TARC awarded $9 million in federal grants

The Transit Authority of River Cicty (TARC) will receive $9 million to buy eight hybrid buses, install an electronic fare collection system and make energy efficiency improvements at its historic Union Station headquarters in Louisville thanks to federal grants approved in October.

The grant is the most TARC has ever received in competitive grant funding in a single year and will create 96 full-time jobs for a year including up to 40 local jobs.

Louisville workers take more than 7.8 million trips on TARC each year to get to and from their jobs, based on a recent TARC survey of ridership. Students take more than two million trips a year on TARC to get to or from school.

“This is a huge win for TARC and all of Louisville,” Louisville Metro Mayor Jerry Abramson said.

TARC Executive Director J. Barry Barker said TARC “is deeply appreciative of Congressman Yarmuth’s work on behalf of TARC and his support and Mayor Abramson’s support. TARC is well on its way to major service improvements in the next year with these grants and with other developments in the works. We are excited about the improvements and intend to see ridership increase,” Barker said.

In addition to the grants awarded this month, a new TARC radio communications system will be in operation next year and more bus service is scheduled to begin in February on two heavily traveled routes - #23 Broadway, which also includes Bardstown Road, and #18 Preston-18th which includes Dixie Highway. A previous $1 million grant provided funding for adding buses to the two routes so that arrivals will be every 12-15 minutes at stops during rush hours.

Grants approved this month are:

• Electronic Fare Collection System: $2.5 million. Onboard fares can be paid with cash or a new option of using a card and paying electronically. The system, funded with a Federal Transit Administration (FTA) State of Good Repair grant, is expected to be operating by 2012.

• Eight new hybrid buses: $3.9 million. TARC’s fleet of environmentally-friendly buses will increase to 29 with the arrival of eight new hybrid-electric buses funded through the FTA’s Clean Fuels Bus and Bus Facilities Program. The buses will replace diesel-fueled buses that are 12 years old and have traveled an average of 475,000 miles.  Hybrid buses are more fuel efficient, easier to maintain and offer a smoother ride than older diesel-fueled buses. A hybrid bus saves on average 2,000 gallons of fuel a year compared to older buses. At current diesel prices the fuel savings would total $36,000 a year.

• Window restoration/weatherization and geothermal heating and cooling system at Union Station, TARC’s headquarters: $2.6 million. The grant from the federal Department of Transportation’s TIGGER II program will create savings in operating costs and help preserve the 120-year old Union Station, one of Louisville’s historic architectural gems. Annual savings in energy use with the geothermal system and window restorations are estimated at $58,000 a year. All 278 windows at Union Station including 40 made of stained glass are to be restored.