NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) – On Thursday morning, WeGo Public Transit will cut the ribbon on Metro’s second neighborhood transit center.
“Welcome to the future of transit in Nashville,” said Eric Melcher, spokesman for WeGo Public Transit.
The new North Nashville Transit Center is located at 26th Ave N and Clarksville Hwy and is named after local freedom fighter Dr. Ernest Rip Patton, Jr.
The center is designed to serve as a hub for the neighborhood. It will change the way buses travel through the area and help link routes so riders can reach their destination without having to walk all the way to the WeGo Central station downtown. This will be a huge improvement in convenience and save riders time.
“Building such a hub can also help us add additional connections, more frequent lines, ticket machines and an air-conditioned waiting room,” Melcher said.
The new 4,000-square-foot facility includes multiple bus stops, a building with a waiting room and restrooms, Wi-Fi, real-time bus information, bike racks and a pedestrian mall where artwork commemorates Nashville’s voices from the past, present and future, Wego says.
“Before there was anything here, you would see buses all over the neighborhood. This is a very busy area for us, there are a lot of passengers here. People had to stand on the sidewalks, stand in the sun, stand in the rain,” Melcher said.
Here are the seven routes that converge at the new North Nashville Transit Center:
9 MetroCenter
14 White Stream
22 Bordeaux
42 St. Cecilia/Cumberland
71 Trinity
75 Midtown
77 Thompson/Wedgewood
WeGo reports a recent 36 percent increase in ridership on these routes.
The Trinity Lane Line has been extended from Gallatin Pike in East Nashville to downtown, allowing passengers to conveniently travel from North Nashville directly to East Nashville.
WeGo spent eight years planning the center and four years listening to the public’s wishes.
“You really want to incorporate the voice of the community in deciding what kind of service you want to offer, what kind of amenities you need and then everything down to the artwork and historical exhibits,” Melcher said.
The first transit center was built in Green Hills in front of Hillsboro High School. Two more are planned, at Donelson Station and at the Global Mall redevelopment site in Antioch. The city has floated the idea of additional locations in Sobro and on the East Bank.
And a developer surprised WeGo with the idea of a transit center in their planned new development on Dickerson Pike, near the Tristar Skyline Medical Center.
“We didn’t really expect that, but it happened, and that’s kind of the future. When you have development next to transit centers, that’s really the future of transit centers across the country.”
The center unofficially opened in July while WeGo worked out logistics. And on Thursday morning at 10 a.m., the new center will officially open. NewsChannel 5’s Lelan Statom will emcee the event.
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