LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Riders who use TARC for transportation throughout the city will be impacted by service reductions at the end of the month.
The transit company announced Monday that it will roll back weekday service to 19 of its 30 fixed-route bus lines, and discontinue three routes all together.
TARC said they are facing a financial crisis and will lose about 20% of its operating budget as American Rescue Plan funding awarded during the COVID-19 pandemic is ending.
They further explained their financial challenges fueled their decision to move forward with necessary changes to ensure their long-term sustainability.
“Like a lot of transit agencies nationwide, TARC is facing a really steep fiscal cliff. We’re looking at a deficit of operations of up to $30 million over the next couple of years," said TARC Marketing and Communications Director Alex Posorske. “If we were not implementing these service reductions, if we were moving forward like we have been previously, we’d be looking at somewhere around July 1, 2026 being unable to meet payroll.”
Posorske said the reductions will give the transit agency time to look to long-term solutions to make TARC sustainable moving forward.
“Without additional revenue, we’ll have to see about further service reductions at some point in the future," he said.
What does this mean for riders?
The frequency of buses will be less, and three limited-service routes funded by temporary grants will be discontinued. TARC also said Saturday and Sunday service on the affected routes will remain unaffected.
“Everybody is going to be impacted by this. For the simple reason, it’s public transportation. You cannot talk about jobs, you cannot talk about food, you cannot talk about healthcare without talking about transportation," said Lillian Brents, president and business agent of the Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1447. “This is probably one of the worst it has ever been, just because the service is being cut to a Saturday plus service – which impacts several different lines.”
TARC 3 will not be affected.
TARC also stated four of their critical routes, #4 – Fourth Street, #10 – Dixie Rapid, #23 – Broadway and #28 – Preston Highway, carries 50% of daily ridership and will stay the same.
They also have four additional routes, #22 – 22nd Street, #75 – Bluegrass Circulator, #93 – UPS Shuttle-UofL-JCTC and #99 – UPS Shuttle West Louisville, that has more limited service throughout parts of the day or week but will have the same level of service.
TARC will kick off its 2025 Network Redesign process this summer that will use community input to update its system to better meet needs of expected funding they expect to receive over the next five to 10 years.
They also said it is important to note that its #29 - Eastern Parkway bus will reroute to the north side of Cherokee Park.
The bus reductions are set to go into effect on June 30.
A recent partnership between TARC and Jefferson County Public Schools (JCPS) could lease 70 TARC employees to transport kids to and from school.
TARC driver Marlon Manning is one of those 70 drivers, his last day driving his TARC route is June 30.
“I’ve been selected to go over and try to help the school district to transport all the children next year, because obviously they’ve been overloaded with trying to find drivers," Manning said. "It is preventing some layoffs for newer drivers with TARC. So the extra funding, obviously, will keep us all getting the things that we need and keeping us working, as well.”
Tuesday, WHAS11 is expecting to get an update on that driver deal from JCPS.
District leaders are scheduled to give more details on how it will work at the school board meeting. The JCPS school board meeting starts at 6 p.m.
Visit RideTARC.org or call their Customer Care line at (502) 585-1234 to learn more about the changes and see below the affected and unaffected routes.
Routes with no service changes
Route #4 Fourth Street
Route #10 Dixie Rapid
Route #22 Twenty Second Street
Route #23 Broadway
Route #28 Preston Highway
Route #75 Bluegrass Circulator
Route #93 UPS Shuttle-UofL-JCTC
Route #99 UPS Shuttle West Louisville
Routes to be adjusted
Route #2 UPS Second Street
Route #6 Sixth Street
Route #12 Twelfth Street
Route #15 Market Street
Route #17 Bardstown Road
Route #18 Dixie Highway
Route #19 Muhammad Ali Blvd
Route #21 Chestnut Street
Route #25 Oak-Westport Crosstown
Route #27 Hill Street
Route #29 Eastern Parkway
Route #31 Shelbyville Road
Route #40 Taylorsville Road
Route #43 Portland Poplar Level
Route #52 Medical Center Circulator
Route #63 Crums Lane
Route #71 Jefferson-Louisville-New Albany
Route #72 Clarksville
Route #94 Cardinal Shuttle
Discontinued routes
Route #46 National Turnpike-Outer Loop
Route #73 West Louisville-River Ridge
Route #74 Chamberlain Lane-River Ridge
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