This budget season, Chattanooga Area Regional Transit Authority Chair Johan de Nysschen is speaking the language of Hamilton County Mayor Weston Wamp, who left nothing for CARTA in last year’s budget.
“We need to put the ‘region’ back into CARTA,” said Chair de Nysschen. “We need to serve the greater Chattanooga area.”
“We need to embrace the whole county,” he said.
The CARTA board of directors voted on Thursday to pursue funding from the county and other Hamilton County municipalities beyond Chattanooga as part of a list of budget priorities outlined by CEO Charles Frazier, who will present a preliminary budget to the board in March.
A whole-county vision will attract investors from the whole county, Chair de Nysschen said.
In that vein, Mr. Frazier said that the Chattanooga-Hamiliton County Regional Planning Agency, the Chattanooga-Hamilton County/North Georgia Metropolitan Planning Organization and the city of Chattanooga are working to identify locations for a downtown bus station this year, which he called a “mobility and innovation hub.”
Once that property is identified, CARTA can immediately begin the design process using on-call firms in a new procurement mechanism approved by the board in January.
“The contracts are ready for the work,” Mr. Frazier said.
Mr. Frazier announced that CARTA has won a $600,000 grant toward engineering and design plans for the new bus station.
The budget priorities list committed CARTA to pursue more grant funding and also touched on improving bus service, maintenance, technology and community involvement.
“Our community is saying to us, ‘Your service delivery is so-so,’” Chair de Nysschen said. “We will begin to taste success when the level of service… attracts discretionary riders,” he said.
Mr. Frazier said CARTA was awarded three grants in fiscal year 2025 and is already working to apply them:
$787,500 for Transit Oriented Development planning for Brainerd Road and Lee Highway
$7.07 million Department of Energy grant for efficient transportation
$980,000 state grant for fare technology modernizations
The newest grant is $405,000 toward onboard cameras, driving data and collision avoidance technology, he said.
North Shore Shuttle Pilot
As the Walnut Street Bridge nears shutdown in March for 18 months, CARTA will offer free shuttle service along Frazier Avenue and across the Market Street Bridge, in tandem with an existing program offering the first hour free at the Shuttle Park North garage.
The free shuttles will begin March 18.
On Thursday the CARTA board of directors approved the purchase of a Karsan e-Jest bus for $338,000 for the free shuttle program. The last such bus CARTA bought was $412,000 in 2013.
Rider Advisory Committee
CARTA is forming a Rider Advisory Committee, which will be chaired by a CARTA board member. The committee will be made up of five to 10 riders, who will be compensated with up to four 31-day passes - one pass for each meeting they attend.
The committee will discuss customer satisfaction, fare technology, bus stops and route optimization.