Louisville Mayor Craig Greenberg and the Transit Agency of River City’s (TARC) board announced the resignation of Executive Director Carrie Butler effective December 31.

Upon her official resignation date, an interim executive director will take over Butler’s duties on a temporary basis. Butler will serve as a consultant to TARC during the transition from Jan. 1 to June 30, 2024. The Mayor’s Office will be conducting a nationwide search to select 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,” said Mayor Greenberg. “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.”

Butler’s TARC Legacy

Butler accepted TARC’s top leadership role in August 2020 as the agency was deeply involved in investigations into personnel and financial improprieties of the previous administration. At the time, the COVID-19 pandemic was also raging, leading to stark challenges to TARC, like public agencies nationwide, including unprecedented levels of declining ridership and revenue and a greatly reduced workforce.

“Carrie Butler helped to steer TARC through some of the toughest times in recent memory for both the agency and public transit nationwide,” said TARC Board Chair Ted Smith. “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.”

In addition to Butler’s work on the structural challenges noted above, Butler also leaves the agency in a stronger position through her work on various initiatives including:

• Leading negotiations resulting in a successful collective bargaining agreement with Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1447 in the fall of 2022.

• Completing work on TARC’s long-term strategic plan TARC Tomorrow that provides a blueprint for future TARC improvement projects over the next decade.

• Preparing for implementation of several innovative new TARC features like mobile ticketing and an on-demand mobility pilot, both set to debut in 2024.

• Completing the modernization of TARC’s existing fleet of fixed-route vehicles and setting plans in motion for a transition to a zero-emission bus fleet in the coming years.

“I am proud of the work we were able to accomplish during the most tumultuous time in TARC’s 50-year history,” said Butler. “I’m especially grateful for the men and women of TARC who kept our buses rolling during COVID. I’m confident I’m leaving TARC in better condition than when I came on board.”

A Louisville native, Butler had previously worked at TARC as the Director of Planning from 2002 to 2010. Before returning to the agency as executive director, she served as GM of Lextran — Lexington’s public transit agency — for five years, as well as in several leadership roles in transit and consulting throughout the country.