Raleigh’s advice to Nashville: Vet your transit plan first, then take it to voters
(Nashville, TN Business Journal, December 9, 2016, page 11)
(Nashville, TN Business Journal online headline, December 7, 2016)
When it comes to finding a mentor for Greater Nashville's transit overhaul, those involved frequently look to Denver for guidance, but after this year's election, Middle Tennessee leaders might want to start looking at their neighbors in North Carolina for advice.
On Nov. 8, Raleigh, N.C. voters approved a half-cent sales tax increase that will help fund a regional $2.3 billion transit plan, making the Wake County referendum one of 55 ballot initiatives that passed nationally.
Joe Milazzo, executive director of the Raleigh-based Regional Transportation Alliance business coalition, said the city's road to sustainable transit funding took time, though that time paid off in the end.
"You cannot communicate too much," Milazzo said in a phone conversation. "You must be open to feedback from various sections of your community, and if you do that then you can be successful."
For instance, one thing Raleigh officials learned in their planning was that the region was more open to installing bus rapid-transit lines as opposed to light rail because the impacts of having bus rapid-transit are more immediate. The final plan does include some commuter rails, but it does not contain any light rail options, Milazzo said.
Milazzo said local officials in Raleigh launched their public messaging campaign in the summer leading up to the vote, and their messaging was simple: more transit for more people more quickly. He said being transparent with voters about what they were actually voting for was important as well, saying they never claimed transit would reduce the area's congestion problems, but would provide other alternatives.
"I was pleased to see the level of support, because like Nashville, we have a community that doesn’t use transit too much, but they realized we needed options," he said.
Ultimately, Milazzo said the real success was that the public campaign was able to unite people from across Wake County through relationships that will last beyond the transit initiative.