Longer walks to bus stops, reduced routes, and even cut routes could be coming to some TARC drivers.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Major changes are coming to the Transit Authority of River City (TARC), as the agency grapples with a multi-million dollar deficit.
Longer walks to the bus stop, reduced routes, and even cut routes are coming to some TARC riders in their New TARC Network.
“We’re trying to spend every dollar wisely and put on the street what we can afford,” said TARC Executive Director Ozzy Gibson. “By making these changes, we can get out to the [fiscal year] 29 or 30 budget before we have to start talking about financial cliffs again. We thought that was the right thing to do.”
The changes are intended to simplify the system, improve service frequency, and better align public transit with community priorities, though trade-offs remain.
The new network will offer more frequent buses, faster downtown transfers through a new “pulse” hub system, and a streamlined route map with simplified numbering.
The hub will be a transfer spot between routes that don’t run as often, to bring more people to one central point. TARC said the long-term goal is to find an off-street facility.
TARC says the distance between the stops will increase by about three blocks, up from the current one or two.
The new map highlights routes running every 15 minutes in red, every 30 minutes in blue, and every 60 minutes in green.
“It’s a balance between trying to keep frequent, useful service in the densest, busiest places where you have a lot of existing riders,” said Jarrett Walker + Associates President Scudder Wagg. “When you’re redesigning a network and you’re having to reduce service because of the fiscal challenge, there’s no easy way to solve that problem.”
Some riders will need to walk farther to catch a bus, others will experience reduced service, and a small number will not have service at all in low ridership corridors like Middletown, Jeffersontown, and parts of south and southwest Jefferson County.
Whether the service reductions will result in staff cuts is a top concern for Lillian Brents, president and business agent of ATU Local 1447.
“It’s definitely a lot to take in,” she said. “We take our job very seriously. No, it’s not just about bringing home a paycheck. It’s also knowing your passengers. And so the way the plans are changing everything you know, that’s a whole new group of people, hopefully a lot more people will utilize the service in which we provide.”
TARC says all JCPS magnet high schools will be served with regular service during AM and PM bell times.
The rollout of the New TARC Network is expected in August 2026, and no major service changes are expected before then.
TARC says it will launch a public education campaign to help customers learn the new system before it starts.
