News

The Chattanooga Area Regional Transportation Authority was awarded $1.7 million in state funds to begin working on transit service to the Enterprise South Industrial Park. CARTA plans to create four designated routes to and from Enterprise South.

The three-year pilot program would also connect riders to its main line, Cleveland Transit and public transit services provided by the Southeast Tennessee Human Resource Agency. Executive Director Lisa Maragnano said the service will be up and running sometime next year. 

Faced with the certainty of Cool Springs’ traffic worsening in the next decade, Franklin traffic planners are pushing ahead with the city’s first-ever multi-modal transportation plan specifically for its retail and office area.

Tennessee's small branch rail lines — including the one that carries the Music City Star commuter trains — are at risk over a new funding crisis, their supporters say.

The Metro Transit Authority Board of Directors today approved the hiring of public transit industry veteran Stephen G. Bland to serve as CEO, effective Aug. 25.

Rail transit to Nashville could be the future for Spring Hill commuters.  With Nashville Area Metropolitan Planning Organization readying to call for projects from members, Assistant City Administrator Dan Allen said the city of Spring Hill might want to consider commuter rail lines to ease local traffic congestion and provide more direct connections to Franklin and Nashville.

Read more here.

Sen. Bob Corker announced today a bipartisan plan to help pay for roads and highway programs by raising federal gasoline and diesel taxes for the first time in more than two decades.

Rail travel in Chattanooga could be poised for a comeback if a plan to resurrect the city's underused infrastructure passes muster with the U.S. Department of Transportation. 

Read more here.

Metro transit officials are one step closer in their bid to secure up to $75 million in funding for the proposed bus rapid transit line.

When it comes to moving large numbers of people efficiently through urban areas, it’s hard to beat good old-fashioned heavy rail subways and metro lines. But these projects come at a steep price, especially in the United States, and don’t make sense in many areas. Yet, politicians looking for cheaper options too often fall for the superficial idea that anything that runs on train tracks must be a good idea. The smarter strategy in many cases is to look instead at the numerically dominant form of mass transit—the humble bus—and ask what can be done to make it less humble. 

Read more here.

One of the questions I get asked a lot these days is what I think of the Amp, Mayor Karl Dean’s proposed rapid bus route along West End Avenue from White Bridge Road to East Nashville.  Read more here.