Residents and others weigh in on dot extended hours & recent service changes
Savannah, GA –The Chatham Area Transit Authority (CAT), in a partnership with the City of Savannah, has recently extended the dot shuttle’s hours of operation until midnight six days a week (Monday-Saturday) and to 9 p.m. on Sundays. The extended hours should help some downtown residents and late-night workers with parking and traffic challenges. The new schedule also provides benefits to downtown businesses.
“The dot shuttle is exciting to me because it is available to everyone including our underserved population. It also means less vehicles on the road and less demand for parking spaces, which makes it more enjoyable for everyone moving around our downtown area. The frequency of shuttles and now the extended hours are a very positive response to a need/demand,” Director of Healthy Savannah Paula Kressler said.
To date, CAT is averaging approximately 23,000 rides per month on the dot service and ridership is expected to hit a quarter million trips since the inception of the new revamped shuttle service in September 2017.
“I’m looking forward to spending more evenings in downtown Savannah without the parking hassles,” Savannah Resident Alys Spillman said. “Now that the dot schedule is broader, I’ll be on it.”
Other recent adjustments effective on July 9 were made to the 6 Cross Town route to improve timeliness and connections.
“I’m excited to see improvements being made to CAT services, like those made to the Cross Town route. By providing streamlined service and greater transportation options for residents and visitors in the southwest quadrant, CAT is working towards creating a more connected, healthy and conveniently traveled Chatham County,” GA Bikes Complete Streets Program Manager Calia Brown said.
In the coming months, with the assistance of public transit consultant Jarret Walker, CAT will begin a major bus system redesign initiative. In February the CAT Board of Directors approved the comprehensive evaluation and redesign of the transit agency’s bus services in order to make the system more efficient, accessible, and relevant to more people in Chatham County.
“We are working on several continuous improvement projects. Jarret Walker is one of them that will be beneficial to existing customers and potential customers. We want to attract new riders to our public transit services and the system redesign effort with intense community involvement will help us do that,” CAT CEO and Executive Director Curtis Koleber said.
New transit schedules are available at the ticket window, located at the Joe Murray Rivers Jr. Intermodal Transit Center at 610 W. Oglethorpe Ave. and online at www.catchacat.org. The fare-free dot shuttle schedules may be found at www.connectonthedot.com. For additional information, please call the Customer Service Ride Line at 912-233-5767.