CARTA CEO Charles D. Frazier with members of CARTA’s Board of Directors and representatives from Signal Centers
Chattanooga may be the first city to have a public bus wrapped with Dolly Parton’s picture, said CARTA President and CEO Charles Frazier.
“It’s a first for Dolly Parton. It’s a first for CARTA,” he said.
Starting Friday, a bus wrapped to promote Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library will travel CARTA routes throughout Chattanooga for one year, helping to publicize the East Tennessee native’s program that delivers a book every month to children until their fifth birthday.
“We want everybody in Hamilton County to be enrolled,” said Signal Centers CEO Donna McConnico. Signal Centers is custodian of the program in Hamilton County.
She told the CARTA board of directors Thursday that 14,000 children are enrolled in the Imagination Library. She wants to enroll at least 300 children each month to replace those who turn five.
Ms. McConnico said the Parton organization has negotiated low prices for the books and covers other logistical costs, but Signal Centers must raise $200,000 annually, which is then matched by the Tennessee Governor’s Early Literacy Foundation. Signal Centers absorbs their own administrative costs, she said.
The bus’s grand opening will take place Friday morning at Signal Centers.
Route studies
In the coming months CARTA will survey its own drivers, riders and elected officials to revamp its routes, bus stops and customer service.
“I think we need to brace ourselves for some harsh realities,” Mr. Frazier said, but “I’m not afraid to find out… We need to know.”
This information can’t be gathered by a computer.
Mr. Frazier said its 900 bus stops will be evaluated for spacing, safety and use. Bus schedules will be analyzed to eliminate early and late departures using field data from the bus operators themselves. Mr. Frazier will ask City Council representatives to identify pockets of their districts that are underserved by CARTA.
In a second phase, Mr. Frazier said, CARTA will hold in-person community meetings.
“Our public participation process, historically, has not been sufficient,” Mr. Frazier said. “We want to meet them where they are.”
This spring CARTA will form a rider advisory committee, chaired by CARTA board member Corey Evatt. Further engagement will include a bus operator focus group and baseline satisfaction surveys for riders and employees, which will be developed into customer service standards.