Traffic Department

Regional Transportation Authority

Organization

The Regional Transportation Authority (RTA) is a nine-county public agency created by state statute in 1988 to plan and develop a regional transit system. They include Cheatham, Davidson, Dickson, Maury, Robertson, Rutherford, Sumner, Williamson and Wilson.

City and county mayors, along with mayors of cities over 4,000 population are board members of the RTA. The Tennessee Department of Transportation commissioner and six Governor-appointed complete the board's membership.

Regional Transportation Issues

Travel, particularly commuting, is becoming increasingly regional in nature; an estimated 30-40% of the workers in Davidson County live in other counties while 30-60% of the residents of other Middle Tennessee counties are commuting outside their home county. The counties surrounding Nashville are facing an increasing need for entry-level workers, many of whom have no access to transportation.

The ability to widen highways to accommodate the increasing travel is limited - most right-of-way is already paved in the most congested areas. Other factors, including environmental laws, are also making it increasingly difficult to build new roads or widen existing ones.

RTA proposes an incremental development of services as travel needs warrant and the funding is available.

These steps are:

• expansion of park-and-ride lots to support carpools, vanpools, and future bus service; the RTA is actively working on developing several additional park-and-ride lots in the region
• increased carpooling and vanpooling; the RTA has initiated this through its regional ridesharing program
• development of regional commuter bus service
• expansion of HOV (High Occupancy Vehicle) lanes and development of additional support facilities for them
• commuter rail service along five corridors in the Middle Tennessee region

RTA's web site can be accessed for more information.

Welcome!
from Dana Richardson, Traffic Director