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The Transit Authority of River City (TARC) is the major public transportation provider for the Louisville, Kentucky, United States metro area, which includes parts of Southern Indiana. This includes the Kentucky suburbs of Oldham County, Bullitt County, Clark County, and Floyd County in southern Indiana. TARC is publicly funded and absorbed various earlier private mass transit companies in Louisville, the largest of which was the Louisville Transit Company. TARC operates a fleet of 255 accessible buses, including numerous hybrids. Starting in 2004,TARC purchased hybrids, and by 2008 started purchasing clean diesel buses for a cleaner, greener fleet. By late Winter 2013, TARC added 16 more clean diesels. Then, by mid-Summer 2013, 11 hybrids were added bringing TARC's hybrid total to 32. By Fall 2013, TARC added 21 clean diesel commuter buses, then as of Fall 2014 TARC added 12 more clean diesels bringing their clean diesel fleet to 71 total; some of them are WiFi-enabled and have comfortable seating. TARC has 25 more updated buses due to arrive by early 2016. Coming soon will be all-electric buses circulating downtown Louisville. The first of 10 electric buses has arrived, and is slated to begin testing soon, with 9 more set to arrive by 12/31/14 according to The Courier-Journal. There are also two charging stations in downtown Louisville, one at 3rd and York, the other at 8th and Market. These buses will have a 30 passenger seating capacity, and be able to operate for up to two hours on a single charge. These buses, like the old trolleys, will be fare free. TARC provides service 365 days a year. It also operates many specialized routes providing transportation to major local employers, educational institutions and recreational events. It began bus operations in 1974. TARC has explored other forms of public transit, including light rail, but as of 2009 provides only bus service. ==History== The transit authority was created in 1971 after 1970 legislation authorized city and county governments to operate mass-transit systems using local funding. At the time, public transit was still being provided in Louisville by the private Louisville Transit Company. The Louisville Transit Company had long operated mass transit lines in Louisville, converted from electric trolleys to diesel buses in the late 1940s, and changing its name from the Louisville Railway Company in 1947. Following a trend seen in cities across America, the company had seen annual ridership decline from 84 million in 1920 to 14 million in 1970. The ridership was no longer enough for to cover operating expenses and in 1971 it posted its first-ever loss. In 1972 the company announced it would cease operations on September 1, 1974.〔 The local government began subsidizing fares in July 1973, but this was not enough to make Louisville Transit Company profitable. At about the same time, Bridge Transit Co., which provided mass transit between Louisville and Jeffersonville, ceased operations due to lack of revenue, clearly setting the stage for a metropolitan area without any private mass transit companies.〔 In 1974, voters approved a controversial referendum allowing for an increased occupational tax to fund mass transit, which was pushed for by then-mayor Harvey Sloane. Combined with a federal grant, this was enough for TARC to purchase the Louisville Transit Company, buy new buses, reduce fares, and extend new service lines.〔 TARC bought up the remaining mass transit companies in the area; Blue Motor Coach Lines, which served outlying areas, in 1976 and the Daisy Line, connecting New Albany and Louisville, in 1983.〔 In 1993, TARC experimented with a "water taxi" service connecting the Belle of Louisville wharf and Towboat Annie's Restaurant in Jeffersonville. During the 1990s and early 2000s, TARC advocated extensive funding to build and operate light rail system in the Louisville area, but despite wide press coverage, the plans never went past planning stages. In February 1994, an audit committee headed by future political candidate Bruce Lunsford revealed TARC had been mismanaging funds and was on pace to deplete its once-large trust fund due to skyrocketting expenses such as door-to-door services for the disabled as well as rates of spending on personal services and fringe benefits for administrators that was much higher than in transit companies for similar sized cities. In the fallout of the audit, TARC's executive director resigned and fares were nearly doubled before year's end. In August 2011, TARC's new $4.5 million, 17,700 square-foot, Maintenance and Training building received Gold LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Certification.〔(TARC's Maintenance and Training Annex receives Gold Certification )〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Transit Authority of River City」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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