How TARC plans to use a $17M federal grant

Louisville’s public transportation is set for a major upgrade thanks to a massive federal grant.

The Transit Authority of River City (TARC) has been awarded nearly $17.3 million from the Federal Transit Administration to improve Louisville’s aging buses, according to a news release from U.S. Sen. Mitch McConnell’s office.

Among other initiatives, TARC plans to use the federal funding to replace Louisville’s aging public buses with a new, fuel-efficient fleet, the release stated.

TARC serves about 41,000 riders a day, most of whom commute to school or work, with 43 routes across five counties in Kentucky and Southern Indiana, averaging more than 12.5 million passengers in the greater Louisville area annually.

Of the 227 buses in the TARC fleet, about 70 of them are beyond their lifespan, according to spokesman Jeremy Priddy. With the grant, TARC can now afford to upgrade 40 of these old buses, cutting their percentage of buses needing replacement from 31% to 13%.