GOALS AND OBJECTIVES

Goals & Objectives

The goals and objectives are a very important part of the study. They were used to guide the project as well as determine what types of measures should be used to evaluate the many types of transit technologies. The goals and objectives below were created by the project steering committee and revised with public input. These goals and objectives are being used to guide the analysis of the various alternatives. You can view a more detailed discussion of the Goals and Objectives in our Purpose and Need document which can be downloaded from our Plan Documents web-page.

Goal 1: Provide longer-distance travelers in the Southeast Corridor with alternatives to driving private vehicles in heavily-congested traffic conditions.

Objectives:

1. Provide transit options serving longer-distance trips (primarily more than 3 miles in length) in the corridor that are competitive with, or ideally superior to, driving a private automobile, in terms of trip time, convenience (in the context of specific time-of-day and day-of week trips), safety, cost (to the individual user) and comfort.
2. Provide enhanced multi-modal access to home, jobs, services and other activity centers for corridor residents, workers, and visitors.
3. Increase utilization of public transit in the corridor for all trip purposes.
4. Provide transportation options that serve both work and non-work trips.
5. Provide improved transit opportunities for reverse-commuters traveling from the northern areas of the corridor and other parts of the Nashville region to workplaces in suburban areas of the corridor.
6. Improve access to mass transit in areas of the corridor outside central Nashville.
7. Provide greater diversity of transportation options in the corridor by providing improved conditions for pedestrians, bicyclists, and other non-automotive users.

Goal 2: Promote efficient land use and development patterns in Nashville/Davidson County and the Rutherford County communities in the Southeast Corridor Study Area.

Objectives:

1. Promote compact transit-accessible land development in Nashville, Murfreesboro, LaVergne, Smyrna and other communities in the southeastern corridor study area.
2. Concentrate employment and other activity centers within existing and planned transit corridors (fully considering the relationship of transit and parking availability, as associated with such activity centers).
3. Maintain and promote downtown Nashville, other existing established activity centers, including Interchange City, and downtown Murfreesboro as the main employment and activity centers in the corridor.
4. Preserve farmland and open space in existing rural areas of the corridor.
5. Promote development that re-uses existing sites and buildings, and that efficiently uses existing infrastructure and public services.
6. Promote multi-use development combining many activities including commercial, retail, education, recreation, and housing.

Goal 3: Improve and Enhance Economic Development and Employment Opportunities and Expand Access to Jobs.

Objectives:

1. Promote sustainable economic growth throughout the corridor by providing improved access and optional transportation modes.
2. Provide improved access to housing opportunities throughout the corridor by providing improved transportation access and options.
3. Provide improved access to employment centers throughout the corridor by providing improved transportation access and options.
4. Provide high quality transit access to Nashville International Airport from downtown Nashville, Murfreesboro and other areas within the corridor.
5. Enhance reverse commute options providing access for Nashville residents to job opportunities in other areas of the corridor.
6. Provide improved access to special events and other destinations in the study corridor.

Goal 4: Preserve the Natural and Social Environment.

Objectives:

1. Improve air quality.
2. Minimize transportation-related noise impacts.
3. Protect and, where possible, enhance environmentally sensitive areas.
4. Minimize community and neighborhood disruption.
5. Minimize negative aesthetic impacts of transportation investments and, where possible, design systems that add to the aesthetic environment.
6. Address environmental justice concerns by carefully assessing disproportionate impacts and providing improvements that benefit members of socially disadvantaged groups.
7. Promote land use and development policies, and transportation strategies that are consistent and mutually supportive.

Goal 5: Develop a Cost-Effective Transportation System Improvement Strategy that Maximizes Community Consensus and Institutional Support.

Objectives:

1. Assure that total benefits of the preferred transportation investment strategy recommended by the study warrant their total costs.
2. Achieve public consensus and institutional support, including the support of public agencies, local governmental entities and public officials, for the preferred transportation investment strategy recommended by the study.
3. Ensure that the costs and benefits are shared equitably among citizens and governmental entities throughout the region.
4. Maximize the leverage of local funds in obtaining State and Federal funds to support transportation investments in the corridor.

Goal 6: Develop a Strategic Part of a Multi-Modal Transportation System that would Facilitate the Development of an Integrated Regional Multi-Modal System.

Objectives:

1. Develop alternatives and strategies that complement, rather than conflict with, regional plans for development of a multi-modal system.
2. Develop alternatives that are consistent with the transportation and development goals of the region as identified in the Nashville Area MPO's Long Range Transportation Plan and other regional planning documents.
3. Avoid alternatives that might have the affect of precluding the development of other transportation modes or options to serve other corridors of the region.