A $5.4 billion transit plan that would have funded five light rail lines, an upgrade of the bus system and 19 neighborhood transit centers went down to defeat in Nashville on Tuesday.
The plan would also have paid for sidewalks, bicycle lanes and synchronized traffic lights.
It would have put into place four different tax increases - sales tax, business tax, rental car tax and hotel tax to pay for it.
Gubernatorial candidate Diane Black released the following statement after Davidson County voters overwhelmingly rejected former Mayor Barry’s transit referendum:
She said, “Tonight, the voters of Nashville made the right choice.
We need to solve the traffic problem in Middle Tennessee, but billion dollar liberal boondoggles are not the solution. This transit plan would have made Nashville the highest-taxed city in the country and risked the economic growth of our entire state.
"Now it’s time to get to work on a real, strategic regional plan to reduce congestion in downtown Nashville without raising taxes on working families. I look forward to releasing my vision in the coming days.”