Nashville Bits and Pieces

[PaulChinetti]

Has Pinnacle. But no 505. Early 2010s?

Nashville from the North just looks so old. 

[MLBrumby]

Yikes?!?  Aren't Nashville drivers bad enough?  Hey, I think I understand the test now!  

24 minutes ago, CenterHill said:

Interesting article about an autonomous vehicle test to be conducted by Vanderbilt, but come on with the out of date stock photo…ugh 

 

[MidTenn1]

4 hours ago, CenterHill said:

Interesting article about an autonomous vehicle test to be conducted by Vanderbilt, but come on with the out of date stock photo…ugh 

As I understand, the 'autonomous' vehicles will only have their speed regulated and not the steering. From a small article in the Chattanooga Free Press....

Quote

Researchers at Vanderbilt University and other schools around the country are conducting an experiment in Nashville next week to try to decrease the number of stop-and-go traffic jams on a local interstate. The new experiment will deploy up to 100 cars equipped with adaptive cruise control technology along a 4-mile stretch of Interstate 24 during morning rush hour, according to a news release from Vanderbilt. That stretch is outfitted with hundreds of ultra-high definition cameras that will give researchers a digital model of how every vehicle behaves.

Previous research has shown that a small percentage of artificial intelligence equipped vehicles can go a long way toward alleviating the stop-and-go dynamic that often leads to traffic jams with no obvious cause. In addition to being frustrating, these jams waste fuel and increase pollution. The experiment next week will help researchers determine whether the traffic improvements from the smaller experiment can be replicated on a much larger scale.

I don't know where the funding is coming from. I would presume it is a Federal grant, but I can't find a source.

The study makes some sense as you want to squeeze more than the 1,800 vehicles per lane that numerous studies have shown to be the maximum traffic flow on freeways regardless of speed. If speeds on the freeway are physically regulated by the (not exactly) autonomous control-vehicles to help reduce the non-uniform braking and acceleration that occurs in heavy traffic flow, they might be able to reduce the average 2.1 second separation between vehicles in heavy traffic flow to a lower number and achieve more than the current traffic flow rate max of 1,800. At least that's my take on it.

Current Phase, and a few of my photos.

 

And some hyperbole, international recognition.....This project is a civil engineer’s dream.....The World's Smartest Highway......

 

This is a big deal, really, really big.  

Edited November 13, 2022 by MidTenn1

[CenterHill]

Here’s the link to the article.  Not clear where the funding is coming from, but GM, Nissan and Toyota are participating in the study.  

https://www.teslarati.com/worlds-largest-autonomous-vehicle-test-nashville/

“According to Vanderbilt, the autonomous driving test operates under strict limitations. The university will deploy 100 autonomous vehicles on a 4-mile stretch of I-24, and the test will be run between 5 am and 10:30 am. The tested vehicles include Nissan Rouge, Toyota RAV4, and Cadillac XT5, each equipped with autonomous driving technology.

The test on I-24 is the product of a smaller-scale test performed earlier this year. In the smaller scale test, performed on a test track with a total of 20 vehicles, a single autonomous vehicle was able to affect the pace of driving of the entire group. Now, the universities and automakers are looking to see if they can replicate their initial results in the real world. Researchers will also observe if average fuel economy improvements seen in the smaller scale test are reproduced.

Nashville’s I-24 section is being chosen as the testing location for a specific reason. The highway section, named the “I-24 MOTION testbed,” is equipped with 300 4k camera sensors placed on poles that are spaced 600 feet apart along the highway section. This amazing level of data collection can not only allow researchers to see the average speed of traffic and other statistics, but can provide an unparalleled viewpoint as they attempt to observe the individual autonomous cars and how they interact with other drivers.”

[Baronakim]

i was down on Hayes Street a couple of days ago for lunch at Royal Thai.  With the work going on for Local, 1805,1401, the St. Thomas addition and Corkdorks underway , the street looks like a warzone.  This is an amazing transition and there are still more projects there going on and only in only 12 blocks!

[GregH]

1 hour ago, CenterHill said:

The test on I-24 is the product of a smaller-scale test performed earlier this year. In the smaller scale test, performed on a test track with a total of 20 vehicles, a single autonomous vehicle was able to affect the pace of driving of the entire group. Now, the universities and automakers are looking to see if they can replicate their initial results in the real world. Researchers will also observe if average fuel economy improvements seen in the smaller scale test are reproduced.

That's neat. I wonder if it's that autonomous vehicles actually maintain a larger following distance but that space allows human drivers room to slow down without hard breaking and creating an accordion effect for everyone? I remember watching a youtube video once from some guy who claimed he could break up traffic by intentionally slowing enough to always leave huge gaps in front of him.

