cartky.org

They mayor & Barry Barker took time out from the ped summit banquet to address our current situation with TARC funding.

Recall that as fuel prices rise yet occupational tax stays flat, TARC is cutting routes. For example this year they're trying to decide between two options, both of them hitting working people squarely in the chest:

"With the price of gas approaching $4 a gallon, more commuters are abandoning their cars and taking the train or bus instead." -nytimes article

ridetarc.org news release:

The TARC Board of Directors today gave tentative approval of a $68 million budget for Fiscal Year 2009 that includes a combination of fare increases and service reductions. The board considered several options for making up a $4 million shortfall resulting from rising gas prices and other costs before giving tentative approval to the budget proposal.

Under the proposed budget reviewed today, the base fare of $1.25 would increase by 10 cents and $1 million in service would be cut. The board recommended considering an increase to 25 cents and reducing the amount service that would be cut. If the fare increases to $1.50, about $500,000 in service cuts would be made.

“We don’t like increasing fares and we don’t like cutting service. It’s not the direction we want to go in,” said TARC Director J. Barry Barker. “But when you don’t have enough revenue, you have to do something.”

CART To REACT,

Developing...

A bill which passed this legislative session will allow a new, innovative transportation model for seniors to begin providing services in Lexington.

How does it work? Essentially, it's like a private taxi service. Folks pay an annual membership fee of around $50. They then pay a per-ride fee of $4-7 plus $1/mile. Individuals who don't have much money can donate their car to the program's vehicle pool, and then they get ride credits for the value of the car. Afflilate groups in the 8 other cities that have adapted this model have also gotten businesses, such as pharmacies, banks, and doctors' offices, to sponsor the service for low-income folks.

Jon V., bike/ped coordinator writes:

TARC [Louisville's public transportation system] is distributing this survey as part of a long-range planning effort.  Please take a minute to fill out this brief online survey and help TARC set a course for the 21st Century!"

http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=hhpRdEk_2fpKq0Tr66YW_2bnNw_3d_3d

8664 is a Louisville transportation advocacy organization.

Let us be clear, 8664 enthusiastically supports public transit.

And we support a pedestrian and bike-friendly city with better transportation planning.

But as Jackie Green noted in his April 4 letter to the editor, we do not support KTAP's effort to stop the Ohio River Bridges Project. Unlike River Fields, a founding member of KTAP, we feel the East End Bridge has been delayed for too long.

If we've learned anything from the 40-year debate about building a bridge, it should be that we need to prioritize. The "two bridges, one project" idea is flawed and will only delay the entire project. While the idea of doing nothing is appealing to those that oppose the East End bridge, it will only hurt Louisville in the long run.

It is a fact that the majority of citizens in this region support building a bridge across the Ohio River. Likewise, it is clear that the majority of people prefer an eastern bridge to complete the I-265 beltway. So our current priority is to complete this automotive connection so we can move on to other important community issues.

We want to fix Spaghetti Junction. We want to reconnect with the West End. We want to build the most spectacular waterfront park in the country. We want to unite the region around a vibrant downtown. And again, we want to invest in public transit.

But first, we need to build the East End Bridge.

TYLER ALLEN
J.C. STITES
8664

The problem with continued public investment in new highway "capacity," be it bridges, lanes or altogether new stretches of pavement, is that it does nothing to alleviate our individual need to spend continually more for private transportation.  In the last generation, transportation has become the number two expense for American households.  As a nation, between 17 and 21% of our average household spending has gone towards transportation.  In the 1960's that number was closer to 10%.  Eighty years ago it was nearer 5%.  In Louisville this means that if the average family spends roughly $47,000 per year, $8,300 is spent on transportation.  (This is about the national average. I don't know what average household spending is in Louisville.)  Never mind the public, social and environmental costs associated with this type of public investment.

The beautiful thing about investing in public transit is that it provides us with the ability to choose to spend less of our increasingly hard earned dollars on transportation.  My public investment, my contribution to those taxes that are directed to public transit, gives me the ability to reduce my private investment in transportation.  More highways, more money for gas and insurance.  More public transit, more money in my pocket for other things.

Imagine what we could do if every household in Louisville chose to shift just $1,000 of that $8,300 they currently spend on cars to an investment in public transit infrastructure.  How many households are there in Louisville Metro?  200,000?  I'll let you imagine.  Is it possible?  Could we, as a community, begin to let go of some of our vaunted independence and begin to build a better, more beautiful, more livable Louisville based on our interdependence?

I believe we can.  I pray that we will.

the "TARCettes" issue

• CART Quarterly Meeting Next Wednesday
• Relaunched CART Website
• Talk by John Cullen This Wednesday
• How Do I Stop Courier-Journal Yard Litter?
• Pedestrian Summit Planning Heats Up
• Transit Needs Your Phone Call for Kentucky Legislature Funding
• Ohio River Bridges Under-Financed, Fight Moves to Tolls
• Mr. Theo & The TARCettes Perform Musical Bike Rack Demo
• Editorial: Are you more mobile than a 14 year old girl?
• Editorial: Twenty First Century Reality Check
• Study: Americans Prefer Transit to Roads

I admit it. I'm spoiled. I'm a middle-aged American, and therefore I should be among the most mobile people on the planet. But it's just not true. None of us are. Even with our cars and 5 expressway spurs leading into Louisville, we're less mobile than people in other countries. This has huge consequences for our economy.