Chattanooga Area Regional Transportation Authority

The Chattanooga Area Regional Transportation Authority (or CARTA) is the mass-transit provider for Chattanooga, Tennessee and vicinity. Public transportation first appeared on the streets of Chattanooga in 1875, utilizing horse-drawn trollies. The two main routes followed Market Street and Ninth Avenue (now Martin Luther King Boulevard).

In 1889, the trollies were replaced with electric streetcars. With advent of the internal combustion engine, buses began to appear more frequently. In 1941, Southern Coach Lines took over the public transit operations, and the last street car ran in 1946.

City Control

In 1973, the City of Chattanooga purchased the assets of the former Southern Coach Lines, and formed the Chattanooga Area Regional Transportation Authority. CARTA (as it is frequently called) now operates 17 routes serving the entire city. This number has been trimmed down from 30, as some routes have been consolidated or eliminated.

In addition, CARTA also operates a free shuttle service utilizing electric buses which runs between the Chattanooga Choo-Choo (the former Terminal Station Hotel) at 14th and Market Streets, terminating at the Bijoux Theatre on Broad and 3rd Streets. Public parking is available at both locations on a first-come-first-served bases. CARTA also owns and operates the Lookout Mountain Incline Railway, which runs between the Saint Elmo neighborhood and the town of Lookout Mountain, Tennessee.

List of Routes

In the CARTA System, there are two types of routes, Main Line Routes and Neighborhood Routes. Main Line Routes are usually more heavily traveled and have a large territorial reach. Neighborhood Routes can best be thought of as branches or extensions that diverge from one or more Main Lines.

Main Line Routes

• 1. Alton Park
  • Chattanooga Choo-Choo, Piney Woods, Alton Park Health Center, Howard High School, the Poss and Wheeler housing projects, 38th St. Shopping center.
• 4. Eastgate/Hamilton Place
  • UT-Chattanooga, Lee Highway, Warner Park, Tennessee Temple University, Brainerd Road, Eastgate Mall, Hamilton Place Mall, Park Ridge Hospital.
• 9. East Lake
  • Chattanooga Choo-Choo, Dodds Avenue, Main Street, Goodwill Industries, East Lake Academy.
• 10. East Chattanooga
  • UT-Chattanooga, Glenwood, Baroness Erlanger Hospital, Memorial Hospital, State Route 58, Harriet Tubman Housing Project, Hamilton County Health Department, Avondale.
• 13. Rossville
  • East Lake Courts, 23rd Street, Farmer's Market, Senior Neighbors.
• 15. Saint Elmo
  • Broad Street, St. Elmo District, Lookout Mountain Incline Railway, Seaboard Farms.
• 16. Northgate
  • Northshore District, Coolidge Park, Northgate Mall, Hixson Pike.
• 19. Cromwell Road
  • UT-Chattanooga, Baroness Erlanger Hospital, Main Postal Facility, Shallowford Road.
• 28. Amnicola Highway
  • UT-Chattanooga, Chattanooga State College, Tennessee River Park, Food Bank, Police Headquarters, Harriet Tubman Housing Project.

Neighborhood Routes

• 2. North Chattanooga
  • North Market Street, Coolidge Park, Cherokee Boulevard, Speares Avenue.
• 5. North Brainerd
  • North Brainerd, Eastgate Town Center, Brainerd High School.
• 6. East Brainerd
  • Hamilton Place Mall, Gunbarrel Road, Concorde Apartments.
• 8 Eastdale
  • Battery Heights, Tunnel Boulevard.
• 12 Red Bank (operated on-demand jointly with Hamilton County Rural Transportation)
  • Town of Red Bank, Chattanooga Memorial Gardens, Ben Wallace Park.
• 14. "Mocs Express" (operated under contract as a free shuttle for UT-Chattanooga students, faculty and staff.) Route 14 only operates on weekdays during fall and spring terms, when the University is session. The route runs within and without the UTC campus on McCallie, Houston, Vine, Douglas, Fifth, and Palmetto Streets. A recent extension serves Third, O'Neal and Central Streets, as well as Erlanger Hospital, and a large parking lot at Engel Stadium.
  • UT-Chattanooga, Engel Stadium, Baroness Erlanger Hospital.
• 21. Golden Gateway
  • Boyonton Terrace, College Hill Courts, Convention Center, Finley Stadium.
• 29. Stadium Shuttle
  • Finley Stadium, First Tennessee Pavilion, Reggie White Drive, TVA, CIGNA.
• 30. Unum Provident Shuttle (free shuttle for U-P employees)
  • Chestnut Street Towers, Unum Provident.