CARTA gets extra $11.9M to aid in crisis

With the Chattanooga Area Regional Transportation Authority losing most bus fares and parking income during the current coronavirus crisis, the federal government is giving Chattanooga’s bus service nearly $12 million of additional aid to help sustain its operations.

U.S. Rep. Chuck Fleischmann, R-Chattanooga, said Monday that Federal Transit Administration funds are being allocated through the CARES (Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security) Act to provide more than $11.9 million of extra assistance for CARTA. The federal aid is designated for the bus system’s operating, administrative and preventive maintenance costs to respond to and recover from COVID-19.

CARTA curtailed some of its operations in March and on April 13 waived bus fares

to facilitate rear boarding and limited seating on each bus to no more than 10 people per vehicle to limit the potential spread of the coronavirus. The stay-at-home orders and move to keep most downtown office workers doing their jobs at home has also cut parking fee income at the CARTA shuttle garages and forced the closing of the Incline Railway.

At the same time as the bus service and Incline has lost revenue, CARTA has incurred extra expenses for giving all drivers personal protection equipment and performing more cleaning and sanitizing of buses.

Lisa Maragnano, executive director for CARTA, said she expects the extra federal aid will be used over the next couple of years as CARTA adjusts to the changes brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic.

In response to the shutdown of nonessential businesses in March, CARTA limited its bus route schedule each weekday to match its more limited Saturday schedule and restricted the number of passengers who may board a bus at any time to 10 persons. With more people staying at home, ridership plunged in half during April, although Maragnano said bus ridership was down only 12-17% over the weekend as more people are getting back to work.

“We may expand our service again as demand increases, but as for going back to full service, we’ll have to play that by ear and see how the numbers improve,” Maragnano said.

The Federal Transit Administration normally provides support for up to 80% of the operating costs for transit systems like CARTA, but the CARES act allows federal funds to cover up to 100% of the operating expenses for such services.

“Ridership may be done, but people still need CARTA to get to work and to get to the store or the doctor’s offices,” Maragona said. “For a lot of people, this is their only means of transportation and it’s essential that we keep these routes available for the quality of life for many people and for the overall economic health of our community.”