NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WKRN) – From the campaign trail to the Mayor’s Office, John Cooper appears consistent.
“You do not need a transportation plan that is fundamentally about benefiting tourism, or people who have not moved here yet,” Cooper said during a July 2019 mayoral debate.
After 100 days in office, Cooper is committed to crafting a transit plan to serve the people who elected him, the people who live in Music City right now.
“I used to live by the airport and that was not a fun commute, driving through downtown to get anywhere,” says Raisa Fletcher.
An 11-stop listening tour starts on Jan. 9. Mayor Cooper is inviting the public and rest assured the public has an opinion.
“I know there’s more people here, more cars here and we need to figure it out,” Frank Baltz says. “Widen interstates or a new form of transit, we need to come up with a plan and stick with it.”
Cooper is committed to a plan in place by September. It will likely vary from the transit overhaul which failed by a 2-1 margin, in May of 2018.
Don’t expect light rail or a $9 billion price tag this time. It’s not what Cooper’s thinking.
“Harvest all the low hanging fruit our studies have identified,” he said, in 2019. “You need it with an independent consultant making the best choices for getting people to work and getting people to school.”
He hints at a renewed focus on improving intersections, bus routes, and traffic congestion. He’ll have to prove he can pull it off.
“I would like to believe it, I’m not sure that I do,” Fletcher says. “I’m not sure how much I trust politicians to be able to, I know that he might want to. I trust that he wants to.”