I used to think MTA stood for My Tonsils Ache. It had been awhile since I rode the bus in Nashville, but I was just in town and the buses haven't changed! It's a pretty car-friendly city but for all the students in town these buses are clean and invaluable. Overall it's a decent network if not groundbreaking, but the bus from the airport (I've only taken it once) was a nightmare that took forever (never again). It reminded me of some of the awful buses to LAX and JFK, only Nashville doesn't have the excuse of being a huge endless metropolis. Anyway, My Tummy Aches. read more

Nashville MTA - MTA = my tonsils ache - Public Transportation Near Me - Nashville, Tennessee

I just started riding the bus, and this will be only Temporary until I get a car. I noticed the women bus drivers are hateful to the passengers, and talk down to them. The men bus drivers are always nice. read more

This service has gotten worse!! Drivers have no customer service skills!! They never leave the terminal on time .Bus breaks down just leave customers at nearest stop..pull off..ohh they may tell u a bus is on the way after you've waited 15 minutes!! Happened today with bus #56!! Put us off in front of court house and drove off!! Took 20 minutes to catch another one!! This route is scheduled every 15-20 minutes!! This was at 4:14 this afternoon..I'm just getting a bus at 4:45...You guys have got to do better..Went up on fare .but no improvements in routes..timing. leaving terminal on time!! Especially the afternoon shifts!! Have complained to supervisor 's numerous times . . It's like nobody cares!!!! read more

Metro Transit Authority has a bunch of projects to improve public transportation throughout Nashville. Current MTA services - Music City Circuit (free bus) - MTA bus to airport - Music City Star- commuter rail Current project - Bus Rapid Transit (like a trolley on its own lane, except its a bus) - this would take the place of a subway since its too costly, trolley since it would be too costly and its similar to the Bus Rapid Transit idea, and I guess more buses or more lanes... Many people recognize the issue for something to reduce congestion on the roads, but the BRT isn't 100% supported by the public. Separate means of transportation (from other sources) - No train - Amtrak - Nice airport- Metro Nashville Airport Authority- major hub for Southwest - Roads- Nashville is centrally located to three highways i-40, i-24, i-65 and major roads such as Clarksville Pike, Gallatin Pike, Lebanon Pike, Murfreesboro Pike, Nolensville Pike, and Franklin Pike - managed by Tennessee Department of Transportation (http://www.tdot.state.tn.us/public.htm) read more

Nashville MTA - Public Transportation Near Me - Nashville, Tennessee

I've been using the system for a year, now, and it's time for an update. a.) Q: How many MTA buses does it take to go 12 blocks on the same street? A: 2. One to go 2 miles east back to the main station, and the other to come back 2 miles west to resume the rest of the route. b.) There is a bus that doesn't run from 10am to 2pm. Someone needs to reconsider that route. c.) You have great drivers, for the most part. However, I had one guy who drove so quickly that he didn't pick me up. Just passed right by me when I was sitting on the bench. He did the same thing a few weeks later to someone else. For the time he saved by not picking up that passenger, he used to stop at a store to buy everyone on the bus a piece of fruit. I think he was trying to bribe us. d.) You have another driver who has a bad attitude problem. She routinely takes the time waiting for the signals to change to stand at the front of the bus and yell / lecture at passengers for not physically being at her stop (they stand under the awning of a nearby building for shade). She yells at people for getting up before the bus stops, but she never waits for people take a seat before she starts driving again. e.) Many routes work on an hourly basis. Granted, this city is very car-centric. f.) What should have easily been a 10 minute car ride from home to a former workplace was a 1.5 hour hellish experience. Because this city seems to have this thing against sidewalks. read more

