TARC launches public phase of TARC 2025 network redesign

July 30, 2024

Community feedback in August and September will be key to inform the draft proposal released later this year

Louisville, KY (July 30, 2024) – To address an unprecedented financial challenge, TARC is redesigning its transit network and the first chance for the public to weigh in begins this week.

From July 30 through September 12, Louisville region residents can evaluate three different concepts of what a redesigned TARC transit network could look like. These concepts are not actual proposals. But public feedback about the concepts will directly inform draft proposals to be released later this fall.  

TARC will unveil the three concepts at a press conference Tuesday, July 30 at 9:30 a.m. at TARC’s Union Station headquarters, 1000 W. Broadway. 

“To ensure TARC’s long term sustainability Louisville needs consensus on the top priorities for public transit,” said TARC Executive Director Ozzy Gibson. “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 the concepts will assume that TARC will not receive any additional operating revenue and will have to implement service reductions of up to 50 percent compared to what was offered in Spring 2024. With service cuts that significant, determining TARC’s top priorities will be critical.

“The two concepts with service reductions of up to 50 percent are not what TARC wants to do,” Gibson said. “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.”

Public feedback about each concept will be used to determine priorities for the actual draft proposals – to be released later this year. The three concepts help to illustrate what transit could look like if TARC prioritized different goals:

• The “Coverage” concept will show what TARC might look like if it used its limited resources to prioritize maintaining existing coverage. In this concept, while there are theoretically more places that a bus route will run on, those buses are spread out, meaning they wouldn’t come as often.
• The “Ridership” concept will show what TARC might look like if it used its limited resources to prioritize frequent and reliable service in areas with the greatest potential for high ridership. In that concept, waits for a bus would be short where bus service exists. The downside is that fewer overall areas would have service. 
• A third concept, the “Growth” concept, shows what TARC could look like if additional funding for service was available. It maximizes service in areas of high ridership potential and maintains most of the existing coverage. This concept shows what Louisville transit would look like if the region prioritized meeting more of the unmet transit needs of the community and invested to position the system for future growth.    

You can learn more about the concepts by clicking here.

Public feedback will play a key role in the TARC 2025 redesign

Public feedback on the concepts will be a critical part of determining the next steps for TARC. Public comments will help to determine the most important priorities for TARC to focus on, directly informing the draft proposal later this year. Public engagement will also help to identify the most important priorities for an expanded transit system if additional funding is made available.

Between July 30 and September 12, TARC will be asking community members to take a quick survey on the concepts to voice their opinion. That survey is available on the TARC 2025 webpage.

TARC will proactively reach out to the community to solicit feedback in a number of different ways:

• In person open house meetings in September
• Presentations at a variety of neighborhood association and other “standing” meetings throughout August and September
• Pop up meetings at busy bus stops 
• Tabling at community events or workplaces
• Virtual Q+A sessions every Thursday from 8/8 to 9/5 
• Social media engagement
• Live text line (833) 689-3748

Any community members who are interested in hosting a TARC 2025 presentation can reach out to the TARC 2025 team at TARC2025@ridetarc.org.

In addition, TARC has convened a wide-ranging Stakeholder Advisory Committee to weigh in on next steps as well. The Stakeholder Advisory Committee is a diverse group of government leaders, elected officials, neighborhood leaders, community leaders, major employer representatives, and non-profit community service organizations who will participate in a series of intense transit planning workshops to shape ideas, inform TARC planning priorities and goals, learn about transit challenges and opportunities, and serve as liaisons for their respective community or organization.

*The entities participating in the Stakeholder Advisory Committee are in the attached document.