Lexington, Ky.’s TARC customer experience is installing a completely updated digital communications system on all of its buses this winter.

For customers, that means convenient access to reliable real-time locations for buses on their smartphones, enhanced audio and visual announcements on every TARC bus for easier navigation of the system, and overall improvements to TARC’s operations. 

TARC’s New Digital Comms System

Federal grants are supporting the majority of the new equipment and installation. This specific type of funding cannot be spent on general transit operations costs such as more bus service on the street.

“While TARC keeps navigating the fiscal cliff facing our operations funding, we will keep doing everything we can to improve the daily experience of our customers,” said TARC Executive Director Ozzy Gibson. “This new system will be top of the line and get TARC customers the information they need, better than ever before.”

The updated CAD/AVL system replaces the previous system, which was over a decade old, causing reliability issues and frustrations for TARC customers looking for reliable real-time bus-location information.

What’s Next?

TARC expects installation to take a couple of months but has already completed it on 41 TARC buses. 

Some customers have had a sneak peek into the improvements, as 11 of these buses have been in a pilot phase while continuing to deliver service since December. One of the most noticeable improvements with this upgrade is on-bus screens that display and announce upcoming stops. 

Adding these screens will give TARC customers access to improved information, similar to what transit customers in hundreds of other cities already have, including regional peers like Indianapolis and Cincinnati.

“Once the new system is fully installed, TARC customers will see close to 100% reliable real-time data all day, every day,” said Gibson. “That’s the kind of good news we’re excited to deliver to our customers.”