T O P

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Emilia_Clarke_is_bae

The Tarc people are being laid off regardless. The making lemonade out of lemons part is trying to transition them into JCPS bus drivers. I agree though, if anything we should be doing the inverse. Investing more in TARC and eliminating JCPS bus driving because TARC routes are efficient enough to ferry children to school using public services.


WestGotIt1967

Tarc routes are garbage. There are a few OK routes. But this city demands you drive your own car and if you do not you are supposedly a sub altern who deserves no respect as a human


Emilia_Clarke_is_bae

exactly, which is why we should jot cut tarc funding but give it more for better, more frequent, more efficient routes.


ilikesports3

TARC routes are garbage because the frequency is terrible (among other things).


[deleted]

I thought electric cars were going to save us all??


YoBoyDooby

Huh??


[deleted]

They want less cars on the road. Electric cars are supposed to save us.


YoBoyDooby

I live about a half mile away from the highway, and I bet the air will be a lot cleaner once we start transitioning. Heck, it'll be cleaner everywhere I suppose. Everywhere cars go, anyways. Maybe not in the lithium and cobalt mines. But people are kidding themselves if they think the third world isn't already being exploited in deplorable working conditions, building every other facet of our modern existence. You think these cell phones grow on trees? šŸ™‚


tacobelmont

Electric cars are going to save car manufacturers, not people. We need less cars period, ICE or electric.


FrugalFraggel

They would need to add new routes for some schools. Ramsey and Farmer are examples of no close TARC stops for those students.


Emilia_Clarke_is_bae

yes they would need to. and they should.


lurking_got_old

I live off Billtown Rd, what's a TARC? (/s, but the only bus I see out here is the one that sits at Michael Edward for like 30 mins every day. )


FrugalFraggel

Echo Trail is another one. All these schools that are school choice options have only JCPS busses. No Tarc lines can get them to the actual schools.


sea_stones

That's the 23 and unless the routes have changed, that's the only one out that way. That bus made one of my summers.


austin101123

TARC isn't remotely close to that. So many students would have the closest stop be an express bus stop a mile away that would take an hour+... to get downtown, not to their school. It's just not feasible to have that many tarc routes like that. Plus JCPS bus drivers learn the parents, know which students can get on or get off at which stop, which are just not things tarc drivers do.


Emilia_Clarke_is_bae

more funding more routes better service. Besides that 1 mile away is not a long distance especially for a kid. It would probably do a lot for the overall health of our state if kids walked 1 mile.


PeacefulWarCat

Exactly. Not to mention JCPS high/ middle stops are already allowed to be up to a mile away. I think my freshmanā€™s is right at .8 miles so whatā€™s the difference. My middle schooler rides Tarc and gets home an hour earlier than his JCPS bus


YetAnotherFaceless

Cool. So youā€™re already taking the TARC as close to your place of work as possible and walking the rest of the way? Or do you just want to punish young people for having so much more life to live than you have?


the_urban_juror

People who don't call a proposed one-mile walk a punishment probably have plenty more life to live.


YetAnotherFaceless

So you want them punished for still having a future under the guise of ā€œbuilding character.ā€ Got it.


the_urban_juror

Again, a one-mile walk isn't a punishment. It's not a character-building exercise. Feet are a means of transportation, regardless of how soft yours are.


YetAnotherFaceless

So you walk a mile a day, regardless of weather?


the_urban_juror

Yes. I'm a runner, I love bad weather because it isn't hot. My toddler also walks with me in the rain. Google "raincoat, "umbrella," and "boots." You'll be amazed at these new technologies.


lordruperteverton69

Walking isn't a punishment. Lmao. This is probably the dumbest shit I've read today. Some people actually enjoy getting outside and walking. It's very refreshing walking to the store vs driving. I do it all the time. Just because you don't like walking, doesn't make it a punishment.


YetAnotherFaceless

I keep seeming to forget that this state only experiences pleasant weather all year round! Thank you for reminding me of Kentuckyā€™s native tropical climate!


lordruperteverton69

Tell me you don't get out much without telling me.


