Just over a year ago, Davidson County voters approved a transit referendum that dedicates more tax dollars to bus service and other transportation projects.
It was a significant step for a city lagging behind the rest of the United States. Nashville was one of the last cities of its size without a dedicated stream of tax dollars for transit, and it showed — lacking rapid public transit options, heavy traffic jams, and the state ranking high in the nation for most vehicle miles traveled per capita.
Nashville Mayor Freddie O’Connell made it a keystone of his early administration to pass a referendum that would establish a half-cent sales tax increase to go directly toward funding transit. Along with it came a nearly 100-page proposal of the city’s approach to overhauling its transit system…