Well, the Metropolitan Transit Commission has telegraphed its intention to ignore reality with a 8-1 vote to delay taking a vote on building a light rail or a bus transit line down the middle of Independence Blvd. Like the song says, “If choose not to decide, you still have made a choice.”
Incredibly, a letter from Rep. Robin Hayes (R) pleading for more time to rally federal support for light rail tipped the commission to its do-nothing stance. Let’s be clear about this, Robin Hayes is in the middle of the political fight of his life and would write a letter in support of using unicorns to pull chariots down Hwy. 74 if he thought it get him a few more votes. The commission is supposed to filter such motives out of its decision-making.
But, of course, all mass transit — being a government-run enterprise — is largely about politics. That is why so many objectively bad decisions are made all the time. Objectively bad decisions like delaying needed improvements on 74 for 20 years now.
A sane, coherent bus rapid transit line built in conjunction with road improvements in the corridor has the potential to fix that. It will not be easy because the reality is that 74 carries immense volumes of commercial traffic that cannot use any mass transit system. The reality is that building a line out to a large park-and-ride at the abandoned K-Mart on North Sardis might be the best first step. The reality is that too many at-grade crossings and lack of connectivity in the corridor will kill retail along 74. The reality is that this thing has to be done right, on budget, or not at all.
Meanwhile, prepare for unicorns.
