FOX 17 Report Shows Music City Loop Gaining Momentum as Transit Debate Turns Political

Source: FOX 17 News — Will the Music City Loop reduce traffic? Las Vegas numbers paint a picture.

FOX 17 News recently highlighted growth at The Boring Company’s command center on Rosa Parks Boulevard, where new equipment has arrived as tunnel preparations begin. That coverage reignited Vice Mayor Angie Henderson’s criticism—stating the Music City Loop will not reduce traffic “because math” (sic). The FOX 17 reporting outlines real performance data and introduces a larger question: are Nashville leaders willing to test modern transit tools, or will they let politics slow progress before results can even be measured?

Innovation Requires Imagination

A quote often attributed to Henry Ford says that had he asked people what they wanted when it came to improved transportation, they would have said "faster horses." Ford understood something important—people often imagine progress as a small upgrade to what already exists. Innovation, in contrast, replaces the frame of reference entirely. Americans reshaped their cities around the automobile and later around interstate highways. Artificial intelligence and autonomous vehicles will soon reshape mobility again, changing street design, zoning codes, and land development patterns. Nashville cannot solve 21st-century problems with 19th- and 20th-century tools.

The Status Quo Has Limits

Vice Mayor Henderson has repeatedly suggested that Nashvillians should “just ride the bus.” But buses are not the most effective mode of point-to-point travel—and even when the city has added bike lanes, removed driving lanes, and added speed cushions to discourage car usage, Nashvillians will still rely on personal vehicles. That pattern has held for decades and is unlikely to change simply because Nashville leaders have intentionally made driving more inconvenient, as is clearly their hope. Residents choose their vehicles for one reason: convenience. The only way to compete—and thereby reduce surface congestion—is to match that convenience at a price the market will accept.

Transit systems must reflect how people actually move—not how bureaucrats wish they would move. That is the gap the Music City Loop seeks to address.

A Math Lesson from Las Vegas

FOX 17 News examined the existing Vegas Loop, currently operating beneath the Las Vegas Convention Center. The report noted that earlier this month, the system moved 29,755 passengers in a single day—and saw more than 1,000 drop-offs in a single hour. Those numbers do not merely show promise—they demonstrate performance.

To put that in perspective, some established U.S. transit systems struggle to achieve similar per-hour rider counts even after years of taxpayer subsidies. Certain lines in San Diego, Baltimore, and Charlotte have reported lower hourly ridership averages during comparable convention traffic surges. Las Vegas—not through rail, bus, or subway—but through tunnel-based point-to-point transport, has already reached passenger volumes that rival traditional public infrastructure. It is fair to say that the "math is mathin'," and the Vice Mayor should take note.

FOX 17 News also noted that Nevada transportation officials have not yet produced congestion data—and that is expected. Real adoption occurs only when full networks connect residential areas to employment centers and when riders can reach their destinations without walking long distances or getting rained on. Once people can get reliably around town point-to-point, usage scales rapidly. The existing data proves that high-demand tunnels can operate at scale without occupying surface highways—and from a convenience standpoint, compete with, and in many cases outperform, traditional rail or subway systems.

The Airport Question—and What Comes Next

FOX 17 News explored whether the Vegas data could be applied to a future route between downtown Nashville and BNA airport. That question points to something larger. It is increasingly clear that The Boring Company plans to expand well beyond its initial airport connector footprint—and it appears prepared to do so with or without direct city involvement. If realized, such a system would not merely assist Nashville’s infrastructure—it would fundamentally reshape how people navigate the city.

Underground routes from BNA to downtown and beyond will remove existing pressure on surface roads, enable faster commutes during peak times, and improve access for hospitality workers, air travelers, and convention attendees. This type of network could alter land use patterns, change development expectations, and become a new organizing framework for mobility in Nashville.

A Political Debate About a Practical Question

FOX 17 News reported transportation numbers. But the public back-and-forth has undeniably taken on a political tone. Some observers note that Vice Mayor Henderson’s opposition appears aimed at energizing personal political support—particularly among those with her on the political Left that are hostile to Elon Musk—rather than objectively assessing transit performance. Her increasingly visible presence in this debate fuels speculation about future mayoral ambitions—and the language surrounding the Music City Loop sounds decidedly less like policy and more like political positioning.

A Decision That Should Be Self-Evident

Nashville has reached a point of choice. The future will not wait for perfect consensus. The city can either stay committed to slow, expensive certainty—or explore rapid, free innovation. FOX 17 News has provided the facts. The Music City Loop presents a testable, scalable possibility—not a guaranteed solution, but a real one.

The question now is simple: will Nashville lead… or observe?