- Right.

- I mean we needed these people, and they were able to get back and forth on the bus.

- Where do we rank as far as other cities or states that get this dedicated funding?

Like, is this a wild thing or - We're the last one of our size, city of our size without dedicated funding.

- The last one of our size?

- Yeah.

(Jerome laughs) You know, why do, as Tennessee, a state, we sure like coming in last in a lot of things, unfortunately.

We gotta do better.

(Jerome and Jessica laugh) We gotta do better.

Back to the referendum.

Right?

Unfortunately, there was a scandal that, that happened during the 2018 with Megan, our former mayor, Megan Berry.

- Uh, huh.

- Did that shift things, you feel, during that mayoral administration?

What was going, and kind of taking a lot of the - Yeah, I think - awareness away from the - I've heard anecdotally, and I wasn't in the rooms at the time.

- Right.

- I was the Associate Director of the Transit Alliance, so, that was above my pay grade, - Mm.

Hmm.

but I've heard, anecdotally, the polling before that was favorable to it passing.

- Mm.

Hmm.

- Mayor Berry was extremely charismatic.

She had a high confidence rate.

People really loved her, and believed in her, - Right.

- And she was the champion - Right.

- of Let's Move Nashville.

So, I think that did, unfortunately, have a negative effect on the outcome.

- It helps, because we are a mayor-driven like kind of city.

Right?

- Very, very strong mayor.

- Why didn't we have more champions during that time in 2018, and how do we get more champions?

Hopefully, the new mayor will be a champion, but also, others that have some decision making power or influence.

- Mm.

Hmm.

Right, and that's what we need.

- Right.

- we need the people with the decision-making power and influence - Right.

- to get on in this issue and get involved and really start pulling or pushing it.

- Right.

- So, yeah.

I don't know why they didn't, again.

- Yeah.

- That was above my pay grade at the time.

- Right.

- I was just kind of a fly on the wall.

I was aware - Right.

- and paying attention - Right.

- when I was around, but I wasn't, in any capacity making those decisions.

- Because, I think, like most people will agree, we need, like, we need transit.

Right?

Clearly, especially at this point.

- Right.

Well, can I just say - Go ahead.

- You know, we were told 10 years ago, "Hey, we're gonna be a region of over two million people."

- Wow.

- Right.

What did we do?

- Nothing.

- Okay.

(Jerome laughs) - Uh, huh.

So now, we're being told, "Hey, we're gonna be a region of over 3 million people.

It's coming."

- Like within like about 20, 30, 20?

- I would, the next 10 or 20 years or so.

I'd have to go back and - Yeah.

20?

30?

20?

Wow!

- So, we have fair warning is my point, - Huh.

- and we had fair warning.

- So an extra million people.

- Another million people.

Yeah.

- In Nashville.

Wow.

- And that's regional.

Yeah.

- Right.

- Yeah.

Huh.. - So, we're over 2 million today, - Huh.

Right.

- which is just wild to think about.

- Yeah.

- So, our infrastructure, our transit and road infrastructure was fine when we were - Mm.

Hmm.

- under a million.

- Right.

- Right, but now we're at over two million, and we are staring down over 3 million in the coming years, - Right.

- So, we have time to correct and prepare.

- Mm.

Hmm.

- What are we going to do?

- So, I think that's a great question that I guess we need to be asking our mayoral candidates at this particular time.

Right?

Early voting is in July.

Actual voting is in August, and I'm pretty sure it's gonna be a runoff, and that happens in September.

Right?

- Well, - what should we say to our voters?

Right?

What is the, or what should our voters be asking these mayoral candidates while they're on their mayoral campaigns, participating in these forums, and while they have close access and proximity to, what are some three or four things that we should be asking these mayoral candidates, as far as gauging how they feel or don't feel about transit, and dedicated funding - Mm.

Hmm.

- specifically to transit.

- You know, ask them their priorities.

"What are your top three priorities for Nashville?"

- Mm.

Hmm.

- You know, "Where do you see us going?"

Just to see how it ranks, - Okay.

- because that, if it's important to them, it'll rank up there.

- Right.

- I think for over 80% of regional population, it ranks.

- Right.

- Right.

So, let's just see where they are, and then, "What's your vision for mobility in Nashville?

Where do you see us heading?"

You know?

- Yeah.

- Getting what is, "What is your transportation plan?"

and transportation is a large umbrella of things.

- Right.

- That's anywhere from your own personal vehicle, to freight, to buses and trains, to micromobility, and bikes, - Bikes.

- and walking.

Those are the - Sidewalks.

