Nashville Traffic Tech Pilot Delivers Early Gains

New traffic signal technology cuts bus travel times and reduces red-light delays on busy Charlotte Avenue corridor.

Published on Feb. 25, 2026

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A pilot project in Nashville using new traffic signal technology on the Charlotte Avenue corridor has delivered measurable results, cutting bus travel times by 3-5% and reducing red-light delays by 18-19%. The success of the pilot has transit leaders looking to expand similar adaptive traffic signal control technology to other major corridors like Murfreesboro Pike, with the goal of improving traffic flow and transit reliability across the city.

Why it matters

Nashville is grappling with significant traffic congestion, ranking as the 12th most congested city in the U.S. and 30th in the world according to a recent report. The new traffic signal technology offers a promising strategy to help alleviate gridlock on the city's major arterial roads, benefiting both general traffic and public transit.

The details

The pilot project on Charlotte Avenue, launched in 2024 by the Nashville Department of Transportation and WeGo public transit, uses transit signal priority technology from LYT to extend green lights, shorten red lights, and give buses priority at 27 intersections. By the end of 2025, WeGo saw a 3-5% reduction in bus travel times and an 18-19% drop in red-light delays along the corridor. Transit leaders are now looking to deploy similar adaptive traffic signal control on Murfreesboro Pike, leveraging traffic sensor technology already installed in parts of the city.

  • The Charlotte Avenue traffic signal pilot launched in 2024.
  • By the end of 2025, the pilot had delivered a 3-5% reduction in bus travel times and an 18-19% drop in red-light delays.

The players

Nashville Department of Transportation (NDOT)

The city agency overseeing the traffic signal technology pilot on Charlotte Avenue and plans to expand it to other major corridors.

WeGo

Nashville's public transit agency, which saw improved bus travel times and reliability through the Charlotte Avenue pilot.

LYT

The transportation technology company that provided the transit signal priority system used in the Charlotte Avenue pilot.

Dan Freudberg

Deputy Chief Operating Officer at WeGo, who reported on the results of the Charlotte Avenue pilot.

Aaron Cushman

ITS Division Manager at NDOT, who discussed the lessons learned from the Charlotte Avenue pilot and plans to expand the technology to other corridors.

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What they’re saying

“Anything that we can do to benefit general traffic also helps transit, when we're talking about these major arterial corridors. Because until we have more dedicated transit priority infrastructure, bus lanes and things like that, we're running in the same traffic as everybody else. It doesn't do us any good to screw over general traffic to try and get the bus through because we're going to be caught in it, just like everybody else. We want to improve that experience.”

— Dan Freudberg, Deputy Chief Operating Officer, WeGo (The Tennessean)

“In the beginning it was bad. It was not good. It wasn't horrible, I shouldn't say. Because originally, we were giving every bus unfettered demand. And we were like, 'Well, that's not going to work.' It's a learning process as you go along, but we've gotten it down to a pretty good science now.”

— Aaron Cushman, ITS Division Manager, NDOT (The Tennessean)

What’s next

NDOT plans to leverage the lessons learned from the Charlotte Avenue pilot to deploy similar adaptive traffic signal control technology on Murfreesboro Pike and other major corridors across Nashville, with the goal of improving traffic flow and transit reliability citywide.

The takeaway

Nashville's traffic signal technology pilot on Charlotte Avenue has demonstrated the potential for smart traffic management solutions to benefit both general traffic and public transit, offering a model that the city can build upon to tackle its growing congestion challenges.