Temporary service changes begin for Chatham Area Transit

SAVANNAH, Ga. (WTOC) - Chatham Area Transport has admittedly struggled with delays caused by driver shortages over the last few months.

To combat this, they implemented some service changes today.

”A lot of the schedule has changed, and again, it’s in an effort to make sure we’re gonna be where we say we’re gonna be to pick you up, and we’re gonna get you to where we say we’re gonna get you to on the time we committed to.”

16 CAT routes are affected by the schedule changes - some have trips eliminated, and some have been suspended altogether.

There are also two new routes not to CAT buses, but to the DOT shuttle, which before today only operated on two loops: Forsyth and Downtown.

“We looked at our current downtown service and said, ‘Let’s expand that over and offer fare free in some neighborhoods that haven’t enjoyed that experience in the past,” said Faye Dimassimo, the CEO and executive director of CAT.

As part of today’s service changes, now you can get on a DOT for free in Carver Village, and get off in Downtown Savannah.

“It was wonderful! I can save some money right now,” said Tony Thomas, the first person on the Carver Village DOT route.

The new DOT routes also include Cloverdale.

These service modifications will be in place for six to nine months.

When that time is up, CAT will re-evaluate their situation, and go from there.

“We’ve got to see where we are in hiring operators, and where can store service back, particularly for the fare-free component, how did it work, and determine what do we keep, how much can we expand back, and how does this play into this master transit plan effort that we have going now to determine the future of CAT in Chatham County,” said DiMassimo.

DiMassimo adds that in the meantime, folks should take a look at the schedule changes to see if their route has been affected.

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