[MidTenn1]

2 hours ago, CenterHill said:

Here’s the link to the article.  Not clear where the funding is coming from, but GM, Nissan and Toyota are participating in the study.  

https://www.teslarati.com/worlds-largest-autonomous-vehicle-test-nashville/

“According to Vanderbilt, the autonomous driving test operates under strict limitations. The university will deploy 100 autonomous vehicles on a 4-mile stretch of I-24, and the test will be run between 5 am and 10:30 am. The tested vehicles include Nissan Rouge, Toyota RAV4, and Cadillac XT5, each equipped with autonomous driving technology.

The test on I-24 is the product of a smaller-scale test performed earlier this year. In the smaller scale test, performed on a test track with a total of 20 vehicles, a single autonomous vehicle was able to affect the pace of driving of the entire group. Now, the universities and automakers are looking to see if they can replicate their initial results in the real world. Researchers will also observe if average fuel economy improvements seen in the smaller scale test are reproduced.

Nashville’s I-24 section is being chosen as the testing location for a specific reason. The highway section, named the “I-24 MOTION testbed,” is equipped with 300 4k camera sensors placed on poles that are spaced 600 feet apart along the highway section. This amazing level of data collection can not only allow researchers to see the average speed of traffic and other statistics, but can provide an unparalleled viewpoint as they attempt to observe the individual autonomous cars and how they interact with other drivers.”

Thanks. Excellent information!!

 

Quote

Vanderbilt University’s press release didn’t outline how their research may be affecting the vehicles that the participating automakers put out in the future. Still, there is no doubt that the automakers will be leveraging the test to observe their own (and competitor) vehicles operating in the real world, perhaps leading to autonomous driving improvements soon.

This project is getting BIG, BIG, BIG! This project has exploded in scope from a sketch on some Engineer's desk to a monster, innovative experiment from a global perspective with the help of a group of brilliant TDOT and other Engineers.

Edited November 13, 2022 by MidTenn1

[smeagolsfree]

Someone with a smart move in MPD that is about five years overdue, but at least it is something. 

Nashville police form downtown unit amid calls to 'reel in' nightlife (tennessean.com)

Police form new Lower Broadway unit amid calls to 'reel in' honky-tonk nightlife

A new entertainment-district police unit devoted to curbing downtown’s alcohol-fueled nightlife scene will begin patrolling the Lower Broadway beat full-time in February, officials said Thursday

Metro Nashville Police Department will assign 30 officers, four sergeants and one lieutenant to the entertainment district on lower Broadway, though staffing will still be supplemented during peak hours Thursday through Sunday, said MNPD spokesman Don Aaron.

[chc3]

The other day I spoke with a Metro PD sergeant working on the violent crimes unit. He said that Metro is currently 300 officers short!

[Mr Gain]

3 hours ago, chc3 said:

The other day I spoke with a Metro PD sergeant working on the violent crimes unit. He said that Metro is currently 300 officers short!

Why are they 300 officers short?

[PaulChinetti]

https://www.nashville.gov/departments/police/get-involved/become-police-officer/pay-scale-and-benefits

They get paid crap and are expected to be a cop, a psychiatrist, social worker, etc, etc, etc. 

Always thought this was a simple explanation.

[markhollin]

Nashville ranks sixth in the nation for the number of apartment units adapted from old office buildings during 2020-21, according to a study from RentCafe.

More at NBJ here:

https://www.bizjournals.com/nashville/news/2022/11/18/deal-dash.html
 

[nashscan]

On 11/18/2022 at 10:20 AM, Mr Gain said:

Why are they 300 officers short?

 Would you want to work a job where you are hated and vilified everywhere no matter how well you do your job?   

[samsonh]

2 hours ago, nashscan said:

 Would you want to work a job where you are hated and vilified everywhere no matter how well you do your job?   

Same thing occurring in education currently. And nursing.

[smeagolsfree]

11 hours ago, nashscan said:

 Would you want to work a job where you are hated and vilified everywhere no matter how well you do your job?   

Same could be said about AT& T customer service.

[Mr Gain]

6 hours ago, smeagolsfree said:

Same could be said about AT& T customer service.

Yeah, but they are not dealing directly with life saving situations. 

So there's that.

[Pdt2f]

On 11/18/2022 at 10:20 AM, Mr Gain said:

Why are they 300 officers short?

I work closely with MNPD personnel. It’s primarily high retirements, low incoming class quality (lots of dropouts), and people just deciding to leave for something easier. They have mandatory overtime requirements due to the officer shortages which makes each of these much worse, too. They feel like they get no political support and the work they put in doesn’t matter since so many felons plea down to virtually nothing. Nobody is as demoralized as a detective who put in months of work to build a case for a class A felony and then watches the DA give the guy a Class E in a plea deal, and then sees that the same felon killed someone 3 years later.