Everything.

Yeah.

- Everything.

Right?

So that's he big umbrella.

"What's your vision for transportation mobility?"

and then, the third thing would be like, "How do you propose we fund it?"

- Yeah.

- Right.

Because it's one thing, Can I just tell you Nashville has, probably could stock a small library with the number of plans and studies we've done on corridor streets, sidewalks, safety bike lanes, and greenways.

Right.

We have that - Right.

- ready to go.

It's been studied and looked at by experts.

- Right.

- So the the - Where's the money?

- That's right.

- Where's the dough?

- Where it always like, comes to a screeching halt, is the funding.

- Yeah.

- We need that funding.

- Yeah.

We need that dedicated funding.

- We need that dedicated funding.

- And so, in that, I think, I think it's important to point this out too.

Like, it's not gonna get any cheaper.

Right.

Like, - Preach.

- Like, - Yeah.

- it's not gonna get any cheaper.

- I know.

And so, for those people who may be worried about having to pay like now, well, it's gonna be more expensive later.

- So, you want your kids to pay higher prices?

- And so, - You're gonna want your grandkids to pay for it, or you want them to move away, because they don't wanna live here, because they can't get anywhere, because that's what we're looking at.

- Yeah.

- I think those are our options, and I hate to sound like Chicken Little, but at some point, - Mm.

Hmm.

- it will become too much.

Are we going to sit on our hands, - Hmm.

Yeah - and wait for that pain point to become too much to where we're like, "Uh, oh.

People are leaving.

Now, what are we gonna do?"

- Yeah.

- Right?

- Yeah.

- or do we proactively say, "I see the issue here," - Right.

- and we gotta make a tough decision."

- Right.

What can people do to start being a part of that conversation today?

Right?

Because I think we see the challenges.

We, people are experiencing them firsthand.

- Mm.

Hmm.

- How can they be engaged like yesterday to figure out more, (Jessica laughs) to really figure out, like to get a better understanding of like what mass transit is, go through that educational piece, go through that awareness piece, and then, be able to talk and ask, okay, "How does this affect me?

How can it benefit me, or benefit my neighbors?"

- Yeah.

- Right?

And how it intersects with other things or other peoples in their daily journeys that you know, I may not experience.

I might not, you know, I might not.

I have a different type of privilege.

- Mm.

Hmm.

- Like, how can they start that process?

- You just gave a commercial for the Transit Citizen Leadership Academy.

- Oh.

- Which is the (Jerome and Jessica laugh) - I just gave you commercials today.

You know?

- Yeah.

No.

You are a natural.

So, the Transit Citizen Leadership Academy is something that the Transit Alliance is known for.

We've been hosting it since 2010.

- Okay.

- We're having our, we're hosting our 25th TCLA later this year.

- Okay.

- You can go to my website, thetransitalliance.org.

- Okay.

- Find out more information about it.

Register, it's free to attend.

We wanna have a big class this year.

- Mm.

Hmm.

- It's eight weeks long.

We get two weeks off.

Experts come, and give these presentations - Okay.

- allowing you time to ask them your questions, and really sit and internalize this information, - synthesizing it.

Right.

- For you, but in the media, because that's in the fall, - Right.

- right now is like, oh, you said we have a mayoral campaign going on.

Man, dig into that.

- Right.

There's mayoral forums happening probably, almost on the daily - Right.

- between now and July through July.

- Yeah.

- So I know that one is coming up on June 7th.

- Mm.

Hmm.

- That's co-hosted with Civic Design Center, Transit Alliance, Urban Housing Solutions, Neighbor 2 Neighbor, - Okay.

- and Walk Bike Nashville.

We're gonna be asking them particularly about affordability and transportation and infrastructure.

- Okay.

- There might be another one also popping up here and there.

but pay attention to that, - Okay.

- And go to the mayoral forums.

- Go - Yeah.

- ask them yourself, tweet them or whatever.

- Yeah.

Ask what what's going on, - but if you wanna get into the decision-making and transportation, - Mm.

Hmm.

the Greater National Regional Council or gnrc.org, is a great place to start.

- Okay.

- because they are a regional organization that helps allocate funding to transportation projects - Okay.

- around the region.

- Okay.

- Look at what that, what's going on there.

They're, they host public meetings, - Mm.

Hmm.

- I think the third Wednesday of the month, RTA meetings.

It's through, WeGo Regional - Okay.

- Bus, public meetings for third Wednesday of the month, - Mm.

Hmm.

- I believe also, WeGo Nashville, - Yeah.

- Like the MTA, - The MTA.

