Public transportation is more than just buses on asphalt; it is the vital circulatory system of a healthy, equitable city. For thousands of working-class families, seniors, and students across Metro Louisville, a reliable bus route is the difference between keeping a job or facing unemployment, between buying fresh groceries or relying solely on corner convenience stores.

Yet, sweeping route changes, stop eliminations, and frequency reductions by the Transit Authority of River City (TARC) have left everyday riders facing a severe mobility crisis.

Martina Kunnecke, President of Neighborhood Planning and Preservation (NPP) and a lifelong

 Louisville resident and researcher, has been closely tracking how transit policy directly impacts neighborhood stability and civic equity.

“Public transportation is a sign of a vibrant city. If you want to know how vibrant a city is, look at its transportation system. In Louisville, household incomes have not really changed very much in years, yet people still have to go to work, to school, and to the doctor. Public transportation not only is a sign of a healthy city; it’s the backbone of a healthy city.”

— Martina Kunnecke, President of Neighborhood Planning and Preservation

A Century-Old Battle: Mary Cunningham Smith and Louisville’s Transit Legacy

 The fight for transit equity in Louisville is not new. More than a century ago, Mary Cunningham Smith challenged racial discrimination on Louisville’s public transportation lines.

In 1870, trolley officials believed that kicking a pregnant Black woman and her stepson off the trolley was a good business decision, operating under the belief that Black residents did not deserve equal access to public transit. Fortunately, the federal court disagreed, giving Mary a historic victory and putting Louisville on the map as a leader in human rights in the midst of the Jim Crow era.

As her experience reminds us: it is up to us to make a difference.

Yet, like many of Louisville’s historic distinctions, we are once again falling short. In 2026, TARC officials are demonstrating a similar disregard for the people who rely on public transit. The Black community is being hit the hardest, but TARC's disregard clearly extends to daily workers, those traveling with the aid of walkers, families catching buses with young children, and the elderly.

These sweeping changes now require parts of the community to walk over a mile to and from a bus, only for the bus to drop them several blocks from their destination, requiring even more walking in extreme weather.

From Surplus to Austerity: A Broken Promise

To understand how Louisville reached this transit crossroads, history matters. Under former

 Mayor Dr. Harvey Sloan, TARC was transformed from a failing private system into a well-funded municipal asset supported by dedicated local tax revenue. In its early years, TARC built a massive $30 million surplus in its trust fund.

Today, however, the narrative has shifted to claims of impending multi-million-dollar deficits, a shortfall being balanced through severe service cuts and austerity measures.

“There’s something wrong when you let a system go from a $30 million surplus to a $30 million deficit. When that kind of logic comes to play, it’s usually an excuse for why you're going to put the burden on the public. We're seeing austerity across the board: cut back on this, get rid of that, make people pay more, yet incomes aren't increasing. It’s essential the public comes to grips with this and starts doing something.”

— Martina Kunnecke

The Neighborhood Impact: Deepening Food Deserts & Severing Jobs

The burden of transit cuts falls heavily on communities that rely on public infrastructure the most. TARC’s core ridership is disproportionately lower-income, older, and Black residents who ride out of necessity.

 1. Exacerbating Food Deserts

In historically underserved neighborhoods like Shawnee, Chickasaw, and California, full-service grocery stores remain sparse. For years, residents relied on cross-town routes to reach fresh produce and affordable staples in other parts of the county.

“Shopping is not good down here. TARC used to allow folks to go to Trader Joe's, to the mall, to specialty grocers, or to doctor appointments out in Norton Commons. But when they wiped out lines like Route 25, which connected Chickasaw and Shawnee across to Shelbyville Road, it essentially cut people off in the West End from shopping outside the West End.”

— Martina Kunnecke

2. Severing Access to Suburban Job Centers

The cuts have also disrupted the local workforce. Eliminating key lines and reducing routes that run toward suburban employment corridors like Jeffersontown and Middletown has disconnected urban workers from critical job centers.

“People say, 'Well, folks out there can probably drive,' but many workers rely on transit to reach distribution centers and retail hubs in the East and South Ends. When you gut those lines, people literally lose their livelihood.”

— Martina Kunnecke

What the Community Is Saying: Direct Voices from the Street

While agency announcements often describe route reductions as "system optimization," community feedback on public forums and RideTARC Community Reviews paints a clear picture of real daily strain:

• Missed Shifts & Job Disruption: Commuters report regular delays, canceled connecting lines, and reduced early-morning runs that lead to disciplinary action or job loss, often forcing riders to spend high fares on rideshares.

• Lengthened Commutes: Daily travel that once took 30 to 45 minutes now frequently stretches to two hours each way with multiple transfers.

• Accessibility Challenges for Seniors and Disabled Riders: The elimination of neighborhood bus stops has increased walking distances across corridors lacking benches, shelters, or shade.

• Calls for Greater Representation: Riders consistently emphasize that public transit policy must be shaped by those who depend on the bus daily.

Key Solutions Moving Forward

• Dedicated Local Transit Funding: Establishing sustainable revenue models to protect essential transit routes from municipal budget shortfalls.

• Prioritizing Route Equity: Re-centering transit routes around grocery access, healthcare clinics, and key workforce corridors rather than short-lived corridor investments.

• Transparent Audits & Community Input: Ensuring working-class riders have direct representation and oversight in route planning and agency spending.

• Coalition Mobilization: Uniting neighborhood associations, labor groups, and community members to advocate for transit as a fundamental public utility.

“We're the most powerful entity on the chessboard. We just don't know it, and we don't always do what it takes to exercise our power and our sovereignty.”

— Martina Kunnecke

Community Resources & How to Take Action

• Voice Feedback Directly to TARC: Log complaints, report missed runs, and share route

  

  feedback through the TARC Customer Feedback Portal (ridetarc.org/contact-us) or by calling customer service at (502) 585-1234.

• Share Your Story Publicly: Document transit challenges on RideTARC’s Public Community Review Page (facebook.com/ridetarc/reviews) to keep neighborhood impacts visible.

• Contact Your Metro Council Representative

  Reach out to your district council member and demand dedicated local funding for public transit while holding transit leadership accountable to everyday riders..

• Connect with Neighborhood Planning & Preservation (NPP): Follow NPP's community advocacy efforts and report local neighborhood concerns to support grassroots policy tracking. Called TARC and got the runaround? Lost a job? Can’t get where you need to go without an unreasonable walk? Share your thoughts and experience with NPP to help build our collective community case:

  • Email: [email protected]

  • Voicemail or Text: 502-295-1763

  • Facebook: NPP Kentuckiana (https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100064732026603)

• Access TARC3 Paratransit Services: Eligible riders with disabilities or mobility limitations can explore door-to-door services via TARC3 Paratransit (ridetarc.org/paratransit-services-tarc3).