Transit

Get on the bus

In Jeff Speck's Walkable City, he refers to buses as "pedestrian accelerators". The implication is that buses work best when connecting one walkable area to another, allowing a person without a car to access a far greater range of jobs, schools, and services. In doing so, a transit system performs the same service as a road network - making it easier for people to get where they need to go, for the economic and social well-being of the whole community.

Unfortunately, however, funding for public transit is not distributed anywhere nearly as freely as the funds for roads. Louisville's TARC system has struggled for years to obtain adequate funding, leading to inevitable service cuts and spiraling complaints about the quality of service.

However, TARC's network is currently undergoing a full redesign, intended to more efficiently use resources while modernizing the service strategy. This redesign, launching on August 2nd, 2026, will feature a centralized downtown transit center for easy transfers between routes. Getting the location of this transit center right is critical for the long-term success of the system - learn more about the redesign here.