Talking Transportation with Leadership Middle Tennessee

Last week Robbie Hayes, incoming Chair of the Cumberland Region Tomorrow Board led a discussion on transportation in the region for Leadership Middle Tennessee (LMT). Panelists included Sean Pfalzer (GNRC), Preston Elliott (TDOT), Jessica Dauphin (Transit Alliance of Middle Tennessee), and Andy Barlow (City of Mt. Juliet).

The panel shared with the LMT class how transportation is planned and delivered in Middle Tennessee. They addressed the need for more, dedicated local funding for transportation, pointing out that our peer regions far outpace us in funding transportation infrastructure. The challenges related to planning and delivering infrastructure projects in a timely and effective way were also a key topic of discussion. The panel discussed the difficulty in projecting future needs, explaining that local land use decisions are the main driver of transportation demand.