Writer: Ryan Gandolfo
2 min read October 2023 — The Volunteer State is paving the way to greater mobility as the Tennessee Department of Economic and Community Development (TNECD) recently rolled out the Transportation Network Growth Opportunity (TNGO) initiative. The aptly named project is utilizing $5 million in initial funding from the Tennessee General Assembly to attract mobility research and development (R&D) investment to the state.
University of Tennessee System’s assistant vice president for research, outreach and economic development Victoria Hirschberg will serve as interim director of TNGO — working toward positioning Tennessee as the “No. 1 destination for mobility R&D investment in the Southeast,” according to a TNECD press release.
The statewide initiative is aiming to “Strengthen Tennessee’s R&D sector, which will make our state a premier destination for the next generation of innovation and high-quality jobs,” said TNECD Commissioner Stuart McWhorter.
“We know that mobility is at the core of everything we do as individuals. It’s also at the core of our state and regional economic well-being. If we are to manage our regional growth, we must be able to manage our mobility,” Jessica Dauphin, president & CEO of the Transit Alliance of Middle Tennessee, told Invest:.
Given Middle Tennessee’s sustained growth, transportation and mobility have become more notable challenges facing the region. London-based sustainability nonprofit Forum for the Future highlighted the difference in the two buzzwords here: “Transportation (“across-carry” in Latin) describes the act of moving something or someone, whereas mobility (“capable of movement”) describes the ability of a person to move or be moved.”
Key technology clusters within the mobility sector include autonomous and electric vehicles, intelligent traffic solutions, batteries and semiconductors as well as mapping systems and e-hailing. McKinsey reported that $220 billion in investments flowed into more than 1,100 mobility-related companies from January 2010 to February 2019, with more than one-third of total investment in mobility funneling to companies in the U.S.
Universities in Tennessee have been playing a pivotal role in addressing the future of mobility in the state. In May 2023, a public-private consortium called TEAM TN was launched, along with a $1 million National Science Foundation-backed Regional Innovation Engines Development award to support the roadmap of a statewide transportation mobility strategy. The coalition, led by The University of Tennessee Knoxville, consists of more than 90 organizations statewide, including Vanderbilt University, the University of Memphis and the Tennessee Valley Authority, among others.
Earlier this year, the Tennessee Department of Transportation (TDOT) said the state’s growth outpaces its roadway capacity investments, with the cost of congestion in Tennessee’s 11 urban areas per commuter estimated at $670 annually. In Nashville, the figure is $1,465.
In Jan. 2023, Gov. Bill Lee’s administration announced the Transportation Modernization Act to fund critical transportation projects such as widening rural interstates, safety initiatives and construction to address congestion. More notably, through public-private partnerships (P3s) the state is now open to implementing ‘Choice Lanes’ — an optional cost for drivers that has reduced congestion in other major U.S. markets like Dallas-Fort Worth. TDOT noted in a White Paper published in February that Tennessee was the only state in the Southeast that did not allow P3s for road and bridge development at the time.
“It is encouraging that the governor has come forward with a strong plan for mobility advancement — especially modernizing our transportation and infrastructure. We look forward to working to help and support TDOT toward effectively modernizing and updating the multimodal infrastructure here in Middle Tennessee,” said Dauphin.
During Nashville’s mayoral race this year, candidate Freddie O’Connell said, “Transit is the biggest missing ingredient to Nashville’s long-term success.” Despite Nashville’s failed transit referendum in 2018, transportation advocates could see a new opportunity for greater transportation mobility and access under newly elected Mayor O’Connell and new initiatives to spur investment like TNGO and the state’s Transportation Modernization Act.
Top image provided by WeGo Public Transit
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