A common perception says that rail is the most politically difficult transit investment. Yet a recent article examines the examples of Nashville and Cincinnati to claim that sometimes, political opposition is just about transit, period.
As any city that’s proposed a rail line in recent decades knows, “it's tempting to think cities might have an easier time implementing new transit lines if they simply planned BRT from the start,” writes Dan Malouf. But the conclusion of Malouf’s recent article is a reason for caution when faced with that temptation because “[unfortunately], BRT often faces the exact same opposition.”
To make the point that when it comes to transit, political opposition doesn’t distinguish between modes, Malouf examines the proposed (and legislatively opposed) BRT plans in Nashville to the much-maligned streetcar proposal in Cincinnati.
Both cities would seem primed for transit improvements. “Both Nashville and Cincinnati are among America's most car-dependent and least transit-accessible large cities. Nashville's entire regional transit agency only carries about 31,000 passengers per day. Cincinnati's carries about 58,000.”
Malouf’s take is that these cities’ tradition of neglect produces a default opposition to transit plans. “In places like Nashville and Cincinnati, authorities have ignored transit for so long that any attempt to take it seriously is inherently controversial, regardless of the mode.”
FULL STORY: Tennessee's BRT feud shows even modest projects face opposition
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City of Albany
UCLA Lewis Center for Regional Policy Studies
Mpact (formerly Rail~Volution)
Chaddick Institute at DePaul University
City of Piedmont, CA
Great Falls Development Authority, Inc.
HUDs Office of Policy Development and Research