The scariest part of the Davidson County ballot comes right at the top, the contest for president, but that’s also the easiest choice to make: Rachele Fruit.

Just kidding! Fruit is the unfortunately named Socialist Worker Party nominee for president, one of five candidates listed as independents on the ballot. Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who has actually withdrawn from the race, is another one. The Memphis Grizzlies stand a better chance of winning football’s Super Bowl than any of them have of being elected.

(Note for nonsports fans, like my wife: The Memphis Grizzlies do not play football.)

The hardest part of the ballot – the only hard part – is at the very end, under the heading Transit Improvement Program Referendum Election. It’s the only issue I’ve done any research on, and even at this late date (I don’t do early voting) I confess to being somewhat wobbly in my thinking.

Undecided, even. Sort of.

I’m sure we all agree that something needs to be done about traffic in Nashville. The old punchline seems to apply: You can’t get there from here; as well as the inverse: You can’t get here from there. At least, not without maddening encounters with too many other people trying to get to their own, less important destinations.

The question is, what should be done? In 2018, a previous transit plan, Let’s Move Nashville, included construction of 26 miles of light rail and a total cost of $8.9 billion over the life of the project. Funding relied on a variety of taxes, including sales but not property.

And voters, by 64 to 36%, said, “Nope, not that.”

I’m a fan of rail, light or otherwise, having spent 17 years getting to and from work on a commuter train and having toured various European countries on speedier, sleeker versions of choo-choos. But I didn’t move back to Nashville in time for the vote, and so was spared the need to make a choice.

The current plan dropped rail, focusing instead on sidewalks, synchronized traffic signals and expanded bus service, including 24-hour operations and 12 new transit centers. A sales tax increase of 0.5% would fund the payback.

Opposition is not nearly as strong as it was in 2018, but I felt it my civic duty to be informed about the objections. Research led me, among other places, to an expansive blog post by Courtney Johnston, who represents District 26 on the Metro Council. Johnston used 2,776 words to express her opposition, so it’s a bit risky for me to condense. But here goes:

• She says the cost is being undersold at $3.1 billion. With interest, she puts the total payout over the 30-year life of the bonds at $6.9 billion.

• Should tourism figures falter, she adds, taking sales tax revenues down with them, residents would be faced with a property tax hike.

• She says a projected 10% decrease in commute times from synchronized traffic signals is too little to justify the overall cost. (She does believe the synchronization should be done, but separately.)

• She questions projections of increased bus ridership, and whether there will be any decrease in cars on the road.

• She suggests transit centers might prove popular as refuges for the homeless and present a safety issue.

Johnston had much more to say, obviously, and you can Google her post if you’re interested. But here’s a wrap up, in her own words:

“I’d prefer a phased approach with a smaller fiscal note, or cost, that we can build out more quickly and gauge success. Since this plan is just a‘concept’ we really don’t know what we’re actually going to get.”

I suspect one of the things we’re going to get, if the referendum passes, is lots more empty buses. But maybe I’m just biased by all the largely empty ones that pass right by my house every day.

Maybe I should be more optimistic. But given what’s at the top of the ballot, it’s not easy.

Joe Rogers is a former writer for The Tennessean and editor for The New York Times. He is retired and living in Nashville. He can be reached at [email protected]