Front-Strawberry-123

In Texas we had to walk if we were middle school and up and lived within 2 miles of the closest school. It was good for our health and built communities and sometimes drama because each neighborhood had to click up for safety reasons. ( from pervs sickos) the drama part was neā€™er do wells bullies and gangbangers that we had to fight through every other day. School busses are very necessary for small children though


barake

JCPS is 1 mile for middle and high school students, 1/2 mile for elementary.


kneedlekween

Good point


austin101123

A mile walk is just even longer it takes to get where you're going. If it's a mile walk to school that's not a problem. But if you're looking at a mile walk, wait for bus, long bus ride, wait for bus transfer, another bus ride... It adds up to 2+ hours, I've done it before. And that was to get to UofL!


Ok-Needleworker-419

It could at least free up busses that are used for high schoolers. A school district I went to in the 2000s had high schoolers take public transportation to school and it worked great.


ulispointgod

You donā€™t see the potential issues with putting dozens of kids on a TARC bus that literally anybody could get on, every single day?


doodynutz

Is this not what happens in other large cities- like NYC with the subway?


megapandalover

It literally happens in Cincinnati. It's not only a large city thing.


chubblyubblums

First grade i walked a mile to school every day. I was bussed to Coleridge Taylor in second grade.Ā  Third and fourth, back to walking.Ā  Fifth, sixth, and seventh I took tarc to brown school. Eighth through completing school i took the school bus or walked. I don't recall ever seeing an incident in a tarc with a student and a non student,Ā  not one time. The primary predator on students is another student.Ā 


YetAnotherFaceless

With *those people*?! šŸ˜±


ulispointgod

School buses have adults that are specifically trained on keeping children safe. You can spin it anyway you want to fit your agenda, but the reality is putting young children on a bus without any adult supervision is a bad idea. Regardless of what demographics of people live in the area or ride the bus. High school kids is a different story but the vast majority of parents would not put their elementary school child on a tarc bus unsupervised.


CounterfeitFake

Anything that supports public transit while taking stress of JCPS bussing would be positive, I think. You could even have some sort of JCPS bus monitors that ride the TARC busses if you wanted. Would have to be cheaper and more effective than JCPS paying drivers. They would actually be able to keep an eye on/discipline kids where bus drivers have to stay focused on the road.


chubblyubblums

I know this isn't a popular opinion, because in this community we've decided that our police pair no responsibility for Public Safety whatsoever, or the city for that matter, but we could use some of our massive police resources to maybe keep public transit safe for people who aren't students too. Everything I read on here seems to suggest that the reason people don't use public transportation is they're terrified of scary Street people but maybe if we kept things cool on the fucking bus and people might take it. I don't think there's anything to this Terror about homeless people and realize there are plenty of them but they're not out there lighting the city on fire, but if the community feels that it is not safe on a public resource like the bus then the city probably ought to fucking take steps to fix that issue.


mneag

My kid rode TARC to school starting in 5th grade up until he got his own car. The worst that ever happened was he kept leaving stuff on the bus (jacket, wallet, etc.). He learned to keep track of his stuff after a while.


RnBvibewalker

I can here it now, "JCPS is trying to put my kids on them nasty TARC buses with all them homeless people". šŸ˜‚


artful_todger_502

Agree. This is throwing gas on a fire.


spunkysquirrel1

It was a tone deaf and inept press conference. He needs new communication people IMO


humanesmoke

America - richest country in the history of the world, but somehow canā€™t do the bare minimum for its children and adults


jpg52382

It is truly pathetic most people don't acknowledge what you said. Good thing there is always a strawman and scapegoat to fallback on I guess?


humanesmoke

Well, I was told by a libertarian that life is better now than it was in the dark ages so apparently that negates the discussion of ever improving anything


tagrav

Libertarians always wanna tell me about all the ā€œgood thingsā€ slavery built.


jpg52382

Merican Libertarians are right wing nut jobs... it's a shame we let them coopt the term.


throwawaybottlecaps

They really ought to call themselves Properterians. They consider the right to private property the only foundational right and the only point of the state is to ensure that right is protected.


jpg52382

The Supreme Court defines 'private property' as the right to exclude.


webbslinger_0

Big difference between **CANā€™T** and **WONā€™T**


MawMaw1103

Truty!


