Passenger Bus, Rail and Motorcoach Industry News

The Transit Alliance commissioned IBM to analyze transportation networks across the region and identify initiatives that could reduce congestion and stress on Middle Tennessee’s current infrastructure.

The State of Good Repair grant, which the Tennessee Department of Transportation was able to get by collaborating with 15 transit agencies across the state, will cover about one-fifth of the vehicle replacement needed at each participating agency.

The three-year contract, with two years of renewable options, contains a firm order for 10 buses (20 EUs) with options for an additional 60 buses (120 EUs). Nashville MTA is a new customer for New Flyer.

The Nashville Metropolitan Transit Authority and Regional Transportation Authority of Middle Tennessee jointly recorded more than 10 million passenger trips in the last fiscal year, almost 1.3 million more trips than the previous year.

Program has generated almost $2.4 million in savings for five agencies with contract prices of $2.30 per gallon for diesel fuel and $2.11 for gas. The first two years of the hedging program generated $632,811 in savings the first year and more than $3.4 million in the second year.

Three former bus drivers, one of which was sued for causing accidents that injured other people, claim that the Nashville Metro Transit Authority fails to train and retrain drivers. A spokeswoman says the driver is a disgruntled former employee making false allegations.

Estimates a BRT system would cost $136 million to construct, less than half the $275 million required for streetcars. The number of trips riders would make on either system would be about the same, 4,500 average weekday trips on BRT versus 4,800 on streetcars in the first year.

Paul J. Ballard was awarded for exceptional leadership in providing Nashville with an outstanding accessible transit system at the 30th Annual Awards for Artists with Disabilities. Under his leadership, Nashville MTA’s bus ridership has increased from 6.4 million annual passenger trips to a high of 9.4 million passenger trips. More than 175 new accessible buses and vans have been added to the fleet during his tenure.

In the coming days, customers will see different vehicles operating on the MTA routes since so many transit organizations are assisting the agency with loaned vehicles.

RouteShout, a mobile phone application that delivers next-bus arrival times, is now available for customers to receive MTA schedule information. Customers using RouteShout are able to quickly and easily find bus stops, routes and arrival and departure times on their electronic devices.