Transit Authority of River City - Fleet

Fleet

As of 2007, TARC had a fleet of 240 buses. Nine were hybrid buses, which combine a traditional diesel engine and an electric motor to reduce emissions and eliminate tailpipe exhaust during acceleration, but cost nearly twice as much as a conventional bus. The hybrids were provided through Federal highway bill earmarks by Federal Senator Jim Bunning (Republican). In 2007, a new TARC bus cost $285,000, while a hybrid bus cost $504,000.

In October 2010, TARC announced that the hybrid bus fleet would grow to 29, with the addition of 8 new buses, with a grant of $3.9 million, from the Federal Transit Authority’s Clean Fuels Bus and Bus Facilities Program. A previous grant through the federal stimulus program paid for nine hybrid buses that arrived in July 2010.

All buses are equipped with "kneeling" bus technology that makes them easier to board, and a wheelchair lift. TARC once required disabled riders to use a special service with smaller buses that had to be scheduled in advance, but all regular buses were made accessible following protests in 1986.