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Dozens Come Out To Listen To Alternative Transit Plan

Posted at 6:05 PM, Jan 27, 2018
and last updated 2018-01-29 12:05:06-05

It's a hot topic in Nashville these days: transit and plans for the future.

Mayor Megan Barry has been pushing her plan for months now, but some came together to listen to an alternative option on Saturday.

The Beacon Center presented what it calls "a better plan for Nashville."

One of the solutions to Music City's growing traffic headache was autonomous vehicles: a way to improve our existing infrastructure without costing tax payers cash.

"If you talk to people who actually study transportation engineering and transportation economics and transportation planning they tend to say focus on making the existing system more efficient," said Marc Scribner, of Competitive Enterprise Institute.

Mayor Megan Barry has proposed a $5.4 billion transit plan to be on the May ballot, where voters will decide if they want to pay higher taxes to create dedicated funding for a mass transit proposal that includes light rail.

Many who attended the meeting opposed that plan.

"We shouldn't be spending government money on stupid projects to make politicians look good, and I think that that is largely what this is," said Scribner.

But supporters of the Mayor's plan were not impressed by the proposed alternative and have been hoping for real solutions to a growing problem.

"You've got people who go around and make a living of opposing mass transit plans, and that’s exactly what they did. They came up with no real viable solutions to our transit issues," said Gary Garfield, Former Bridgestone Arena CEO.