Yeah.

- WeGo also has public meetings - Yeah.

- Monthly, fourth Thursday of the month at 2:30.

- Okay.

- You can look at their website to get one.

- So, there's a lot going on.

- A lot of public meetings going, council, national, you know, - Right.

- council members, public comment period.

- Mm.

- Like, get out there, make your comment, email your elected officials, - Right.

- tweet them and say, "Yo.

This is important to me."

- Right.

- Here's why, You don't have to have canned language.

- Right.

- People, these are your neighbors.

- Right.

- Right?

Who, our council members aren't in DC.

They're right here.

They live here, - Yeah.

- They want to talk to you.

They want to hear your authentic voice.

- Yeah.

- and hear about your experience.

- What are some immediate actions or things that, okay, we might not be able to build a Amp or get the subways and all that like, right now, today, but what are some things, immediately, that could help our transit situation, like fixing potholes or you know, is it dedicated lanes for a WeGo?

Like, what are some of those things that people could be advocating for, talking to their council members?

that is more of on a micro - Yeah.

- kind of ask.

- Yeah.

That's what I'm saying.

- Yeah.

- Use your authentic voice.

- Yeah.

- My daily commute consists of this, that, and the other thing.

- Mm.

Hmm.

There's a a stop sign down at this intersection.

- Okay.

- Be vocal.

There's hubNashville for that kind of stuff too, - Yeah.

- if you're, looking to solve those kind of very hyper-local things, - Yeah.

- but if you're looking at, you know, I can't, I feel weird about letting my kid play out in the front yard, for instance, because people speed - Yeah.

- down my street, hubNashville, INDOT, your elected council member.

- Okay.

- Talk to them about it, and see what they can do.

If you're looking at, you know, their, your particular bus route - Yeah.

- for some particular reason, you want to improve somehow, call WeGo.

- Okay.

- They have an excellent customer service line.

Come to the public meeting.

Give your public comment.

Even if you want to sing the praises of WeGo, come give public comment.

- Right.

- I'm on the WeGo board.

I would love to hear that.

- Yeah.

- Right?

Help us improve the service, and give accolades when the service is good.

- Yeah.

So just don't complain.

- Make it public.

- Just come, come and be intentional about building better transit.

- Yeah.

- Yeah.

- And just know that if there's a struggle along the way, it's probably not because the transit agency doesn't wanna provide a good service.

- Right.

- It's because they lack the funding, - The funding.

- To make it - Right.

- superior.

- Right.

- Right?

That's, and I think that I've had this conversation before with someone, and it might have been you, but like world class city like Nashville.

- That's what we're missing.

That's, that's what - We really deserve a world class- - if we get the mass transit that we rightfully deserve and need, right?

- Yeah.

- Like, we will be a world-class city and that's, I think, one, if not the like, of course, we need affordable housing and things like that too, but top, but that ties into transit, but if we can, - Mm.

Hmm.

- but if we can get that, I think like, that'll be, we'll be we would be top notch.

Right?

What would be your vision, or what is your vision for mass transit in Nashville?

I know we talked about asking like, the mayoral candidates what their vision or people's inner, like, what does your vision for transit, go to your council member?

- Jessica's vision for transit is that no one should be held back for their inability to get from one place to another.

- Mm.

Hmm.

- Right?

- Right.

- So, whether that's I need, from my health, I need to get to my doctor's office, or for to make more money.

I need to get education and training - Okay.

- or a better job access, or I'm from my mental health, I need to be accessing social engagements.

- Mm.

Hmm.

- It doesn't matter what the reason is why I need to get from one place to another, - Yeah.

- but really, I shouldn't be held hostage because of my inability to afford a car.

- Mm.

- Right?

- Right.

- I would love, I would love, and I envision the future of Middle Tennessee, of being able to live in Murfreesboro, Franklin or Spring Hill.

- Right.

- You know what I mean?

Or anywhere in the 10 county region and not really having to own a car or being able to be a one car family, even that far out.

- Right.

- because we're so well connected with mass transit, - Mm.

Hmm.

- micromobility and our connected network of sidewalks and bike lanes would make it so we could do that.

- I think that's a perfect line to end on.

Jessica, I really appreciate your time.

and hopefully, people go to that website, - Mm.

Hmm.

- and people reach out and really start digging into transportation, and start having a conversation like today, - Yes.

- and right now, before it's 10 years too late, and it's more expensive, and it's even a more of a headache for everybody.

(upbeat music) - And thank you all for watching another episode of A Slice of the Community.

See y'all next time.

(guitar plays out)