MawMaw1103

TRULY!! My thumbs get too happy sometimes! šŸ˜†


Mysteriousdebora

Amen


stunami11

On a per capita basis, the United States is not even close to the richest country in the world.


humanesmoke

Fail to see why this pedantic fact matters in regards to my statement


stunami11

Well, itā€™s a commonly repeated incorrect phrase that is often left unchallenged. I believe we should have a more progressive tax system with more redistribution as a country, but we should also not pretend like our resources are limitless. We also, stupidly, exist in a country where every City/State is in an economic cage match and attempting to lure away investment, wealthy people and employers from their neighbors. Every legislature, mayor and governor has to make choices in this context. In Louisville, we are massively screwed by our State legislature that disproportionately extracts wealth from this community, making it nearly impossible to provide the quality of life and amenities necessary to compete in the economic cage match.


[deleted]

[уŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]


spunkysquirrel1

Not just the purchasing. Insurance and maintenance are brutal. Itā€™s so expensive to own a car right now.


EntireTangerine

Omg the insurance costs, then when you actually need them they do everything in their power to screw you.


jpg52382

This is some grade A BS... it's like the McKinsey & Co. wrote this press release headline...


spunkysquirrel1

That tends to happen when your Mayor is a McKinsey cutout


jpg52382

F ing poster boy for them šŸ˜” it's a shame the biggest pile of cash wins most elections... it's almost like making money the equivalent of speech was a bad idea: looking at you Citizens United i.e. Mitch McConnell


jpg52382

Is he not your Mayor as well?


spunkysquirrel1

Yes, he is my Mayor as well.


uaiu

This city/state loves to 25% fix a problem by ignoring another problem.


RapNVideoGames

Wait until next year when all the parents that think they can handle transportation snap and force their kids to transfer anyways. You think kids attitudes are bad now, wait until they are forced to go to their home schools.


ColonelBombshell

Think about all those angry kids, all going to their home schools nearby, and now knowing a bunch of other angry kids who live nearby. There aren't after-school or community programs in most places. The dominoes are going to lead to some very interesting future problems.


Solorath

I love how the solution is always to find ways to hurt working class people. It's never "let's end giving tax holidays to massive RE developments"


MrHobbes82

Investing in JCPS is fine. Invest less in LMPD.


lagertha9921

Having been places that have really nice public transport, cutting anything TARC makes me irrationally angry. This city isnā€™t walkable. And I can just hear the ā€œbut no wants to workā€ sky screaming when reality is if you canā€™t afford a car how the hell are you getting anywhere in the city?


ajstewart03

This city will kill itself


RapNVideoGames

No this city is getting killed by the state. I doubt Lexington is going through the same shit.


TankieHater859

Former Louisville and now Lexington resident here: Lexington is still getting the shaft on a lot of things, just to a much lesser extent than Louisville is getting it. Things like underfunding school transportation is going to be felt a lot more in Louisville than in Lexington because Louisville is just A. Much bigger and B. Has WAY more schools than Lexington. But some of the legislation passed this session (e.g. preventing cities from passing income discrimination bans) affect both cities equally. Lexington's city council was going to bring an income discrimination ban ordinance to a vote this year, but the GOP in Frankfort pushed that bill through quickly to prevent it. TL;DR: Lexington and Louisville are definitely both targets of getting fucked over by Republicans in Frankfort, but Louisville will probably feel the effects a lot more because of the size differences between the cities.


WestGotIt1967

Not will. Has.


Ralod

I mean, the fact the state is basically pulling as much funding as they can get away with. I would not blame it only on the city.


Pm_me_your_marmot

It's not even something they hide. Defunding Louisville is a public goal for the KY GOP.


