We demand that TARC starts protecting public safety, and stop needlessly risking riders’ and workers’ lives!

Transit Authority of River City (TARC) Board of Directors

Tell the Transit Authority of River City leadership that they need to start protecting public safety, and stop needlessly risking riders’ and workers’ lives. Demand that TARC Assistant Executive Director Randy Frantz, and Interim Co-Executive Directors Margaret Handmaker and Laura Douglas start doing their jobs by implementing the below Safe Service policies. Please take immediate action and sign the online petition below to make these demands by entering your name, address, and postal code. All you have to do is hit SEND.

To: Transit Authority of River City (TARC) Board of Directors
From: [Your Name]

We, the undersigned, demand that TARC immediately implement the following Safe Service measures to ensure the safety of transit workers and riders:

1. Load limits: limiting bus passenger loads to no more than 10.

2. Hazard pay: compensating transit workers with at least 1.5 times their normal wage.

3. Adequate service: strategic continuation of service to avoid overcrowding.

Two TARC drivers have been diagnosed with COVID-19. Yet TARC continues to endanger the lives of both riders and drivers by crowding vehicles with loads more than twice the amount recommended by health experts.

TARC’s refusal to compensate its frontline workers with hazard pay is further evidence that the members of the board do not take seriously the severity of this crisis or value the lives of their employees.

This refusal, and its lacking overall response to the pandemic, is particularly outrageous given the federal government’s allocation of more than $36.3 million in federal bailout money for public transit in Louisville. TARC essentially declined millions of dollars in federal aid offered to them during this crisis, and now claims that they do not have adequate funding to provide hazard pay and meet our other demands.

TARC workers risk their lives and their families’ lives every day transporting their fellow essential workers to jobs in Louisville’s hospitals, grocery stores, and other critical services. We demand that the TARC Board of Directors start doing their jobs ensuring a safe transit system for workers and riders alike.