> SOUTHERN INDIANA — The Transit Authority of River City announced it is proposing cutting some bus routes from service and raising fares for riders by 25 cents a trip.

TARC Executive Director J. Barry Barker said the move is to help account for a projected $4.6 million budget shortfall next year. The fare increases would take effect July 1, which is also the start of the next fiscal year, and changes to routes would begin Aug. 12 under the proposal.

“We’re not making any of these cuts lightly,” Barker said. “It’s not the direction I want to be going in. We could’ve eliminated more service and kept the fare down. Essentially, what we’re trying to do is balance this.”

He explained that the fare increases will raise a one-way adult fare from $1.50 to $1.75 and a monthly pass would increase from $42 to $50. He added TARC has not raised its base fare since 2008. The proposed rates are in line with public transportation fares charged in Indianapolis and Cincinnati, where one-way adult fare is already $1.75, according to a TARC press release.

“Yeah, this 25 cents is going to hurt a lot of folks ... but it’s trying to figure out how to minimize it,” Barker said. “What we’ve done is we’ve made the cuts where folks would have an alternative bus to use. It may not be as convenient and as frequent, but there’s an alternative.”

He admitted there are some limited areas where there may not be alternatives nearby for the eliminated routes.

“It’s a big concern for me, but I don’t see daylight on it,” Barker said.

The fare increases are expected to generate about $2.1 million annually. To help close the budget gap, services were cut by about $1.3 million, Barker said.



Indiana changes

Among the routes eyed for elimination in Southern Indiana are the No. 65x — Southern Indiana Express; No. 73x — Charlestown Road Express; and the No. 74 — Jeffersonville Park and Ride. Routes with proposed changes include route No. 71 — Jeffersonville and No. 72 — Clarksville-New Albany.

Barker said the downtown Jeffersonville Park and Ride route was eliminated because it wasn’t being used.

“We really tried [it] as an experiment, and we’re not seeing the results from it,” he said.

The cuts and fare increases are not finalized and TARC is taking public comments on the proposed changes. See the related information box for ways to comment.

In addition to the cuts, TARC did propose adding a new route in Southern Indiana. Route No. 82 would operate exclusively in Southern Indiana, linking New Albany, Jeffersonville and Clarksville.

“I think the one thing that maybe is important ... is this is the first time we’ll ever have a route that stays over here [in Southern Indiana],” said TARC Communications Manger Jon Reiter in an interview at the News and Tribune’s Jeffersonville office. He added that the route will also provide service to Veterans Parkway, in Clarksville, for the first time.

Changes proposed for Route No. 71 will take riders from Indiana University Southeast into Louisville and all the way out to River Ridge Commerce Center.

Barker said TARC has tried to offer service to the development out at River Ridge, especially in light of the Amazon.com announcement that it is planning to open a 1-million-square-foot distribution center by October. There are three morning and three evening routes planned to and from River Ridge.

“What we’ve got with Southern Indiana, obviously, is development,” Barker said. “What we’ve tried to do, in effect, is come up with a new service that addresses people’s needs, will fit better with the bridges and is about cost-neutral.”

The expectation is with continued development at the River Ridge Commerce Center, ridership may grow.

About 8 percent of TARC’s overall fixed routes go to Southern Indiana and about 3.4 percent of TARC ridership is on Indiana routes, Reiter said. Despite the shortfall for TARC, Barker said the amount of people riding the public transit system has increased.

“Ridership’s up 10 percent,” he said.

But the increase in ridership has not generated enough to cover the budget shortfall.



Hopes for funding

Part of the issue for TARC is the increasing cost of fuel.

“For every penny diesel fuel goes up, it costs us $18,000,” Barker said.

The uncertainty of not having fixed costs is exacerbated by also not having a consistent funding source from state and federal government.

“It’s difficult, with what’s happening in both states and at the federal level, to do any meaningful long-range planning about where we go with public transportation,” Barker said. “The frustrating part is while our ridership has gone up the federal funding has stayed flat, the funding from the state of Indiana has stayed flat and Kentucky state funding is up a little bit.”

He explained that Indiana has had a dedicated funding source for TARC of about $1.2 million a year.

However, that dedicated funding source is going to change with the next budget cycle.

“My understanding, under the last budget that the state assembly passed, that those funds aren’t going to be dedicated funds, they’re going to be general funds,” Barker said. “It’s tough when you’re optimistic guess is to maintain the level [of funding].”

With Indiana’s money coming out of its general fund budget, should the state experience a shortfall, it is more likely that TARC’s funding could get cut.

TARC’s Board of Directors is expected to take final action on a rate increase at a regular scheduled meeting May 21 when it also expects to finalize the schedule changes.