What a pathetic excuse for a public transit system. Buses that do not run according to printed times, lack of marked bus stops, drivers that drive past riders, buses that simply don't show up -- at all, costly to ride, you have to go downtown to transfer no matter where you're coming from, I could go on... MTA is so pitiful it's almost like a bad tv sitcom... except it's real life! Update 7/4/15: Still a very mediocre mass transit system. But I think the citizens of Nashville have to take some responsibility for MTA being such a poor means of getting around town. I don't think having a great public transit system is a priority to the folks that live & work in Nashville. I believe this is evident by the recent defeat of bringing a true Bus Rapid Transit system to Nashville. So, it is what it is. A little advice on how to improve your experience riding Nashville's MTA: If you're a heavy-duty user of mass transit be prepared for the inevitable MTA bus not showing up or being very late (especially at night and/or on the weekends). Set up an account with at least one of the several ride-share services available in Nashville, that being, Uber, Lyft or Joy-Rides. Also Relay-Rides and Enterprise Car-share can be a very useful addition to finding ways to get around reliably in this town, if you don't have a car. And when all else fails... call in a favor from a friend. read more

I waited until I cooled off to write this. I haven't ridden the bus (the #56/26 from Due West in Madison) to downtown in a couple years because I don't trust it to be on time. Not even the first bus of the morning, which is what I frequently rode before gas prices went down. Barring illness or an accident, I don't understand how the first bus of the morning can be late, but it often was. But on Sat. 6/11 I decided to try it again. And the bus was on time! Yay! So I figured there would be no problem. Wrong. In spite of the fact that there was no copious number of stoplights, and no wheelchair passengers, the driver just putzed along like he had all day, and, by the time we got downtown, I ran up the stairs just in time to see my connection (the #7) pulling onto 5th Ave. Even though the bus had arrived in Madison on time, it was late getting downtown by four or five minutes. And I wasn't the only person who got stuck, another Vandy co-worker did too. So I had to wait another 40 minutes and now have a black mark at work for being more than a half an hour late. I will never trust an MTA bus again, and will tell anyone I know the same thing. I can't take the stress of not knowing. I'll call a cab or an Uber if I have to. If it's been so difficult, for so many years, for the first bus of the morning to be on time, why isn't it sent out five minutes earlier? All this talk about expanding bus service is ridiculous. The bus seems to only be for the benefit of tourists or people who have no set schedule; those of us who really need it live and die by the whims of personnel who seemingly don't have to be at their own jobs on time. Doesn't anyone monitor these things? GPSes? Radios? I don't get it. Anyway, that's it. I'm through fretting over it. I simply will never ride the MTA again. read more

I understand that these bus drivers deal with so many people a day;however, if they hate their jobs as much as this one on bus 60 does, get another job. It's Friday at 1:50 pm at the riverfront. The woman has straight up ignored my question about when she was leaving and if she was letting people on the bus. So, now I'm waiting on a lyft. Yeah, i know it's a free bus, that was the rudest any bus driver has ever been with me. read more

We moved downtown and our new house only comes with one parking spot. Because of this, my husband and I decided to sell my car and just share his. Today was my first experience on a Nashville bus but so far so good. The driver was helpful and the bus was clean and on time. The best part of this is that when downtown traffic is at a standstill I can just get out and walk. I'm sold. read more

Decided to take the train to the fireworks July 4, 2018 and avoid the traffic and parking expense. Thought the train was a great idea. Unfortunately the $30 spent for a pair of tickets was the worst decision ever. The train car had NO AIR CONDITIONING and the windows did not open. Record high temps and a full double level train car with no air flow. I looked like I fell in the river when we got downtown. Then they mentioned we would need to get into the same car for the return. Needless to say we took a car to return home rather than sweat it out for another 45 minutes. Their response was "Sorry, there aren't refunds." Then they finally said if we drove downtown to the station they would give us a refund. I prefer to NEVER use the system again and inform everyone considering the ride to plan otherwise. It's really too bad because a train system connecting the suburbs would make getting downtown much more favorable for residents as well as tourists. read more

Don't bother,buses change routes and pickup bays without notifying customers, I missed a Gallatin bus a few days ago and had to pay 50 bucks for an uber, horrible customer service, woman at the customers service window told me that it wasn't her problem read more

All I can say...Most pathetic mass transit system for a city of Nashville's size! Never on schedule...Rude drivers and no sense of urgency!

