OUR History

Transit Now Nashville is a local grassroots organization whose mission is to raise awareness of the benefits of regional mass transit options for the people living in the Greater Nashville Area. We began as a spin-off from the online forum Nashville Charrette following extensive online discussions about mass transit, including responses to Franklin Conaway’s presentation in the spring of 2008 on streetcars at the Civic Design Center. A group from the online discussion decided to meet at the coffee shop Crema one Saturday morning in May 2008. At that meeting, Scott, Mary, Brian, and Cliff informally established what was to become Transit Now Nashville. Soon after that, there was a gas spike and interest in our group continued to gain momentum. For the first two years, we met almost every week and in less than 10 months our group of volunteers created a website, blogged over 55 posts, and met with many transit-related agencies and specialists.  We gave a presentation at the Civic Design Center’s CityThink and launched the first Transit Week the following spring, which has become a yearly event.

Transit Now Nashville was officially incorporated on February 12, 2009. Following another year of active efforts to educate the public on the benefits of transit options, the board held its first annual strategy session in January 2010. At that meeting, the board decided to pursue program development, funding options, greater board diversity, and the creation of an advisory committee. Transit Now Nashville took an important step forward with its approval of 501(c)3 status in November 2010. We have also made progress toward regular funding. In the Spring of 2009, we won a Local Coalition Grant from the American Public Transportation Association (APTA) for $3,000, and in 2010, we won $5,000.

How is Transit Now Nashville different from other organizations?

Transit Now Nashville is different because we are a grassroots organization. Sure, we have friends in high places, but we focus on the individual rider, work to make living with transit easier for them, and advocate for an improved rider experience. Transit Now Nashville exists to build relationships with our fellow citizens to connect riders with convenient modes of mass transportation. See organizations that have similar interests to Transit Now Nashville.