NEWS BRIEFS

New WeGo ticket system to incentivize online accounts

Since November 2020, Metro Transit Authority has been testing out a new ticketing system called QuickTicket.

With QuickTicket, riders can load money for bus fare onto a mobile app, which they scan to ride. They also introduced a reloadable ticket that costs $3 up front. When you create an online account for the first time and attach it to the ticket, that fee is credited back.

Bryan Williams, performance oversight manager at WeGo, says the advantage to creating an online account and using the app or reloadable card method is that your credits are protected. Like a debit card, WeGo can cancel a stolen or lost card and replace it, and the app forgoes the need for a card all together.

“I used to work as a supervisor in the ticket office downtown and when you have somebody coming up to you with a magnetic ticket that's been wet and can't read anything on it, not being able to provide any assistance is a hindrance, but QuickTicket is going to open up those doors for us to be able to provide greater service to our riders,” Williams says.

Under QuickTicket, there is also a “pay as you go” model that differs from the current model of pay. Instead of paying $4 up front, $2 is deducted on the first ride and gives unlimited rides for a two hour window. Then, $2 more is deducted on the next ride after that two-hour window. After that, there is no further charge because the $4 is equivalent to an all-day pass. In addition, if these dollars add up to the value of a $65 monthly bus pass in the span of a month, a user won’t be charged over that. Access rides will stay the same at $3.70 per ride, and will be compatible with QuickTickets.

While this system can protect some, it can come as a disadvantage to people experiencing homelessness. Now, the non-reloadable all-day cards cost more, at $4.25. As people experiencing homelessness often don’t have smart phones and are often victims of theft, it may not be feasible to use the app or to repurchase a reloadable pass for an additional $3 if it is stolen. This non-reloadable card works outside of the benefits of the reloadable card and app.

When asked why the non-reloadable cards are 25 cents more, Williams says this is a result of a Title 6 analysis.

“That analysis said it was OK to charge that as a pass through, for that is the cost that we have agency pay. Also, the overall goal is to get as many of the reloadable cards into people's hands,” he says.

The goal is to publicly launch the system in the first part of 2022. There have already been 1,000 mobile app downloads, 2100 reloadable cards. Twelve percent of the ridership is using this new system, Williams says.

For more information visit quicktickettn.com

Low Barrier Housing Collective looks to house 200 experiencing homeless

According to a press release from Metro Homeless Impact Division, there are more housing subsidies available for people experiencing homelessness in Nashville than ever before.

American Rescue Plan funds are being used for Rapid Rehousing (that is paying partial or full rent for up to 24 months) and additional housing vouchers.

Using these subsidies, Metro Homeless Impact Division hopes to make a partnership with enough landlords to accept 200 people experiencing homelessness into their units. They are calling this partnership, in conjunction with United Way, the Low Barrier Housing Collective.

Part of this collective is the Landlord Mitigation Fund, which was launched in May 2021 by Mayor Cooper, and offers up to $1,000 in security deposit and $2,000 in rental coverage should leases with people experiencing homelessness fall through or be terminated.

At the collective’s launch event on Aug. 25, Alex Smith, a local advocate with lived experience who also serves on Nashville’s Homelessness Planning Council, spoke to landlords.

“Housing finally let me feel human again and that life is worth living,” Smith said. “Being able to have a roof over my head shows that the community of Nashville really can help.”

Part of the ask for landlords is that they consider people who have a criminal history, previous evictions, and/or low income, the press release reads. But landlords participating in this program are also promised mediation support, and tenants are given case management to help them achieve self-sufficiency.

For more information visit lowbarrierhousingcollective.org

Homeless Service Providers demand complete access to Narcan

On Sept. 1, a group of area nonprofits wrote a letter to the Tennessee Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services, asking for full access to Narcan/Naloxone.

Naloxone, also known as Narcan, can reverse an overdose if administered in time.

Homeless advocacy group Open Table Nashville wrote in a social media post that up until this spring, the organization was able to get an unrestricted amount of Narcan in a timely manner. Orders then began to go unfulfilled or unanswered.

“When we finally received communications from the state, we were told that we would no longer be able to access Narcan in the quantities we were used to. We were given no guidance or evidence-based reasoning for this reduction in, and in some instances cessation, in access to Narcan,” the post reads.

In the first half of 2021, Metro Nashville Public Health reported 360 suspected fatal overdose deaths. This is an 11 percent increase in overdose deaths compared to this time last year.

“We ask that you use your position of power to protect our state’s most vulnerable residents. We can only ensure the safety and health of our community if we work together and if those who act as first responders — the outreach workers, street medics, service providers, and substance users themselves — are equipped with the tools necessary to do so,” the letter reads.

Eight homeless service providers signed the letter — The Contributor, Colby’s Army, Mental Health Cooperative, Neighborhood Health, Open Table Nashville, People Loving Nashville, Shower the People and The Village at Glencliff.