This new hybrid bus was purchased with ARRA stimulus dollars. It features a new 'hybrid' color scheme (har har), merging the new grey bus scheme with the butterfly from the older iconic blue "Breathe Easier" hybrids. Hybrids have better fuel economy than their pure-diesel counterparts, but they cost more up-front. Whether they repay that initial investment is a gamble on the future price of diesel.

Public Meetings are scheduled to discuss the proposal. See this article on the KIPDA blog for details.

Today kicked off the public meetings on the TARC cuts. There were two meetings.

The first meeting at Union Station was packed. I expected 30 people. There were over 100!! People were polite but grumpy their routes were getting cut. People were casting blame everywhere - elected officials, TARC 'bloat', you name it. Nevertheless, I think the meeting was educational for most people there. The presentation was "folks: we're broke, that's why we're cutting your service". At least two council members and two mayoral candidates were there. The "Best Organized" Oscar certainly goes to the riders of the #66 Mt Washington / Sheperdsville express, who had signs, name tags, and maybe even a logo asking for their favourite route to be preserved!

more below the fold...

This week we're going to run an article every day related to TARC, the Transportation Authority of River City. Today's theme is:

The Story So Far

• TARC is forced into significant route cuts, including the virtual elimination of their express bus service. Read TARC's Frequently Asked Questions on the cuts.
• Public meetings on the route cuts will run all this week, see ridetarc.org for details.
• Local transportation activist John Owen is stirring up people to not take the cuts lying down, and plans public meetings. Read his press release.
• Mayoral Candidate Jackie Green is doing a "media event" at 10:30 am at TARC on Tuesday.
• Join your fellow TARC riders on the bus@cartky.org mailing list.
• Click below the fold for the Bad TARC Joke of the Day...

TARC plans to eliminate 24 routes in 2010, and cut most of the remaining 31 routes. Tommorow TARC's planned service cuts from this winter go into effect, but Louisvillian's revenue keeps on tanking, so TARC is having to cut more service for July. About $5m annually will be saved by this second round of cuts. The second round will be the subject of public meetings. See below for details.

TARC Routes, 2010

1 - 4th Street Trolley cut Feb, eliminate July
2 - Second Street cut Feb, cut again July
4 - Fourth Street cut Feb, cut again July
6 - Sixth Street cut Feb, cut again July, route change July
12 - Twelfth Street cut Feb, eliminate July
15 - Market Street cut Feb
17 - Bardstown Road route change July
18 - Preston / Dixie route change July
19 - Muhammad Ali Boulevard cut Feb, cut again July
21 - Chestnut Street route change July
22 - Twenty-second Street cut Feb, eliminate July
23 - Broadway route change July
25 - Oak Street cut Feb cut again July
27 - Hill Street cut July
29 - Eastern Parkway cut July
31 - Middletown cut Feb cut July
35 - Indian Trail-hikes Lane eliminate July
37 - Iroquois Park - Fairdale Express cut Feb eliminate July
38 - Deering Road Express eliminate July
40 - Jeffersontown Express
43 - Poplar Level/portland cut Feb
45 - Okolona Express cut Feb, eliminate July
46X - West Louisville / GE Express eliminate Feb
49 - Westport Express cut Feb, eliminate July
50 - Dixie Express eliminate July
52 - Medical Center Circulator
53 - Breckenridge Express cut Feb, eliminate July
54 - Manslick Express eliminate July
55 - Westport Road
58 - Bashford Manor - Oxmoor cut Feb, eliminate July
59 - River Road eliminate July
61 - Plainview Express cut Feb, eliminate July
62 - Breckenridge - Shepherdsville route change July
63 - Crums Lane cut Feb
64 - Fincastle-forest Spr Exp cut Feb, eliminate July
65 - Southern Indiana I-65 Express
66 - Mt Washington-shepherdsville, eliminate July
67 - Oldham I-71 Express cut Feb, cut again July
68 - Prospect Express eliminate July
69 - New Albany Express eliminate Feb
70 - Clarksville - New Albany Express eliminate Feb
71 - Jeffersonville cut Feb
72 - Clarksville - New Albany cut Feb, cut again July
73 - Charlestown Road Express cut Feb, eliminate July
74 - Jeffersonville / Riverfront
75 - Bluegrass Circulator eliminate July
77 - Main St. Trolley cut July
78 - Downtown/bluegrass Express cut Feb
80 - Hurstbourne Parkway eliminate July
84 - South Louisville
93 - Ups Shuttle - U of L
94 - Cardinal Shuttle Mon - Thurs
95 - Cardinal Shuttle Friday
96 - West Louisville Circulator eliminate Feb
99 - Ups Shuttle West Louisville

More on what you can do below the fold...

