Dr. Ernest Rip Patton, Jr. North Nashville Transit Center

Project Statement

As part of the Metropolitan Transit Authority’s (WeGo’s) long-range strategic plan, and Nashville’s Choose How You Move (CHYM) mobility initiative, new neighborhood transit centers are proposed across Nashville. These centers aim to decentralize routing, serve new cross-town connecting routes, reduce travel times, and improve overall transit service and accessibility. Located in one of the highest-ridership areas in the city and adjacent to affordable housing, the North Nashville Transit Center site now sees seven routes converge, including new cross-town connectors and rerouted bus lines. As one of the system’s first neighborhood transit centers, the project set unique goals early on, including a comprehensive and inclusive community engagement process and the establishment of prototypical design and operations elements.
Programmatically, the project required experimental bus programs, user-friendly amenities, and efficient facility operations, while prioritizing safety, accessibility, sustainability, and rider experience. Additionally, as an outcome of the nearly 2-year-long community engagement process, historical, cultural, and educational elements became significant drivers of the overall design. The project evolved from simply a highly functioning transportation initiative to a symbolic neighborhood gathering space, a memorial to an untold past, and a symbol of hope for the North Nashville community.
Since opening, the transit center has boosted ridership in the area by 36%, connecting more North Nashville residents to essential services and opportunities.

- Design for Equitable Communities: The design team and transit agency incorporated a robust and active community engagement program early in the design process. Using online surveys, physical surveys (by mail), in-person community engagement events, social media live broadcasts, and over two dozen stakeholder interviews and meetings, the team gathered insights into what was important for the community to see or experience at the transit center. This feedback included practical features such as free Wi-Fi access and ample lighting for safety, as well as environmental and sustainability priorities.

The design team worked with a Community Advisory Committee to synthesize the nearly two years of input into a project theme that recognizes North Nashville’s Voices of the Past, Present, and Future.  This inspired the inclusion of cultural elements that celebrate North Nashville’s important history, broadcast current residents’ thoughts and stories, and give future neighborhood voices a platform.

The yet-to-be-told story of the Nashville Freedom Riders emerged as an important part of the neighborhood’s history and the Voices of the Past.  A to-scale stainless steel 1960’s bus inlay adorns the central promenade with each of the Freedom Riders' names permanently cast within. Local historian Dr. Learotha Williams, Jr., was hired to help create the historical markers along the promenade.

As riders wait for transit, they are immersed in Voices of the Present, a video installation by local artist LeXander Bryant that shares residents’ stories of triumph, resilience, and the neighborhood’s cultural identity.

The central plaza is a place where North Nashville’s Voices of the Future can be heard daily.  Local artist Woke3 transformed low walls into canvases of bright visions drawn from interviews he recorded with North Nashville youth.  The mural includes QR Code-activated recordings of those young voices.  Additionally, a small covered stage offers the community a place to be heard in the future through programmed events, live music, spoken word, political stumps, and serves as a platform for anyone, anytime.

The project team achieved 30% Disadvantaged Business Enterprise (DBE) participation, exceeding the initial participation goal of 13%, with many participants local to the North Nashville area.
- Design for Discovery: The design team conducted several workshops with the transit agency’s operational teams to identify and understand current challenges and lessons learned from their other transit facilities. New goals were set to provide flexibility for technological innovations and to serve as a test facility for future transit centers across Nashville.

Level boarding platforms are integrated along the higher-speed Clarksville Pike corridor, decreasing loading and unloading times for rapid transit systems. New signalization improvements were added, including radar technologies and priority queue jumps at the roadway intersection, to supplement rapid transit operations and efficiency. As the first of its kind in Nashville, the facility will serve as the driver-training location for future level-boarding transit stops around the city.

Bus bays are designed to accommodate multiple bus sizes and types – including a dedicated lane for para-transit, taxi, Kiss-n-Ride, and ride-share pick-ups/drop-offs – providing flexibility for facility operations. The sawtooth bus lane configuration and extended canopy heights allow lay-by scenarios and bus maintenance without disrupting or compromising busy facility operations. Additional multi-modal transportation facilities are provided on-site, including short- and long-term bicycle and scooter parking.

Emphasizing pedestrian safety as a priority, the bus lanes are located on the perimeter of the site and configured so that all bus drop-offs are oriented toward the center of the site, eliminating the need for pedestrians to cross vehicular travel ways during transfers. The pedestrian-oriented site integrates a series of terraced plazas that double as a stage and as amphitheater seating, helping mitigate the challenges posed by the large grade changes. Accessible pathways weave through the site, maintaining a comfortable, parklike setting equitable for all visitors.

The project includes easy-to-maintain design features and facility technologies. For example, standard off-the-shelf light fixtures and real-time transit information displays streamline facility maintenance and operations and serve as prototypical design elements that can be easily replicated in future transit centers.
- Design for Well-being: Practical and experiential safety strategies were integral as the community’s highest priority. The landscape design carefully considered plant heights to avoid creating hiding places and promote visibility, and when combined with site lighting, creates a comfortable environment for visitors at night. The building design centers public pathways that encourage connections on all four sides while providing visibility through it. Security cameras and emergency phones are supported by 24-hour security personnel and the local police department surveillance on a daily basis. At night, the building's glow serves as a neighborhood beacon, and its windows allow visitors to see others inside and around it, incorporating defensible design strategies for safety and comfort.

The primary waiting areas are oriented toward the landscape and plaza to screen visitors from the surrounding busy streets. Large glazing walls and clerestory windows increase visibility to arriving buses and connect visitors to the landscape, while operable window walls encourage interaction between interior and exterior spaces and activities. The large exterior canopy enhances year-round functionality by protecting visitors from the elements, encouraging playfulness with permanent game tables, and providing a gathering space for community events.
- Design for Ecosystems: The project team created a sustainability matrix to guide design requirements supporting an environmentally conscious facility that fosters a healthy environment and meets community priorities. Several strategies were employed to reduce the facility’s long-term environmental impacts, including low-flow plumbing fixtures, native and drought-tolerant plantings, ample daylighting and energy-efficient light fixtures, dark sky-compliant lighting design, and solar-ready and electric-vehicle charging infrastructure. Reflective roofs, reflective pavement, and site trees help reduce the heat island effect, reducing cooling needs for the building and enhancing visitor comfort. The employee break room is designed to feel more like a lounge, and recycled and low-VOC materials promote occupant health, providing a pleasant, relaxing environment and setting a higher standard for occupant happiness.