The Tennessean
Jamie McGee

Taking lessons from the failed Amp initiative, the Nashville Area Chamber of Commerce is pursuing a grass-roots approach as it develops a new, regional plan addressing transportation needs.

“Solving it for Davidson is not going to be the ultimate solution,” said Avenue Bank commercial banking executive Pete Wooten, who is co-chair of the chamber’s new transportation initiative. “We’ve got to solve this at the regional level.”

As part of the initiative, called Moving Forward, the chamber is reaching out to individuals and groups who led opposition to the controversial Amp proposal and is working with close to 100 local leaders to help engage residents throughout the planning process.

Solving congestion woes is among top priorities for the city and region as Middle Tennessee’s population continues to soar. Mayor Karl Dean, along with the chamber, pushed for the 7-mile bus rapid transit Amp project in 2013 and 2014 to address traffic in the urban core, but the measure failed to gain necessary funding and approval amid fervent opposition.

The chamber’s plan calls for the Metro Transit Authority and the Regional Transit Authority to complete their Strategic Plan, called nMotion, within a year. By 2017, state and federal governments should raise revenue for transit needs, and by 2018, a local funding source should be identified. The chamber’s goal is for ground to be broken on the first rapid transit project by 2020. Along the way, the chamber seeks to engage with more than 30,000 regional residents.

“It has to be done with very transparent conversation with the community, gathering input, and when there is opposition or disagreement, really trying to understand that early and engage in that conversation to know what the basis for disagreement is, so we can work through it and move forward,” Wooten said.

While most Amp opposition groups have not been receptive to the chamber’s outreach, Richard Fulton, a commercial real estate broker who led the Stop Amp coalition in 2013, said he is encouraged by the chamber’s approach.

“The chamber and the MTA both are going about this in a very correct way,” Fulton said. “They are involving the community from the very beginning of the planning process, getting the community’s input before they start proposing anything concrete, which is the way it should be done. The community has to be involved in an initiative like this, particularly one that is desperately needed, but at the same time we all know is going to be very expensive.”

Wooten, who serves on the board of the Transit Alliance of Middle Tennessee, will lead Moving Forward’s at least 12-person committee with Bridgestone Americas CEO Gary Garfield as chairman. The committee includes three separate task forces focused on funding, routes and transit modes, and public engagement. The group will release a report on its recommendations in June, according to the chamber.

Nashville is often touted for its cost of living, compared with peer cities, but when transportation costs are added to housing expenses, the city becomes more expensive than Denver; Charlotte, N.C.; Austin, Texas; and Atlanta, according to the chamber, citing the Center for Neighborhood Technology.

“It’s really about remaining competitive as a city,” Wooten said. “Mobility is the key to attract talent. It’s also purely a quality-of-life issue for people that live here.”