TARC executive director Carrie Butler resigns
Carrie Butler, executive director of the Transit Authority of River City, is stepping down after assuming the role in 2020.
Mayor Craig Greenberg and the TARC board announced they accepted her resignation on Tuesday. Her last day as the executive director will be Dec. 31.
On Jan. 1, 2024, an interim director will take over her role while the Mayor's Office conducts a national search for a permanent replacement.
“We are grateful for Ms. Butler’s service and all that she has done to steer TARC forward during the challenges of the last few years,” Greenberg said in a statement. “Since Day 1 my team and I have been committed to building a better Louisville and robust and sustainable public transit is a core part of that vision. We look forward to identifying TARC’s next dynamic leader and will initiate a national search immediately.”
TARC leadership was at the center of a contentious Metro Council vote in June to approve the bus system’s fiscal year 2023-24 budget, with many members arguing their districts were not getting adequate service. It was approved on a 19-5 vote, with one abstention, but many of those who voted in favor said they were only doing so to ensure buses didn’t stop running in the immediate future.
Councilman Brent Ackerson was among those who voted to approve the budget at the time, but he said the “direction of TARC” had clearly become an issue.
“We don’t want to hurt the people at the bottom,” he said, addressing Greenberg in the crowd. “But the people at the top, there’s a problem. And we look to you and to TARC to either come up with solutions or come up with some new leadership at TARC.”
After that meeting, Greenberg told reporters his administration would be “working very closely with TARC and its board of directors over the coming weeks and months ahead to improve public transportation for our city.”
“I hear the concerns loud and clear, and candidly, I agree with them,” Greenberg said in June. “So we will be working with TARC’s current leadership and with the board to improve TARC so that it is a public transportation service that we are all proud of.”
Prior to joining TARC, Butler was the general manager of Lextran, Lexington's bus system.
"Carrie Butler helped to steer TARC through some of the toughest times in recent memory for both the agency and public transit nationwide,” TARC board chair Ted Smith said in a statement. “We’re grateful for her service and we assure both TARC staff and TARC customers that there will be a thorough search to identify the best individual to build on our existing strengths and lead TARC forward in the coming years.”
No reason was given for her resignation.
This story will be updated.
Reach reporter Eleanor McCrary at EMcCrary@courier-journal.com or at @ellie_mccrary on X, formerly known as Twitter. Reach Lucas Aulbach at laulbach@courier-journal.com.
This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: TARC executive director Carrie Butler resigns