Each has his or her own reasons but almost every one of them I meet on their way out the door for the last time says something about “not having to deal with this s### anymore”

The pay and benefits are decent but most of the officers are educated nowadays, these aren’t your 1950s Irish flatfoots anymore. They have other options. 

[Mr Gain]

19 hours ago, Pdt2f said:

I work closely with MNPD personnel. It’s primarily high retirements, low incoming class quality (lots of dropouts), and people just deciding to leave for something easier. They have mandatory overtime requirements due to the officer shortages which makes each of these much worse, too. They feel like they get no political support and the work they put in doesn’t matter since so many felons plea down to virtually nothing. Nobody is as demoralized as a detective who put in months of work to build a case for a class A felony and then watches the DA give the guy a Class E in a plea deal, and then sees that the same felon killed someone 3 years later.

Each has his or her own reasons but almost every one of them I meet on their way out the door for the last time says something about “not having to deal with this s### anymore”

The pay and benefits are decent but most of the officers are educated nowadays, these aren’t your 1950s Irish flatfoots anymore. They have other options. 

Whoa. Whose side are those DAs on?

Edited November 21, 2022 by Mr Gain

[Mr_Bond]

On 11/18/2022 at 10:20 AM, Mr Gain said:

Why are they 300 officers short?

The number of officers has not kept pace with the population growth in Davidson County.  So, our officer per capita ratio is far behind where it was a few years ago.

[Nathan_in_DC]

Been playing around with this interesting tool I found where you can easily compare two maps at the same scale. Usefull for illustrating the relative density of various urban areas.  https://acme.com/same_scale/

American cities I have lived in...

Nashville vs. Philadelphia, PA:

Nashville vs. Washington, DC:

Nashville vs. Knoxville, TN:

...international cities...

Nashville vs. Berlin, DE:

Nashville vs. London, GB:

(Judging by my back-of-the-napkin math, London inside the M25 has well over 10x as many people in an area 100sq miles smaller than Davidson County...but it feels *so* much bigger size-wise because of the variety of neighborhoods.)

...sprawling sun-belt cities...

Nashville vs. Houston, TX:

Nashville vs. Phoenix, AZ:

(After seeing this I'm not convinced Phoenix isn't some dystopian vision of a suburban hellscape, by the way.)

...peer and near-peer US cities...

Nashville vs. St. Louis, MO:

Nashville vs. Portland, OR:

Nashville vs. Jacksonville, FL:

Nashville vs. San Diego, CA:

Edited November 22, 2022 by Nathan_in_DC
stats

[smeagolsfree]

Very cool. Thanks for the info.

 

[markhollin]

The Tennessean ranks the 10 most archictecturally significant structures in the Nashville area:

https://www.tennessean.com/story/money/2022/11/22/important-buildings-in-nashville-tennessee-downtown-places-to-see/69593162007/

[BnaBreaker]

Just a random television note.  I'm not sure if any of you watch The Amazing Race on CBS, but their season finale episode airs tomorrow (Wednesday 12/7) at 9 PM CST, and I could tell from the preview that it was taking place in Nashville, and The Amazing Race usually does a pretty excellent job at showcasing a city.  It appeared that one of the challenges was climbing to the top of, and then repelling from, The KVMB Bridge.  

Edited December 7, 2022 by BnaBreaker

[markhollin]

A thorough report from the VisitMusicCity website on the very healthy status of tourism in Nashville:

- Tourism this year should reach 14.4 million visitors, up 14% from last year, and slightly above from pre-pandemic levels  of 2019 by 2%.

- Visitor spending averages $286 per day, and $616 per visitor for total of around $8.87 billion in 2022.

- Nashville Downtown Central Business District (CBD) has 107 hotels with 19,692 rooms.

- Nashville Davidson County has 261 hotels with 38,120 rooms.

- Greater Market/ Nashville MSA has 476 hotels with 56,173 rooms.

- In Davidson County there are currently 2,645 hotel rooms u.c., 1,620 in final planning, and 2,396 more proposed.  That is a total of 6,661 more rooms in the pipeline.

More here:

https://www.visitmusiccity.com/research?utm_source=Sailthru&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=NASH_12.08.2022_DEC&utm_term=NASHtoday: Subscribers - MASTER

[Bark At The Sun]

On 12/6/2022 at 7:28 PM, BnaBreaker said:

Just a random television note.  I'm not sure if any of you watch The Amazing Race on CBS, but their season finale episode airs tomorrow (Wednesday 12/7) at 9 PM CST, and I could tell from the preview that it was taking place in Nashville, and The Amazing Race usually does a pretty excellent job at showcasing a city.  It appeared that one of the challenges was climbing to the top of, and then repelling from, The KVMB Bridge.  

Lynchburg and the Jack Daniels Distillery had a nice little challenge in it as well.  I think its cool that they chose Nashville to have as the end of race location.  They did a good job of filming it, especially around KVB and SoBro part of downtown.