TARC's new route network for Louisville bus riders begins Sunday

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) — Louisville bus riders have a few days until the new route system begins for the Transit Authority of River City.

TARC said the new system, which starts Aug. 2, will include renumbered routes and fewer stops, but buses will run more frequently. The new network will run most of its routes every 15-30 minutes.

"We know there's going to be people that's left out there that they don't have service in their area no more," TARC Director Ozzy Gibson said. "I'm sorry, but we can't put a stop at every corner, or we can't be on time."

On Wednesday, Gibson said the new network will consolidate the current 23 routes to 15. Buses currently make 3,341 stops throughout the day. Once Aug. 2 comes, TARC will only make 1,430 stops.

"We used to stop at every block," Gibson said. "That's not best practice. Best practice is every three blocks."

Another big change is the actual bus signs themselves, which will be double-sided and color-coded to show the most popular routes.

The network implements a new "pulse" system it will rely on, aimed at providing service for downtown Louisville transfers that is both faster and smoother. TARC said that system is a new downtown timed-transfer hub that will be a first in the public transit system's history. Other changes in the new network include:

Increasing the number of accessible jobs via public transportation by 5%
Service all JCPS magnet high school locations
Provide more useful and more frequent service on key corridors, such as Broadway/Bardstown, Preston Highway, 4th Street, Dixie Highway and Market/Frankfort

At the beginning of 2024, TARC projected a $30 million deficit by the fiscal year 2027 if action wasn't taken before then. Because of the financial challenges, the agency launched TARC 2025 to ensure long-term sustainability for Louisville transit. TARC is striving to restore its pre-2020 service levels, but with federal funding no longer available and not enough existing local and state funding for transit to cover current service levels, leadership spent months gathering rider feedback to shape the future of public transportation in the region.

"By making these changes, we've trimmed out about $14 million in the last two years," Gibson said.

Gibson said those changes hold that financial cliff off until 2031.

Maps for the new network are already available on TARC's website. To look at the countywide map, click here.

To look at the "Inside the Watterson" map, click here. To look at the downtown Louisville routing map, click here.