TARC's executive director attended Super Bowl as contract dispute left special needs riders stranded

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- The executive director of Louisville's public transit busing service was attending the Super Bowl in Florida when passengers across the city were left stranded by a contract dispute with drivers.

When asked about it, Ferdinand Risco, executive director of the Transit Authority of the River City, said he has no regrets about the timing of his vacation.

"I am very confident in my team," he said. "I have constant contact with them, constant communication. But again, this is an unforeseen labor issue with our partner's subcontractor. So as things were going great and going smooth, I had a weekend off."

But on Monday, an email to WDRB News from TARC's Executive Communications Manager Jeremy Priddy claimed "drivers have been reporting to work as usual." That email was sent 90 minutes before about 50 sub-contracted drivers went on strike.

Risco apologized Wednesday to special needs passengers left stranded by the dispute between TARC 3 and its contractors. The stories are varied and many: A woman in a wheelchair was dropped off at a bank in Shively at 9 a.m. TARC 3 was scheduled to pick her up 30 minutes later, but she was still there at 4 p.m. with no ride.

"We absolutely want to make sure the community knows and understands that this is our highest priority," Risco said. "This is important to us. We apologize for our service."

TARC contracts out para-transit service, or public transportation, for those who can't ride a traditional bus. It's switching providers from First Transit to MV Transportation, but that transition has hit some bumps in the road. Over the weekend, zTrip taxi drivers went on strike. Those cabs are a backup when there's no TARC 3 bus available for a run. Drivers say the new contract with MV Transportation switched their pay from a meter rate to an hourly rate, and it's a major cut.

"Nobody can survive a pay cut that is over half, just overnight, and that's what happened to us," said Moussa Sy, a zTrip driver.

Leaders from TARC, MV Transportation, zTrip and city officials all met Wednesday. Thus far, there has been no resolution to the strike.

Louisville Metro Council President David James called it a horrific situation.

"Our citizens need to be able to rely on TARC 3 to take them to their doctors appointments and hospital visits and to get food," he said. "This is how they survive in life. And that life line, which is TARC 3, has been cut."

During the impasse, TARC said MV Transportation brought in 16 new bus drivers Wednesday from other states. It helped Batina Warfield get to dialysis.

"I was really worried," she said. "I had a friend and ask if I needed a ride."

Warfield said while officials fight, it's real people — some vulnerable — who are lost in the middle of this contract dispute. And for some, it's a life or death situation.

"Some of them haven't even got picked up for their ride to come here," she said as she stood outside University Kidney Center on Broadway.

TARC has recruited the Louisville Urban league to help with hiring and opened more phone lines to answer calls from customers left waiting.

Risco could not provide an exact timeline for when TARC 3 will be fully functioning as normal again.

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