Dear Metro Council Representative:

We urge you to act immediately to increase funding for TARC!

Higher Gas Prices Rob Our Local Economy;
“Keep it Local” Through Public Transit Investment

Many of your constituents spend a quarter of their entire income on transportation. Four dollar a gallon gas prices cause directly harmful impacts to Metro families. Trade-offs are made - in foregoing health care, child care, groceries, and higher education.

In addition, our fuel dollars flow out of the local economy - to corporate headquarters in Texas and Saudi Arabia. In contrast, transit jobs are high-quality green-collar jobs that keep the money in Louisville.

While the oil industry has always been a boom or bust business, the inexorable trend in gas prices is upward. Louisvillians - your constituents - need to maximize the value we get out of our existing fuel dollars. The most efficient option we have is increased bus service.

Experts Say Public Transit Essential to Economic Development

Even before “green” became the new mantra, investors realized that public transit and economically vital and diverse cities go hand in hand. In its 2002 review of emerging trends in real estate institutional investment, PricewaterhouseCoopers declared that the sprawling Sunbelt cities are “out”, while cities that invest in more efficient and available public transportation are better situated to hold their value over the long term.

...And Yet TARC is Shrinking

Paradoxically, at the exact time more Louisvillians are turning to TARC to move them, TARC is having to turn them away. Continuing a negative tradition, TARC yet again this year announced that it will be forced to raise fares and cut service. Though its buses are much more efficient than the equivalent passengers traveling in private automobiles, they still require substantial fuel.

This year TARC ran skimpy service on $6 million in fuel. To run the same service next year would cost $10 million, because of rising fuel prices. In the next decade this process will play out again and again.

Courageous Leaders: Start a Dialogue on Public Transportation

Two years ago when KIPDA removed eight advanced transit projects from our long-range transportation plan, over 900 citizens voiced their opposition - the most public comments ever received on an issue. And that was when gasoline was just $2.23 a gallon.

All funding options for public transportation should be fully identified and explored.

As a baseline for discussion, we seek approval of a ballot initiative for a 0.2% increase in the occupational tax to provide approximately $40 million per year in additional operating and capital funds to TARC.

These funds will allow TARC to reverse its current budget shortfall, restore transit to 20^th century levels, and invest in efficiency improvements like fuel-efficient buses and advanced transit. Act now.

Sincerely,
CART – The Coalition for the Advancement of Regional Transportation

The following organizations call upon the Council to address the clear and growing problem of adequately funding public transportation:

• Metropolitan Housing Coalition
  
• AARP
• Jefferson County Chapter of Kentuckians for the Commonwealth (KFTC)
  
• Clifton Community Council
• Kentucky Interfaith Power & Light, Inc
• The Center for Accessible Living
• more coming soon...