Mayoral Candidates: Mass Transit Key To Nashville

NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- The road to becoming Nashville's next mayor is taking a turn toward mass transportation.

Related: Nashville Runoff Election | Video

Both runoff candidates said not enough people are using the commuter rail system and other forms of transportation.

Karl Dean and Bob Clement said they hope to change that if they are elected.

Currently only 650 people are riding the rails of the Music City Star, much less than what was originally expected by the developers.

Tom Wise uses the train to get downtown, and he said he loves it.

"You don't have to fight I-40 traffic. You don't have to scramble around for a place to park," said Wise.

But both candidates for mayor said they want the Music City Star to keep rolling because they said the transportation options need to grow as the area grows.

"I think that's part of Nashville's future, and we have some real opportunities there," said Clement.

"Right now I would stick with it and build up the ridership and hope that it would become a genuine alternative to bringing more and more vehicles into downtown Nashville," said Dean.

With high gas prices and lots of traffic, Clement and Dean said mass transit in and around Nashville needs to get better.

Clement said there needs to be more buses with better schedules. Dean said he wants rapid transit buses along major corridors that would speed up commuters ride into town.

As for the Music City Star, Dean said there needs to be a progress report.

"We have to look at it and evaluate it very shortly to make sure that it is the right program," said Dean.

Clement secured the funding for the commuter rail system and wants it to keep growing.

"As people know about the service and knowing that it's reliable service and dependable service, and as we expand the service a lot more, people are going to look at that form of transportation," said Clement.

But interested riders like Dan Cook said people can't ride it if they don't know about it.

"There's not much that you can discover about it without coming downtown, like we just did, and learning when the routes are, and what times the trains leave," said Cook.

Both Clement and Dean said something needs to be done on a regional level about mass transportation in the area because traffic and air quality continues to get worse.

In addition to mass transit, both candidates said it is important to connect the walking and biking paths in the Metro area.