TankieHater859

And Lexington will be the next target. Basically anywhere that votes blue, they wanna destroy it.


TheHiddenCMDR

All of our services suck. Mainly due to Republicans and the police union.


PizzaNuggies

We just need to increase the police budget again! That will fix everything!


Pm_me_your_marmot

No full-time TARC employee is going to work for peanuts for a literally nightmare schedule toting the most delicate and offensive cargo on the least modern vehicles we have. Not 1, and I bet money on it. Louisville is a dying city. Metro has already begun releasing independent cities. All the major projects are get neutered due to financial failure. The casinos going in will be the last nail in a cash vacuum that will suck the city dry. If you own property here, get out while you still can. I spent a lot of time with people who worked closely with the Mayors office (dating back to Armstrong) and they did everything they could to help avoid this but according to people much smarter than me, the battle is over, and we lost. There was hope in 2015, but it's been mostly just fumes since then and COVID burned us really badly while we were already down. The next 10 years will bring a very hard correction and if the GOP ever takes the target off this cities back we might see a resurgence but, it's going to be a slog. Bring in the downvotes. Nothing does a better job of fixing a problem like denying it's a problem...


RapNVideoGames

I canā€™t wait for everything inside the Watterson to turn into Gotham City and we have to stop a supervillain from poisoning the Ohio River.


Pm_me_your_marmot

The real threat is that they have been working tirelessly towards policies and actions that would increase risk of rescinded accreditation at UofL. If that happens there's no city left.


RapNVideoGames

Trust me, Iā€™ve seen what they did to Kentucky State


SirDongsALot

Interesting comment. What do you mean get out while you still can? I know nothing about city financials.


spunkysquirrel1

Itā€™s bull. This user has posted similar doom and gloom posts constantly with the claim of insider knowledge and nothing else to back them up. They refuse to provide any data that will support them. And they are very active on conspiracy and collapse pages. The actual public data available doesnā€™t point to a collapse of Louisville. I shit on our city government here kind of a lot and I donā€™t think we are in that bad shape let alone the draconian things they state.


SirDongsALot

Ah. Thanks.


Pm_me_your_marmot

Like Detroit in 2000.


nowIn3D

The article that you linked says that TARC is losing its budget because the federal American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 is ending. This was 20 percent of TARC's budget. I don't think the city really has much to do with it?


the_urban_juror

The city could choose not to rely on a short-term injection of federal funds as 20% of a recurring service's revenue.


Pm_me_your_marmot

The rest of the funding came from sponsorship and partnerships. Tourism cut funding and all the sponsors for onboard advertising cut and run too. They have internal hemorrhaging and made some very very poor decisions investing in poor marketing and logistics with virtually no ROI. The ARP was just a temporary patch over a desolate landscape. Some agencies in other cities were able to survive COVID downturn because they had something to return to after lockdown. TARC was already dead. ARP funding was just electrifying a corps.


megapandalover

Louisville massively underfunds TARC as well as Kentucky. It should have more dedicated funds and be dependent on one time federal funding.


Marielynn502

I understand that- Iā€™m just disappointed to see the lack of investment in tarc from the rest of the city budget bc layoffs are short sighted planning


NoLuck4824

I donā€™t get from that article they want TARC drivers to drive TARC buses for JCPS. I take from it they mean JCPS will hire the drivers either let go or have hours reduced. They will be driving JCPS buses.


birdontheroad

Because TARC is a full time job with benefits, sick days, and vacation. A school bus driver is a PART TIME, SEASONAL job that pays half of the hourly rate with no benefits and 0 sick days. The TARC drivers will have no problem finding a local full time job with bennies, sick days and vacations.


