LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- On a warm afternoon, standing on the busy sidewalk outside the Transit Authority of River City headquarters on West Broadway, some with disabilities — and a few of their allies without — protested for a more reliable TARC3, the service that transports those with intellectual or physical disabilities around the Louisville area.
Thursday, the Metro Disability Coalition said TARC3 and its contractor, MV Transportation, are failing riders with disabilities in at least 11 ways. Most notably, the group says TARC3 is failing to pick up and drop off passengers in a timely manner and, sometimes, leaving riders stranded.
Montez Caldwell, who suffered a severe spinal injury almost two decades ago, says he's living proof of the problems.
Friday afternoon, he was more than an hour late to the protest at TARC headquarters. His TARC3 transport didn't arrive on time.
"Yeah. Finally made it, man," he said, as his motorized wheelchair was lowered from the bus onto the sidewalk. "This happens all the time, you know."
But for Caldwell, it was important to attend the protest even if he arrived late.
"Nobody should have to be put in a situation to where they're left, you know, and don't have transportation home," he said. "You know what I mean?"
MV Transportation, headquartered in Dallas, disputed protesters' complaints in a statement Thursday.
A TARC3 bus. (WDRB Photo)
"We are aware of the Metro Disability Coalition’s complaints and we take them very seriously," Chief Marketing Officer Jeff Womack wrote. "No eligible TARC paratransit riders have been stranded or denied trips in all of 2021, and despite facing the same operator shortages that are impacting the entire industry, we have met on-time performance targets each month this year through April."
Caldwell, like several others, took issue with the statement.
"That's definitely false," he said. "Definitely false."
Caldwell points out what happened to him just a few Fridays ago. He says he took a TARC3 bus to the Cinemark Theatre at Mall St. Matthews.
"Oh, man," the energetic Caldwell said with a smile. "I just wanted to get out there and catch a movie and just enjoy the day."
However, when the credits rolled around 10:30 p.m. that night, he says TARC3 never picked him up to take him home.
Caldwell joins other protesters outside TARC headquarters Friday. (WDRB Photo)
"It really put me in a bad situation," he said.
Tense, nervous and sitting in his wheelchair at the theater, Caldwell says he waited for at least three hours.
"I said let me call TARC3, check on my ride to see, you know, for them to come grab me," he recalled. "Nobody answered the phone."
According to a dispatch report, his mother — who Caldwell says was desperate for a solution — called St. Matthews Police at 1:35 a.m. on May 8.
"They came in, and they said, 'Well, look, my brother, we'll see what we can do to help you,'" Caldwell said.
The report says Caldwell told officers he apparently missed his TARC3 bus because "he stayed there too late." However, when the officer, Brad Harris, tried calling TARC3 for help, the report says he received no help or answers either.
"No one answers the phone at TARC3/TARC ... advised they did not know how to handle situation," the report concludes. "All of their buses are in for the night."
Officer Brad Harris with the St. Matthews Police Department. (Source: St. Matthews Police)
Luckily for Caldwell, Harris didn't give up. He managed to arrange a room for Caldwell, a quadriplegic, at the nearby Hilton Garden Inn. Harris paid half the bill and, according to the police department, a stranger in the lobby paid the other half.
"I'm just thankful for good people, man," Caldwell, full of emotion, said Friday. "You know, there's still some good people out here in the world."
Exhausted, Caldwell says he rested in the the hotel Saturday, and TARC3 picked him up to take him home Sunday.
Now, Caldwell says he's hesitant to take a similar outing.
"Nobody should be left out, you know, in the rain, you know, nobody should be left out in the cold or anything like that, you know," he said.
He believes his experience isn't unique and is emblematic of larger problems — problems he prays will soon change.
"God sits high on the throne," he said Friday, as protesters gathered near him on the sidewalk outside TARC. "He looks down, you know, on all of us, you know."
Marcellus Mayes, who assembled the protest and is the President of the Metro Disability Coalition, is asking TARC to end that contract with MV Transportation, which operates the paratransit service.
"It's really become a crisis," Mayes said Thursday. "I think, what you've seen here recently, you don't have the compassion and sensitivity of the staff TARC has become hardened and it's like us versus them."
MV Transportation was criticized for similar reasons in early 2020 as TARC3 transitioned from a previous contractor to MV Transportation.
Friday, the company did not respond to an email requesting clarification of its Thursday statement and more details about Caldwell's experience.
Caldwell joins other protesters outside TARC headquarters Friday. (WDRB Photo)
Before the protest, TARC Executive Director Carrie Butler responded to the complaints lodged by Mayes and others.
“Moving forward post-COVID, it is vitally important that our supply of drivers meets the rising customer demand. When you are short on bus operators, it affects service, and when it affects service, unfortunately, our customers are impacted," she wrote. "We continue to monitor TARC3 service and work with MV Transportation daily to ensure contractual obligations are met. We are fully committed to our customers and are working hard to provide the service they deserve.”
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