High turnout, smaller scope brought success for Nashville transportation measure

Flashback: In 2024 dollars, the failed plan from six years ago cost $7.4 billion, according to the city's finance department.

• The 2018 proposal was criticized for focusing too much on tourists and downtown and not enough on neighborhoods.

The intrigue: This year's plan was scaled down compared to the 2018 proposal in part because other possible funding sources were spent elsewhere, O'Connell said.

• "The hard part about even thinking about a bigger plan is there is just not a lot of room to maneuver," he said.
• Hotel-motel tax funds, which could have gone to transit, instead were earmarked for the new Titans stadium.

What he's saying: "What we wanted to do was get a plan that could succeed with overwhelming support from voters," O'Connell said. "I would not have wanted to push sales tax even higher."

The bottom line: Jeff Morris, who led the pro-transportation campaign, tells Axios O'Connell deserves credit for engineering the decisive win.

• "It has everything to do with this mayor and this plan," Morris says. "He chose a plan that benefits the entirety of the city."