The Transit Authority of River City (TARC) released three different concepts on what a redesigned TARC transit network would look like. However, TARC is asking for public comment on these concepts, and that feedback will “inform draft proposals” that are set to be released later this year in the fall.
“To ensure TARC’s long term sustainability Louisville needs consensus on the top priorities for public transit,” said TARC Executive Director Ozzy Gibson in a statement. “These concepts will be the springboard for hundreds of conversations in the coming weeks to identify the most important community priorities for a TARC redesign.”
Two of those concepts ultimately assume that TARC will not get any more money to operate, which will mean having to eliminate up to 50% of all services versus what was offered this last Spring.
“The two concepts with service reductions of up to 50 percent are not what TARC wants to do,” Gibson said in a statement. “But if we can’t find additional revenue, further service reductions will be the reality and those concepts show different ways to approach that hard decision.”
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The three concepts, according to TARC, are based on what TARC should prioritize going into 2025.
The “Coverage” concept will use TARC’s limited resources to prioritize “maintaining existing coverage,” which means that though buses will be more spread out across Louisville, they will come less often than usual.
The “Ridership” concept prioritizes more frequent coverage and reliable services to areas with the greatest potential for more riders. Fewer overall areas in Louisville get service to TARC buses with this concept.
And the “Growth” concept, outlined on Tuesday, June 30 along with the other two, showed what TARC would look like if additional funding for the service was available. More coverage and stable frequencies to high ridership areas would allow for the transit service to meet “more of the unmet transit needs of the community and invested to position the system for future growth.”
There are multiple ways to provide feedback from now until Sept. 12. TARC said in a statement that public comments help to determine the most important priorities for its service to focus on, plus comments help to identify where TARC should be looking if an expanded transit network is made available through additional funding.
On TARC’s website, there is a survey available for people who want to provide comments online for the latest concepts.
This article appears in Jul 31 – Aug 13, 2024.