The TARC board has granted a stay of execution on some of the routes slated for cancellation. The best coverage of the cuts is at the KIPDA transportation blog.

TARC's cut will not be sufficient to reach financial balance. Thus the Metro Transit Trust Fund (MTTF) will dip down to $7.5 million dollars from its healthy level of $10 million dollars. The MTTF serves as a way to keep service on the streets in an emergency, and also as buffer cash for reimbursement projects ("if you build it we will pay...someday" as oppposed to "we will pay you then you build it").

While everyone awknolwedges this is a "damned if you do, damned if you don't" situation, I have to give credit for them having the guts to deficit spend. There's a strong argument that government shouldn't cut jobs during a recession, and we've had plenty of state and local job cuts already, just as the feds are pouring money into creating new jobs.

This is no game and there is an element of risk for the livelyhood of 60,000 TARC riders. So far TARC has not had the roller-coaster ride of severe service cuts experienced at many other transit agencies. (c.f. today's front page New York Times article on the MTA cuts). That's a possibility that Possibility City has avoided.

CART remains committed to creating a better federal funding structure for transit in the new authorization in 2010.

[Editorial - not the official position of CART]

Remove Bus Stops on Broadway to Win

Buses can't get anywhere if they're always starting or stopping. TARC's #23 on Broadway has so many bus stops, that it is hopelessly slow. Stops average every tenth of a mile.  Around 3rd street, there are even two stops on the same block! Buses run standing-room only in this part of town, and all the stops are used constantly.

View #23 TARC Stops in a larger map

Tarc is proposing to decrease the frequency of most routes, to make up for budget shortfalls. Here's the short list of routes that have zero proposed cuts:

• #17 Bardstown Road
• #18 Preston & Dixie
• #23  Broadway to Taylorsville Rd
• #27 Hill St
• #29 Eastern Parkway, Dixie Hwy, Shelbyville Rd
• #35 Indian Trail & Hikes Lane
• A few express buses - prolly seperate funding sources
• #77 Main St Trolley (Humana-funded?)
• UofL Loops
• UPS routes

Everything else is getting cut. Wow. Even the mighty #4 4th Street bus is getting the axe, for many years the pride of the system with 12 minute headways.

There will be many public meetings to discuss the changes, and these aren't set in stone.

photo: flickr's Fluer-de-louis

TARC's 4th street trolley is never worth messing with. As one TARC driver dryly observed of my attempts to use it - "Don't use the Trolley, you just lazy!". She was right. Here's the math.

[Editor's note: this article was written this summer with 2009-era service levels for all routes. Now that the new route cuts have been announced, this only strengthens the argument]

The 4th Street Trolley services from the Galt House to Main Library, 0.88 miles, to be exact. It runs at 15 minute intervals, and a trip takes 7 minutes. Walking the same distance takes 18 minutes (@3mph).

What does it say about our community that we now take civic pride in our faux-trolleys? Someone at the phone book company thinks motorized, tire-based trolleys are sufficently "Louisville" that they are fit to grace the cover of a phone book. I'm surprised on two counts:

That someone would choose transit as an iconic representation of the values of our community is heartening.

And that they'd choose those rubber-tired, diesel-powered "trolleys" as the poster child validates the significant effort expended to make the trolleys look attractive. I'm guessing the disguise is not fooling the CART readership...but apperantly we're in the minority.

Here's hoping some intrepid stock photographer manages to capture the hybrid buses in such loving detail, and it makes it on the cover of the next phone book. Those buses are proud of what they are, and they're the best we've ever had.

Until we get the new batch, of course. :)