Transit Authority of River City (TARC)

TARC's Chief Operating Officer, Rob Stephens, and Director Of Marketing & Communications, Alex Posorske, joined the September meeting of the Louisville Forum to discuss TARC 2025, and the future of public transportation in Louisville. Louisville MetroTV filmed last week's conversation: https://lnkd.in/ejQaBfMA

There is one more week to submit your feedback on the TARC 2025 concepts. Last night WDRB stopped by to talk with our Executive Director Ozzy Gibson about the project, and how you can weigh in before the survey closes: https://lnkd.in/et97JCWF

For this week’s Transit Planning Tuesday, let’s look at changes in access and proximity across the three concepts. The first chart shows how job access changes between concepts, on average, for all Jefferson County residents and for specific groups of residents. The grey bars are the jobs accessible in the Spring 2024 network, the red bars are the jobs accessible in the Ridership Concept, the blue bars are the jobs accessible in the Coverage Concept, and the green bars are the jobs accessible in the Growth Concept. The second chart shows the coverage provided by TARC services in Spring 2024, compared to the coverage provided by all three Concepts, at midday on a weekday. Each group of bars is the coverage of residents, jobs, or a particular group of residents within Jefferson County. The overall coverage is divided into coverage by transit of particular frequencies at midday. That tells us a bit more about how many people are near service that is useful. You can see a more complete version of the second chart, and learn more about the three Concepts by visiting our TARC 2025 Concepts page: https://lnkd.in/eHV-7j_p

For today’s Transit Planning Tuesday let’s take a look at the Growth Concept!   We looked at some peers for TARC and the Louisville region, and saw that where similar regions provide more transit service, they get more ridership per person. So, there is a key value question about whether the region should invest more in transit to improve access to opportunity and increase ridership. To help visualize what is possible, we’ve drawn a Growth Concept that would redesign the TARC network while adding 12% more service than was available in the Spring 2024 Network. Funding this network would require about $45 million per year in additional operating funding from the region. This concept provides both the frequency of the Ridership Concept and the additional places and neighborhoods served by the Coverage Concept. The additional service dramatically increases how many useful destinations an average resident can reach in a given amount of time, while also maintain and expanding coverage. This concept adds a stretch of frequent service along Frankfort Avenue and Market Street. Also note the cross-town connectors helping connect Bardstown Road to UofL to Algonquin Park, as well as an Outer Loop connector, and Hurstbourne Parkway connector. Learn more about the Growth Concept on our updated Concepts page: https://lnkd.in/eHV-7j_p Should the region should invest more in transit to improve access to opportunity and increase ridership? Let us know by taking our survey today: https://lnkd.in/e25unnT2

Another great week of talking with our community about TARC 2025 at over 20 different local neighborhood associations, nonprofits, employers, and more! Check out where we will be next week: https://lnkd.in/eipUTfUb

Jarrett Walker + Associates, considered the best in the business for transit design projects, are helping lead the TARC 2025 redesign. In a recent blog they share some more information on the creation of our recently released concepts: https://lnkd.in/eV8up5RF

Today TARC launches the public phase of the TARC 2025 network redesign. 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. Learn more: https://lnkd.in/efyQwW_6

🚌 Introducing Transit Planning Tuesdays! This month, TARC launches TARC 2025: Moving Forward Together, our initiative to shape Louisville’s transit future with your input. Join us every Tuesday as we explore public transit planning. This week, we're delving into financial constraints. TARC is facing historic financial challenges and a looming deficit. Action must be taken now to ensure the system’s long-term sustainability. Throughout the TARC 2025 project, we will work directly with the community to develop strategies for an updated TARC transit network that will better meet the region’s needs and priorities within the reality of the funding TARC expects to receive over the next 5-10 years. Challenges include: ➡️ Limited local funding: Jefferson County's occupational tax unchanged in 50 years, failing to keep pace with development and paratransit costs. ➡️ Minimal state support compared to peers. ➡️ Nationwide financial strain post-COVID-19: lower ridership, fare revenues, and competitive wage pressures. ➡️ End of federal emergency transit funding. Together, let's shape sustainable public transportation in Louisville. Learn more about TARC 2025 at www.ridetarc.org/tarc2025/

This month, TARC formally launches TARC 2025, a planning process and community conversation to determine what TARC will look like in the coming years. TARC 2025 is a network redesign project that will solicit direct input from the community to create an updated TARC transit network that can better meet the community’s goals and priorities—within the reality of the funding that TARC can expect over the next 5 to 10 years. This effort is one of the core TARC approaches to proactively address its looming fiscal cliff and maintain a reliable and effective regional transit system. Learn more: https://lnkd.in/eik6YSEe

Congratulations to Shawn McWhorter, our Assistant Director of Safety, on being a part of this year's Leadership Louisville class!