The Tennessee branch of Americans For Prosperity (AFP) – funded by conservative billionaires Charles and David Koch – has been working with lawmakers opposed to mass transit projects in the state.

Think Progress reported that AFP has been not only credited with inspiring a bill recently passed in the state senate that undermines such projects through lane restrictions, but was thanked in a statement from a group opposing the Amp, a proposed $174 million rapid bus system in Nashville.

‘It’s pretty tough to fight that kind of money – AFP gets funds from the Koch brothers, and they’re billionaires,” Nashville Metropolitan Transit Authority (MTA) spokesperson Holly McCall was quoted as saying. ‘We continue to work our local campaign, and we’re probably going to make some tweaks to the design – we’re interested in compromise, because if we don’t, our entire future transit plan is going to be dictated by people who live out of state.”

The MTA said on its website that the Amp would help offset an influx of new residents – nearly 1 million by 2035 – by offering an alternative way for residents to commute, which would in turn cut down on drive times. The agency also argued that implementing […]