Nashville Considers $6.9 Billion Transit Referendum Despite City Bus Network Just Now Reaching Pre-Pandemic Ridership

WeGo Public Transit in Nashville said on Friday it has now reached the high watermark of riders previously set in 2018, more than a year prior to the COVID-19 pandemic that saw the number of Nashvillians using public transit cut in half.

News that Nashville’s bus system has reached its pre-pandemic ridership numbers comes as the city’s voters consider a transit referendum the city says will cost $3.1 billion, but which an independent financial analysis said will ultimately require $6.9 billion over the life of the project. The referendum will be on the November ballot at the request of Mayor Freddie O’Connell.

A WeGo press release published Friday revealed the public transit agency recorded its ridership “at 101 percent of pre-pandemic levels,” in the last financial quarter, which it reported represents a six percent increase since 2023.

WeGo’s airport bus route saw the greatest increase in ridership, while bus lines in Murfreesboro, Dickerson, and Nolensville have also seen a significant rise in ridership.

This means WeGo buses see slightly more use than they did in 2017, when Nashville voters overwhelmingly rejected a transit plan promoted by former Mayor Megan Barry, who also included light rail in her proposal.

O’Connell, in a recent podcast appearance, suggested Barry’s plan would have been “pretty useful” to Nashville had its voters approved it, but ultimately argued the real payoff of any transit investment would be seen in the future.

“There’s sort of that old adage of, the best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago, and the second best time is today,” O’Connell told The Nashville Scene Podcast in August. “This is similar in that the timing for 2018 would have been pretty useful.”

The mayor’s proposal does not include light rail, but does include around-the-clock bus lines, as well as new sidewalks, smart traffic signals, and other infrastructure improvements.

That element of the referendum raised concerns from Nashville Tea Party founder Ben Cunningham, who noted the 2017 IMPROVE Act, which gives cities like Nashville the ability to raise sales taxes to pay for public transit, does not include the infrastructure elements included within the plan by O’Connell.

O’Connell plans to pay for the transit referendum using a combination of federal funding and a half-cent sales tax increase.

Cunningham explained last month, “there’s a state law which allows him to put a referendum before the people, and it very specifically says that it’s for mass transit, for buses or trains – shared public mass transit. It’s very clearly in the bill’s definition that’s what it’s for.”

He speculated O’Connell added infrastructure components to his referendum to increase its odds of passing.

“What he’s doing is illegal, but he put them in there because he knew this referendum wouldn’t pass otherwise,” said Cunningham.

Originally slated to cost $3.1 billion, an independent financial analyses found the referendum would cost taxpayers $6.93 billion over the life of the project.

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Tom Pappert is the lead reporter for The Tennessee Star, and also reports for The Pennsylvania Daily Star and The Arizona Sun Times. Follow Tom on X/Twitter. Email tips to [email protected].
Photo “WeGoTranst Bus Stop” by WeGoTransit.