TPO held a series of public workshops in Knox, Blount, Anderson, Loudon and Sevier counties in May and June to gather citizen input for the Mobility Plan. The plan is currently being written and a draft will be posted to this site when it is available.

For more information or to submit comments email mobilityplan@knoxtrans.org.

Knoxville Mobility Plan workshops summary

The TPO held nine public workshops in five counties over two weeks with more than 100 people attending. The response to the presentation and informal discussions was quite positive, and we gathered valuable feedback.

Many of the attendees wanted to discuss alternatives to driving alone in a car, especially walking, bicycling, bus and rail facilities. We heard suggestions for expanding these infrastructure and services at each workshop.

Many participants recognized land-use decisions and their impacts on the transportation system as an essential component of any future plan. Some expressed dissatisfaction with the present development patterns in the Knoxville region.

Here is a representative selection of what we heard from workshop attendees:

• Sidewalks are needed to connect students to schools, neighborhoods to transit stops, and people to places.
• Transit service area and times should be expanded. With few exceptions, it currently doesn’t serve outside of the Knoxville city limits and doesn’t allow people working a 12-hour shift the option of using transit.
• What would happen if we invested $1 billion in public transit instead of in roads and highways?
• The greenway system is an asset, and people want more connections that would allow the system to be used for transportation purposes, not just recreation. City of Knoxville greenways, Knox County greenways, Blount County greenways
• Plans, like the Hunter Interests Growth Study for Blount County, should be followed.
• Private businesses and developers should invest in infrastructure needs like sidewalks and transit services and amenities.
• Our aging population has transportation needs that aren’t currently addressed; if car keys are taken away, people don’t have other transportation options.
• Most local trips are less than one mile and are the perfect candidates for walking, bicycling or transit. But, “I can’t get safely to a bus stop, and my children can’t walk safely to school.”
• We’d love to have rail as an option to get around the region.
• Existing commercial areas should be redeveloped into walkable and transit-friendly districts.
• The land use plans and transportation plans should be linked together. Form-based codes can help change current land-use patterns by mixing the uses. Also, we need more compact development to support more retail choices closer to home.
• Our development pattern everywhere, whether in the city or the county, is based on a suburban lifestyle. This is not what everyone wants and leads to sameness and sprawl.

*Disclaimer : The TPO offers these links as a resource only and not as endorsement or support for all the activities of each of these organizations.