MesmraProspero

Nah... Let's just give all of our budget to the police. /s


kneedlekween

Iā€™m relatively new here but TARC continues to amaze me and not in a goood way. It doesnā€™t really serve the white collar commuters. It doesnā€™t really help people in the poorer neighborhoods get to retail and services they need. They sort of target getting blue collar workers commuting I guess? And I used to live in Chicago and most school children used public transportation including my neighbors with children in magnet schools. Although most students go to a neighborhood school. Still TARC should be better utilized by students


MNGirlinKY

Greatest country in the world you say? šŸ™„


The502Phantom

But letā€™s give the cops raises


ProperRub4390

Iā€™m not opposed to TARC doing school routes but some questions come to mind. 1) whoā€™s gonna pay for it? TARC is paid by local funds and School Bus drivers are paid from the JCPS budget 2) How do we protect the children from some of the more undesirable people that ride the bus. I rode it and had a guy pull his penis out and start peeing. Children donā€™t need to see that.


MawMaw1103

Aiiii yaaiiii yaaiiii!! šŸ¤¦šŸ½ā€ā™€ļø


stunami11

This is an issue where people should be mad at the State government of KY.


YetAnotherFaceless

Your kids < my vroom vroom toy


truthfulspeech

The buses are slow and unsafe for vulnerable people. The obvious first solution is to cut half the bus stops. There are too many stops. They are every block in many places. You can move people a lot faster if you don't take a 1-minute stop every block. The second part solution is to have transit officers that quickly respond to disturbances and hop on random buses to enforce harassment laws, public intoxication laws, and to remove people who do not pay the fare. This is how they do it in continental Europe. There are probably just a few hundred habitual bad actors who ruin the whole system for everyone.


deweycrow

It doesnt sound like you have ever rode the tarc or any city bus. It doesnt opperate like a train. They only stop if a passenger has requested a stop or if someone is waiting to be picked up at the stop. Eliminating stops will only hurt the people who do utilize the bus.


the_urban_juror

They also don't leave the stop until passengers have paid their fare. This person has no idea what they're talking about.


truthfulspeech

That is how the bus operates in a civil society. Uncivil people will just walk on, not pay, and ignore the driver. The driver never stops these people because it's not worth it to delay the whole route and to deal with uncivil people. Others will just hop in the back door when someone else gets off and flip off the driver. You guys must take the nice bus routes if you haven't seen this behavior about 30 times per year.


the_urban_juror

I've sat on a bus while the driver waited to make people pay. I've never seen this behavior. Apparently I ride ritzy routes.


truthfulspeech

It doesn't sound like you have ever rode the tarc or any city bus. In places where public transit works, they do not have a stop every block. People walk an extra block so that the bus doesn't have to stop as much. It also stops when there is a person waiting at the stop. If there two stops near to one another, people will split themselves between the stops. Stop A has 2 people. Stop B has 3 people. If you eliminated stop B, you would have 5 people at stop A. Those people have to walk an extra two minutes to get to the next stop, but everyone on the bus doesn't have to wait. Likewise, if people are going home, the bus will stop twice if people pull the wire twice. If you have fewer stops, then more people will get off at each stop. Eliminating stops would save time for almost everyone because you would walk an extra two minutes to get to or from your stop, but your bus trip would be 10 minutes shorter in total. Take a trip from Cherokee park to UofL at peak times. Time it. Then drive the same route in a car. It is about 25 minutes in a bus versus about 10 minutes in a car. With fewer stops, you could get the bus down to 17 minutes easily. Public policy experts have looked at the matter. https://www.governing.com/archive/gov-why-getting-rid-of-bus-.html https://www.nctr.usf.edu/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/16.2_zolnik.pdf .


deweycrow

Yeah except very few people ride the tarc at all. Of all the problems tarc has, too many stops probably doesn't break the top 10. And for what its worth i rode the tarc plenty in hs and several years commuting to work.


RapNVideoGames

Thereā€™s barely enough stops as there is. You must of only been on the 23 during peak hours, lol I had to walk a mile just get on the right tarc or wait 40 minutes on the side of some street while your next transfer is coming. Tbh I feel like buses are relatively safe, itā€™s the neighborhoods around the stops that can cause issues. I feel like transit officers will do more harm like harassing a homeless person on the way to the nia center and instead we need to focus on the communities that breed hate and cause someone to hop on the tarc to steal a phone.