Metro Nashville has received two Strengthening Mobility and Revolutionizing Transportation (SMART) Grants from the U.S. Department of Transportation. The Nashville Department of Transportation and Multimodal Infrastructure received a grant of $10 million for work on Nolensville Pike, and WeGo Public Transit received a $1.9 million grant for better bus service on Murfreesboro Pike, the route with the highest transit ridership in Nashville.

“These competitive grants will help us accelerate improvements on two of our busiest roads that were a priority of our Choose How You Move program,” Mayor Freddie O’Connell said. “We’re excited to be able to showcase how smarter streets are safer streets, especially on some of our most dangerous roads.”

The Nashville Department of Transportation & Multimodal Infrastructure (NDOT) received $10 million to implement Phase II of the city’s Leveraging Advanced Data to Deliver Multimodal Safety (LADDMS) initiative. The goal of Phase II is to improve the safety of vulnerable road users along the Nolensville Pike corridor and continue enhancing safety along the Stage I corridor. The project will deploy sensing, analytics, and interventions piloted in Phase I at a larger scale. Prioritized locations include pedestrian and cyclist safety along the High Injury Network (HIN) as outlined in Nashville’s Vision Zero Action Plan.

Key components of Phase II include:

• Using LiDAR technologies to collect and evaluate ‘near-miss’ data.
• Continuous recording and analysis of safety data to assess intervention effectiveness.
• Expanding the system’s reach to the Nolensville Pike community and maintaining engagement with North Nashville communities.

LADDMS plays a crucial role in Nashville’s broader Vision Zero strategy, aiming to eliminate all traffic-related deaths and severe injuries. By leveraging advanced data and innovative technologies, the initiative enhances safety, equity, and mobility for all road users.

“We are excited to see the continued success and expansion of the LADDMS project. This funding will allow us to implement cutting-edge safety measures more broadly and ensure safer streets for all Nashvillians,” said Diana Alarcon, NDOT director.

The LADDMS team, a consortium including Nashville Department of Transportation and Multimodal Infrastructure (NDOT), Vanderbilt University, Tennessee State University, University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, Tennessee Department of Transportation, and other local stakeholders, previously received $2 million in Phase I.

WeGo Public Transit received $1,982,235 in SMART grant funds for optimization of high-frequency bus service on Murfreesboro Pike utilizing artificial intelligence, including the implementation of computer aided dispatch, automated vehicle location systems, and traffic-adaptive signals.

“Murfreesboro Pike (Route 55) has the highest ridership in our system. This funding will allow us to acquire the technology needed to provide more predictable service on a high frequency route with many traffic issues. That will, in turn, help us develop the same technology for other high frequency routes in the WeGo system, and ultimately provide the technology needed to support All-Access Corridors that are part of Choose How You Move,” said WeGo CEO Steve Bland.

Computer-aided Dispatch (CAD) helps dispatchers create operator assignments and track bus event information ranging from schedule and route deviations to changes in speed and notification of incidents along the route.

Artificial intelligence analyzes all the various data that comes into the transit system, both from buses and from traffic reporting along roadways. That computing power helps dispatchers make better decisions about how to deploy buses.

The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law authorized and appropriated $100 million annually for the SMART Grants program. All of the awardees use the money on technology improvements to solve challenges in the community.