I wanted to compliment one of your drivers. His name is Keith and he drives the number 7. This driver is courteous, friendly, helpful, and tries to be a good driver. He is never rude, never raises his voice to passengers as I have heard 2 drivers actually yell at their passengers! I heard one girl really berate him one cold winter day for being late. Mr. Keith just calmly and professionally apologized to this woman! If all your drivers were just half the driver he is, MTA would be the best transit system in TN even if you are late. His customer service skills are excellent. Mr. Keith is the best driver you have. My thanks to him. read more

If Satan wanted to develop an organization to make sure people in Nashville suffered needlessly, he would make the MTA as it stands today. 1. First he would develop routes that take 2 hours to make a loop, and then not make connecting transfers in the outskirts of town where it counts, just to make sure people wasted their time coming all the way down to the stickiest and most vile places that attracts every bad character. 2. Next he would offer people the chance to be a part of the transportation public forum, but he'd make sure the times these meetings are offered don't work with the buses that go to that office so as to be sure that there is no chance someone that would actually be effected by a decision on a route could be there. 3. Next he would hire people to drive these buses that have no clue how to deal with people. This will insure that if the bus becomes too full it will simply keep taking people on and making people stand. 4. Satan would be sure to buy a few "Coach" style buses and let them run on the hottest times when it's likely that a Tourist or business person visiting Nashville could ride on them and have them say "What a pleasant experience. . . Nashville buses are so nice!" When really, those buses are used once or twice a day then parked so they don't go into disrepair. 5. The final thing would be to promise people change, then when it's time talk about how much more they're going to charge simple folks who never got a single benefit or improvement more money so they can service an area full of unrealistic rich people that will never step inside a bus. Yes, this is MTA. This is how they work. They don't care about people, they don't care about time. All they care about is clock-in, clock-out. They need to change the name from Metro Transit Authority to something more realistic. How about Metro Transportation Department, because it's evident that they aren't an authority on transportation. They're just an authority on how to make people miserable. I live 6 miles from work, and I have to take a bus all the way into town, then all the way out of town for a grand total of around one and a half hours. All because there's no way to be heard, unless I take a vacation day to go to one of their ill timed meetings: AND THEN TAKE AN UBER HOME BECAUSE THE BUSES WON"T RUN AFTER THE MEETING! They should be paying us for our time riding the bus, not us paying them. They should get their buses working, clean them better, make Cross-Area Routes that don't "have to go" to the Metro Center Bus Station, and listen to their customers. read more

Visiting Nashville and decided to go downtown July 4th for fireworks celebration. ...decided to take bus. ...getting there worked great...told us to get bus after fireworks he said roads are closed be on corner of Broadway and 8th.....we got there with about 30 or more people and waited 45 minutes not one bus came by. ...so we walked down and finally was able to get Uber....because of busy night though had to pay lots more than planned. ....think on a night like this they should run later to pick up everyone that waited for them. ... read more

I used to have to take the bus to get around, and while I'm glad I don't have to do that anymore, now I'm at risk of being plowed into by one of said buses. These drivers do not adhere to the rules of the road, and that is insane. One bus driver used to go right through blinking red lights as if they were blinking yellows. I have had to swerve to avoid a bus coming into my lane on numerous occasions. Once, a bus driver looked RIGHT at me while I was traveling with the right of way down a middle lane on James Robertson, and yet he still pulled out right in front of me, forcing me into the next lane. Seriously, train your drivers and hold them accountable. read more

We were looking for a cheap and easy way to get downtown and decided to take the bus. Since we're Vandy students, it's free with ID (which is a cool perk). There's a stop near our casa, so we just had to walk down the hill and wait. The buses we rode were very clean, and pretty timely. I do suggest you get to the stop early, however. We missed one once when we were 10 minutes early and just crossing the street as it barreled past. I'd love for this to become a more popular transit idea for this city. read more

