Some are calling TARC's new service 'Bus Rapid Transit Lite' - a bus every fifteen minutes on routes #18 and #23 on weekdays, all day. That means the average wait for an unplanned ride is a mere 7.5 minutes. That's so frequent that I won't bother consulting a schedule.

The 18 has a new ripple - it serves the north end of U of L's Belknap campus, with direct service to the downtown medical center.

The 23 gets the high frequency by doing a timed interbraiding of a number of tributary routes at Douglass Loop.

This is a great service, paid for through federal CMAQ dollars, but before you invest millions of your own dollars in new development along the corridor, know that the funding stream will likely dry up in a few years, and so might the service. If we had a more robust form of funding for our transportation, this would spur some real development.

A local walker is trying a new idea: Shaming local organizations into keeping up their sidewalks.

sidewalksofshame.blogspot.com

Photo: Mary Beth Brown

I recently enjoyed a night on the town, going to a roller-rink outside of I-264. We TARCed there. Most of our friends took the same bus. It was great fun seeing friend after friend board the bus at each successive stop, and by the time we reached our destination we had a low-grade party going on.

A Photo Survey

Attend the Final Public Meeting!

These are the final public meetings on the Bike Master Plan and Pedestrian Master Plan before Council takes them up for voting. They've been in development since the walking summit and the last bike summit. They've been evolved through a ton of public input and dogged determination on the part of Metro government (Thanks!). They should be adopted!

If you have ideas on how they can be improved, this is your last best chance. They'll have a host of interactive displays and developers on hand to explain and answer.

If you want to show political support for bicycling and walking, we're fairly certain that Council (and the new Mayor) will be setting priorities in part based on public turnout and support for these plans. So come to the one closest to you. Heck, come to two or three - can't hurt, can it? :)

• Pedestrian and Bicycle Public Forum Dec 6, 3110 Lexington Road
• Pedestrian and Bicycle Public Forum Dec 7, 6104 Bardstown Road
• Pedestrian and Bicycle Public Forum Dec 9, 460 Northwestern Parkway

More information at the links above.

more information

Photo courtesy Andy Dyson @ Bicycling for Louisville

TARC's "Bikes on Board" program has been so successfull, people are complaining that there's no space. One possible stopgap is to replace the current generation of 2-bike racks with 3-bike racks. TARC has outfitted a pair of buses with triple racks and is going to begin testing them soon. Reps from CART and Bicycling for Louisville were invited to give feedback at a meeting today.  The racks were not perfect, but neither were the existing racks. Yours truly brought his biggest, most cantankerous bicycle, which is actually incompatible with the current crop of racks, and it looks like both models of new rack are better for it.

If you use one of these on the street, be sure to write TARC and/or comment here with any thoughts you might have on them.

USDOT has released the recipients of the Tiger 2 grant program, and as we kind-of expected, Kentucky didn't manage to get any projects funded. In particular, they were apparently unmoved by Kentucky's case to fund the final stages of the Big 4 Bridge. Indiana did manage to get $1.8m for "Waterloo station improvements" and $0.8m for the "South Shore Commuter Railroad Realignment Study". Correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't think those are in southern Indiana.

Transportation for America has additional coverage.

Hat tip: Dan B.