Partner Spotlight: Q & A with Transit Alliance of Middle Tennessee

Jessica Dauphin, the President & CEO of the Transit Alliance of Middle Tennessee shares how they’re raising awareness and support for funding regional multimodal transit.

Q: What is your organization’s mission?

Dauphin: The mission of the Transit Alliance of Middle Tennessee is to build awareness and support for funding regional multimodal transit.

Q: How are you and your organization working to improve the health and/or wellbeing of Nashvillians (or Middle-Tennessee)?

Dauphin: The Transit Alliance’s efforts to raise awareness and support for funding transit begin with education about the impact of mobility on our lives. One of those big impacts is on our health, both individually and collectively. Those with access to active transportation options like walking, biking, and public transit have healthier, happier lives. Studies have tied long personal car commutes sitting in traffic to shorter life span, higher BMI, higher obesity rates, higher divorce rates, and lower life satisfaction. So, our work aims to help provide all who live in the greater Nashville area with more active mobility modes to help gain higher life satisfaction and healthier lifestyles overall. We continue to make this a centerpiece of our work so that residents, business leaders, and decision-makers can better understand transportation and mobility’s role in our lives.

Q: If you could wave a magic wand and solve one public health issue right now, what would it be?

Dauphin: Just one? This is tough. Access to quality healthcare and continuity of care via transportation is a public health issue. Again, studies connect access to quality transportation to healthier pregnancies and birth rates, higher quality of life as we age, and more. The public health issue I would solve is the consistent underestimating of the power of mobility to support healthy living or prevent it. Because once we understand the connection and power of mobility and access, it becomes easy to support those investments. Then, we all get a more equitable opportunity to live healthier, longer lives.

Q: What are you most optimistic about right now when it comes to your organization and improving health?

Dauphin: Right now, our efforts positively impact the collective understanding of the need to invest in public transit and safer walkable communities. As we continue to build relationships with communities and business leaders, the idea is that investing in public transit is a direct investment in our ability to attain higher quality of life standards, including health, prosperity, and equity across the greater Nashville area.

Q: How can people get involved/help your cause?

Dauphin: We are currently engaged in a city-wide listening tour called Transit Together. We encourage everyone to attend at least one of these meetings. We are also looking for partners to host one of these sessions, so if you are part of a group or organization, feel free to contact me directly for more information on how you can do that. For those looking to become further invested in this effort to get dedicated funding for transit, I’d suggest registering for our upcoming Transit Citizen Leadership Academy. This eight-week course helps participants understand the issue and gives them the tools and resources to be thought leaders. Lastly, it takes resources to drive this work. We are incredibly grateful for our contributors and are ready to welcome more!  Donate to see a positive change in access to active transportation in Middle Tennessee.

Learn more at http://thetransitalliance.org/.