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When the alarm goes off at 4 a.m., I ask myself, ‘Why am I doing this?’  Nobody would notice if I just went back to sleep and didn’t ride 200 miles on TARC buses for the next 13 hours.  This is brutal.  I don’t know how some people do this every working day. Why am I doing this?  Four years ago I heard about World Car Free Day on the internet and decided I wanted to bring it to Louisville.  I saw the addiction we have for our cars (having been an addict myself once) and thought it would be good for this city to start Step 1 and admit we have a problem.  World Car Free Day started in 2000 in Europe.  It has spread to over 1,000 cities around the world.  It challenges people to go for one day without their cars.  There’s a sure way to find out if your addicted to something – try giving it up for a while.  Four years ago I got CART (the Coalition for the Advancement of Regional Transportation), a local non-profit alternative transportation advocacy group to help me promote World Car Free Day in Louisville.  We posted fliers around town and held a press conference at the boardroom of TARC and no one came.  When I got back to my office, a bit down from the experience, I got a phone interview from a local radio station and we were off and running.  In the following years’ our efforts and successes grew.  We printed fliers, posters, had rallies, and web pages.  It’s a hard event with which to measure success because it’s a non-event.  People do this on their own, riding a bike to work, taking the bus, or telecommuting....

Update: registration is now closed.

You are invited to join us for a ride on Nashville's Music City Star commuter rail system on September 26th. This fun & informative trip includes tickets both for the train itself, and for a charter bus leaving from Louisville. For travel details, see the Nashville Trip page. To buy tickets by credit card, press the button:

 
Image courtesy Metro Jacksonville

Bike Shop owner Jackie Green reports a wave of stolen bicycles all across the city. Says Green: "It is locked bikes, bikes in fenced back yards, rear wheels, bikes - even with training wheels - momentarily abandoned, all variations on a theme." He suggests the following counter-measures:

1. Record your bike's serial number.
2. Lock your bike.
3. Report to the police if it is stolen.
4. Do not buy a bike off E-bay, Craigs list or anywhere else if you cannot confirm the seller is the owner (not the possessor).

The time to contribute money to transit is now. We can take a major step towards improved regional transportation around Louisville. Through the tireless efforts of Metro Council, KIRA, and CART, we are very close to operating two exciting demonstrations:

1. An "inspection train" on the Paducah & Louisville track, going from downtown Louisville out to Elizabethtown KY, a model of what a commuter rail line could look like on that corridor.
2. A city-to-city bus ride back to Louisville aboard a Miller Transportation's bus, a model for a better way of connecting Kentucky's cities.

Click Read More for how to contribute!

If you attended the CART Annual meeting on Wednesday, July 23, you heard the discussion of an exciting proposal to demonstrate that commuter rail is a real possibility in Louisville. 

CART is partnering with KIRA, the Kentucky and Indiana Rail Advocates, to sponsor an “inspection train” down Dixie Highway toward Fort Knox, using the Paducah & Louisville Railway.  It will be a trip for various city officials to see the railway and imagine what the corridor could become. A similar inspection train led to the creation of the Music City Star on the Nashville & Eastern railroad. 

Wednesday, July 23rd, 6pm-~7:30pm. Clifton Center.

Join us as we welcome featured speaker Stephen George of LEO Weekly, and his talk entitled "Road to Ruin: How Politics is Wrecking your Commute".

This quarterly meeting also happens to be our annual meeting, so prepare for elections of board members, financial reports, and all those annual goodies.

Light snacks will be served.

We all know that public transit has been in the news.  More than ever, we have a climate that will support public transit if we can build a base and momentum.  Thanks to you long time, committed advocates, CART has successfully raised awareness of the need for increased funding for transit. Now is the time for all of you to take you energies and recruit others.

CART, along with the Metropolitan Housing Coalition, Kentuckyians for the Commonwealth, AARP, the Center for Accessible Living, and other friends, is developing education and advocacy tools for you to use.  We want to have people and organizations show their commitment to increased public transit by signing onto some basic principles.  If you are interested in this phase, let us know.

This does redirect our energy from the petition for the August 16 deadline to add a transit funding initiative to the 2008 ballot.  But we know that educating the public and growing the base of supporters is the most important way to use our time.

CART to address Metro Council regarding increased TARC funding proposal

On Monday we need all friends of Transit to turn out at the Metro Council Transportation & Public Works meeting. Show our leaders that transit is a priority.

The meeting is at 5pm sharp at City Hall.

CART is proposing the city increase funding to TARC by $40 million to restore bus service to meet current demand and massively improve the system. Read our full proposal here.

After-party at Bearno's by the Bridge, 131 W. Main Street. 584-7437. Bring your own pizza money! Wheelchair accessible through the back.

Jon is leaving his position as Bike/Ped coordinator for Louisville. The position has not been eliminated. CART is sad to see him go, and wishes him success in his next endeavor.