In the past six years, I have not been on time to make connections with other buses I need to transfer to. This all started when I was a student at Tennessee State University, Main Campus. I had an 11:20am class. Taking the 9am bus to downtown then transfering to the 19 bus to TSU, got me to class on time. Then something happened iafte the first six weeks with the first bus driver that no could figure out : I was getting to class late HE WAS ALWAYS 10 minutes late getting downtom. I took the 8:25am bus and got to class early. The bus got me downtown and I was able to get the bus to TSU and to class on time. Six weeks later, the above happened again, Got to class LATE!! My last resort was to get the 7:28am bus. This bus not only got me to class on time, but I had I had an 95 minutes to kill before class. I am no longer a student at TSU, but I still have to take the 7:28am bus wherever and whenever I have to get somewhere on time. Lived in two major cities up north, Philadelphia and New York City, and NEVER had trouble like this, in spite of the heavy surface traffic in New York City and Center City, Philly. These two cities have a well organized transportation system unlike Nashville's so-called system. In the fall 2013 summary of changes, MTA has not only revised the bus schudele, but changed EVERY BUS ROUTE AND IT'S SCHEDULE FOR THE SAKE OF MAKING FIFTH AVENE A TWO WAY STREET. This according to MTA willmake, and I quote "approximaately a half million fewer turns per year and reduce their travel times since they no longer need to circle the lock before entering or exiting MCC. Buses on these routes have slight time adjustments and hav been assignied new bay numbers." The bus I take to go downtown gets into traffic five minutes after the start of the route. It gets downtown 20 minutes late and as late as 30 minutes. It is picking up the passengers of the bus that comes 30 minutes later. That bus runs with very few passengers. Mayor Carl Dean and MTA may think the buses traveling Nashville has been made faster and easier. I say let all of them meet me at my bus stop at 7:28am and travel with me to downtown. I will show them a faster and easier ride, if you like to be late and take the chancxe that your boss has had enough of you being late to work and fires you. I also have problems with nasty bus drivers. Of all the buses I ride, I have only have drivers that I enjoy riding with. They are safe, courteous, and wait for the elderly rider to sit down before they continue on their way. On driver told me not to stand after I rang the bell at my stop. He was very concerned about my getting hurt. He even gets out of his seat to carry my grocery buggy on or off the bus, making it easier for me. Yes, I am a senior citizen of Nashville and despise the system MTA has and it is a sad day to say that out of the many drivers MTA I ride with, there are only three that I ride with, there are only three that I feel safe with. Thanks Billy, Greg, and "Sweetheart". I will miss you after the new bus schedules go into effect and you have new routes. read more

Yeah, NO! There should definitely be rules on how the bus driver should treat us. They shouldn't be about to stomp hard on the breaks if people are talking to loud. I actually busted my lip on the seat once. The man did apologize to the entire bus but it shouldn't of happened. Also yesterday a women that drives bus 3 yelled at me.......yeah yelled at me...wanna know why...she was ABOUT TO get over and needed to get off at the bus stop....GIRRRRLLL! I hope u read this! Cause I didn't say a word to you for a reason. I SHOULDN'T HAVE TO EXPLAIN TO MTA BUS DRIVERS THERE FREAKING JOB! Yeah I'm annoyed! I have a job and there is no way in hell I'm going to yell at a costumer because....I was about to do something but the COSTUMER needed something first. Btw I'm 16. Its a shame. read more

To be at one of your sh*tty bus stops early, yet have the bus show up almost 30 minutes late is unacceptable. Insanely unacceptable. To blame this lateness on downtown traffic is bullsh*t as well. Way to come up with an excuse and not a remedy. You've got a lot of angry people, who pay what they can to use your service, yet you left them out in the rain for almost an hour. I bet that feels good knowing you guys did that. Every time this sort of thing happens, and you see a lack of care in the bus drivers or the supervising staff. Some of you think you are cops or something. It's the way you guys look down at us, chuckle while we make complaints, and harass people in your station. This isn't a friendly, or compassionate organization. That's alright though. A*****y I***********l is gonna step in and shake things up for you. I'd start getting your sh*t together, and take things a little more seriously. Just remember who's paying to keep you guys employed, if you really care. Fix your sh*t. Fix your damn buses too. You're an embarrassment to this city. read more

Arrived in Nashville. Inquired at the hotel for the nearest bus stop which was very close to the hotel. There are no sidewalks, so you take your life in your hands walking anywhere here. Online it said the bus comes every hour. I waited for more than an hour. I met a young man from Thailand who said he had been in Nashville for three weeks and has never seen a bus stop at the bus stop where I was standing. He said he has to take an Uber to work at a hotel every day. This is his first time in America. How disappointing. I'm embarrassed for all of us. Don't plan on taking a bus in Nashville. It got dark so I gave up and went back to the hotel. read more

drivers show no concern for being on time.passengers constantly miss connecting buses