TARC offering fare-free, increased service for Thunder Over Louisville

April 20, 2022

All routes on TARC will be will fare-free this Saturday, April 23 to provide convenient, free access to and from Thunder Over Louisville, thanks to the generous sponsorship of the Kentucky Derby Festival and Humana. In addition, TARC is increasing service into downtown Louisville and designating five post-event boarding areas. The service plan mirrors TARC service for Thunder in recent years with an added circulator service from Broadway at 11th Street to Shawnee Park until 11:00 p.m.

About 10,000 passengers are expected to take TARC for the annual fireworks and air show on the river. Passengers are encouraged visit ridetarc.org and use the Trip Planner on the home page to plan ahead and know their route number and stop locations.

Passengers traveling on TARC from Southern Indiana are cautioned that buses on cross-river routes #71-Jeffersonville, Louisville, New Albany and #72-Clarksville will not make return trips to Indiana after 8:00 p.m. due to the closure of the Clark Memorial (2nd Street), Lincoln, and Kennedy Bridges. With the exception of bridge access, TARC will provide service on Southern Indiana routes as scheduled.

Post-event boarding in downtown Louisville will be restricted to five locations, most within blocks of the waterfront. Buses will operate until 11:00 p.m. at those locations (see list and map below). Due to traffic, buses have limited access on downtown streets after the event. The boarding locations are designed to keep buses out of heavy traffic as much as possible and to get people home as quickly as possible.

Beginning at 3:30 p.m., more buses will be added on routes serving downtown, improving the frequency of bus arrival times at stops and adding capacity. However, as the event draws closer, downtown routes may be delayed due to police barricades and heavy pedestrian traffic.

Post-Thunder boarding

Locations listed on the map below are the only downtown boarding options:  

Eastbound Routes

Boarding on Market, near Floyd

#15 – Market Street (to La Grange Road)

#19 – Muhammad Ali (to Oxmoor and Lyndon)

#31 – Middletown

Boarding on Liberty, near Floyd

#17 – Bardstown Road (to Fern Creek and Sebree)

#21 – Chestnut (to Bashford Avenue)

#23 – Broadway (to Jeffersontown and Breckenridge Plaza)

#40 – Taylorsville Road

Westbound Routes

Boarding on Main west of 9th

#15 – Market Street (to Shawnee Park)

#18 – Preston (to Valley Station)

#19 – Muhammad Ali (to Park Duvall and Rockford Lane)

#21 – Chestnut (to Shawnee Park)

#23 – Broadway (to Shawnee Park)

#43 – Portland/Poplar Level (to 32nd & Portland Loop)

Southbound Routes

Boarding on 6th near Chestnut

#4 – Fourth Street (to Iroquois Park and Southland Park)

#6 – Sixth Street (via Central to Auburndale)

#63 – Crums Lane (to West Pages Lane)

Boarding on 1st at Muhammad Ali

 #2 – Second Street (to Airport and UPS)

#18 – Preston (to Okolona – Outer Loop Plaza)

#43 – Portland/Poplar Level (to Fern Creek

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In addition to viewing area guidelines provided by the Kentucky Derby Festival, TARC’s Code of Conduct will be in effect, which includes the following:

• Per a Federal ruling on April 19, masks are not required on board at this time, but if the mandate is reinstated by the Federal Transit Administration, TARC will follow that guidance.
• Chairs, coolers, and other belongings must be stored under the passenger seat and may not block aisles or walkways.
• Food and drinks must be kept in a sealed container.
• No alcoholic beverages are permitted on board.

Easy trip planning, maps and schedules are available at ridetarc.org, on the Transit app (free download), or Google Maps. For additional assistance, TARC customer service representatives can be reached at (502) 585-1234; TTY (502) 213-3240. You can also follow TARC on social media for updates:

Twitter: www.twitter.com/ridetarc
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/ridetarc