The 15th class of the Transit Citizen Leadership Academy, organized through the Transit Alliance of Middle Tennessee, begins tonight. The Transit Alliance of Middle Tennessee builds support for funding regional transit by mobilizing community leadership in the Middle Tennessee region. I'm thankful to have been accepted into the upcoming class, and plan to summarize and reflect on the six class sessions in the following weeks.
The Transit Citizen Leadership Academy is "designed to equip private and public sector leaders
across Middle Tennessee with the personal and group tools to lead conversations about the value of multimodal transit across the region and about the emerging mass transit options that can address our mobility needs." I'm excited to learn more about funding specifics, especially the relation between federal funding and local acceptance.
Here in Middle Tennessee where many communities are growing at historically high rates, transit, transportation and mobility are perennially topics of heightened interest. With Nashville's failed transit referendum in 2018, it will be important that transit and transportation continue to be something that is advocated by residents and local leaders.
Over our six weeks, we will take an overall look at:
1) transportation in the United States and Tennessee
2) the current transit climate of Middle Tennessee and what the next steps for the region will be
3) the new technologies, incentives and creative solutions
4) the exploration of the growth to be expected in the Nashville region and a look at what other mobility systems are, or could be put in place
5) the experience or transit systems by traveling on Nashville's WeGo public transit and the Music City Star commuter rail, and
6) how to continue to advocate for transit in our communities in Middle Tennessee and beyond
Check back for updates and thoughts from each class. I'm excited to learn more, and to be able to better support transportation and transit related issues, especially from a municipal land use perspective.