TARC 2025: Growth Option is the ONLY Option!
Louisville Metro Council
Simply put, Louisville Metro Council does not prioritize public transportation. The current funding model for the Transit Authority of River City (TARC) was implemented in 1974 and has not changed since. As it is currently funded, TARC is unable to meet the public transit needs of ALL Louisville Metro residents.
In spring 2024, this situation became even more dire. TARC reached its breaking point, announcing a $30-million-dollar budget shortfall which forced them to make drastic service cuts. Around the same time, TARC launched the long-awaited TARC 2025 system re-design.
In order to ensure the best outcome of the TARC 2025 system re-design—a public transit system that serves the needs of ALL Louisville Metro residents—Louisville Metro Council must act and properly fund TARC. They are currently presenting three options, but the only option that can even slightly ensure these needs are met is the "Growth Option".
TARC is doing their job, Louisville Metro Council needs to do theirs, and we need you to make sure they follow through! The Only Option is the Growth Option!
Add your name to the growing list of Louisvillians who signed onto this demand letter to fund a TARC that works for everyone!
Unions, Neighborhood Associations, and Organizations in the Get On The Bus Coalition(as of March 10, 2025)
- Louisville DSA
- UofL YDSA
- ATU Local 1447
- Greater Louisville Central Labor Council
- Kentucky State AFL-CIO
- Labor Council for Latin American Interests
- SEIU 32BJ
- IUE-CWA Local 83761
- Jefferson County Teachers Association (JCTA)
- Portland Now
- Shelby Park Neighborhood Association
- German-Paristown Neighborhood Association
- Shawnee Neighborhood Association
- Meriweather/Fort Hill Neighborhood Association
- Old Louisville Mobility Coalition
- Louisville Metro Disability Coalition
- Ridenfaden
- Secular Student Alliance at the University of Louisville
- Center for Racial Justice at Simmons College of Kentucky
- St Stephen Baptist Church
- Association of Community Ministries
- South Louisville Community Ministries
- Strong Towns Louisville
- UofL Urban & Public Affairs Student Association
- YIMBY Louisville
- Kentuckians for Single Payer Healthcare
- UofL Sustainability Council
Learn more about the Get On The Bus campaign on our website: gotb.dsalouisville.org
Sponsored by
To:
Louisville Metro Council
From:
[Your Name]
Dear [Metro Council Member],
Despite the budget shortfall and service cuts of spring 2024, TARC is poised for great change because of the TARC 2025 system re-design. This process includes listening to riders and residents about their public transit needs and developing proposals to meet those needs. One of those proposals is the “growth” option, which is only possible if properly funded.
We are making a simple yet urgent demand—find sustainable ways to fund the “growth” option of the TARC 2025 system re-design so TARC can meet the needs of ALL Louisville Metro residents and GROW ridership instead of allowing TARC to wither away with service cut after service cut.
TARC is ready and able to understand the complex needs of ALL Louisville Metro residents so they can create a world-class public transit system that our great city deserves. A public transit system that will better serve TARC’s current riders, many of whom rely on TARC as their only means of transportation and have been severely impacted by the recent service cuts, and grow that ridership to reduce the traffic/parking congestion and pollution created by cars. Robust public transit is essential in creating thriving metropolitan areas where working people want to live and raise families; where businesses, large and small, want to set up shop; and where tourists want to explore what makes a city like Louisville so great.
TARC is doing its job and now it's time for Metro Council to do theirs. The current funding model for TARC hasn’t worked in years if not decades and it certainly won’t provide the kind of unprecedented funding that the “growth” option of TARC 2025 requires.
There are many possible solutions, as long as Metro Council is willing to prioritize increasing funding for TARC that will improve the day-to-day lives of their constituents. Whether this is through adding TARC to the city budget permanently; or a referendum to increase the occupational tax that currently funds TARC; or taking cues from cities like Columbus, where voters approved an increased sales tax to fund their transit system, COTA, or Nashville where, in a 2-to-1 margin, voters gave the green light to the ambitious “Choose How You Move” transportation plan—a solution must be found.
Mayor Greenberg promised to “improve public transportation to create high-density corridors of opportunity, with a focus on routes serving working families and their places of employment.” It’s time for that promise to come to fruition. Louisville is a world-class city and its residents deserve a world-class public transit system. You can make that happen.
Signed,