Transportation in Louisville, Kentucky

However, the city traces its foundation to the era where the river was the primary means of transportation, and railroads have been an important part of local industry for over a century.

In more recent times Louisville has become a national hub for air cargo, creating over 20,000 local jobs.

Many major roads begin at or near the downtown area and travel outwards from the city like the spokes of a wheel.

The first runway was constructed in 1941 and used for World War II aircraft, and the airport opened for business on November 15, 1947.

[10] Over 17.5 billion pounds or 7.9 million metric tonnes of landed cargo weight passed through the airport in 2021.

The McAlpine Locks and Dam is located on the Kentucky side of the Ohio River, near the downtown area.

Ferry Service connected Louisville to Southern Indiana for decades, but was made obsolete when the Clark Memorial Bridge was opened.

Public transportation includes buses and chartered vans run by the Transit Authority of River City (TARC).

TARC has an extensive network serving downtown Louisville and Jefferson County, as well as the Indiana suburbs of Jeffersonville, Clarksville and New Albany.

[12] In March 2007, Mayor Jerry Abramson delivered a keynote address at the League of American Bicyclists' National Bike Summit in Washington D.C. where he described the history and future of bicycling in Louisville.

[13] The city is developing on-street bike lanes and shared-lanes, as well as a one-hundred mile "Metro Loop" trail to encircle the entire county.

By the end of 2007, nearly 1/3 of this loop was scheduled to be complete, with another 1/3 to 1/2 coming in the next three to five years as part of the Floyd's Fork corridor project.