LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- Jefferson Square Park, the hub of protest in downtown Louisville, has been calmer, quieter lately. But in just days, protest will return to the park.
Marcellus Mayes wants to send a message to the mayor whose office, at Metro Hall, is just across the street.
"Mayor Fischer — I know him," said Mayes. "And I know that he wants to do the right thing, and that's what we're going to be asking him."
His reason for protesting is a bit different than the most recent ones at Jefferson Square. Saturday at 2 p.m., Mayes and others will gather at Jefferson Square to protest the current state of TARC3, the Louisville area's paratransit service for riders with intellectual or physical disabilities.
Mayes says a lack of reliability at TARC3 is creating yet another injustice worth protesting.
Mayes, who's blind and is also the president of the Metro Disability Coalition, says the service has been making riders hours late to their appointments or jobs, and even stranding some of them altogether.
In May, he penned a letter stating that TARC3's contractor — MV Transportation — is failing disabled riders in at least 11 specific ways.
So now, he and others are asking TARC to end that contract with MV Transportation, which operates the paratransit service.
"It's sad that we should say that it still hasn't significantly improved," he said. "It's disturbing for me, as a disabled citizen and a Kentuckian and Louisvillian, that nobody cares about how I get around and many of the other persons that have to depend on this service get around."
Last month, TARC Executive Director Carrie Butler blamed the recent shortcomings on short-staffing. She said the service needs a hundred additional drivers, and TARC and its contractors are working diligently to hire them.
"We have a team here that's really committed to providing good transit and bringing people on-board," Butler said, in part. "Maybe we're not doing that right now ... but we're going to get there. I'm confident we're going to get there."
Mayes, however, isn't satisfied with the answers he's heard from TARC, and neither is Drew Barbeau.
Drew Barbeau leaves a jobsite Wednesday. (WDRB Photo)
Barbeau, who has multiple sclerosis, believes logistical inefficiencies are also contributing to the long waits and ride times.
"It's very frustrating. I mean, I know people that have physical therapy — that they depend on TARC3 to get to physical therapy. Their physical therapy is an hour long," he said. "And sometimes, they get there 30 minutes after it starts."
Barbeau, a motorized wheelchair user, has access to a handicapped-accessible van, so he typically uses TARC3 out of convenience.
However, as he participates in the Saturday protest, he says he'll also be doing so for the others who are not as fortunate.
Additionally, Metro Council members will soon seek testimony about the issues from Butler, TARC's director. Councilwoman Nicole George, D-21, says Butler is confirmed to appear before council's public works committee on July 20 at 4 p.m.
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