On Monday, something happened in Chapel Hill that had not in five years: all of the Chapel Hill Transit bus routes were online and accepting riders.

The fare-free transit system announced last week it would be returning to full service, meaning there are no more suspended trips across any of its routes through Chapel Hill and Carrboro and no redlines — which the Chapel Hill Transit team celebrated with a social media video.

Major changes in Chapel Hill Transit’s service began in 2021 amid the COVID-19 pandemic, when the town government reported the bus system had both low staffing and low ridership. But the department — which is based with the Town of Chapel Hill, but also receives funding from Carrboro and UNC — worked its way back to near-full service in early 2025. That restoration included five routes to full service, but left about 5% of bus trips still unaccounted for.

While all routes had been restored in some capacity, Chapel Hill Transit Director Brian Litchfield told Chapelboro this final push back to full service means those final routes are running all throughout the day again.

“The most affected were the F and G routes, local routes that serve neighborhoods and schools,” Litchfield said. “This gives customers from neighborhoods like Colony Woods, Booker Creek, Lakeshore in Chapel Hill — and Cates Farm, Barrington Hills, and Fair Oaks in Carrboro — more options. We also restored service that improves frequencies on the weekends for the J and NS routes.”

Both Chapel Hill Transit and the Town of Chapel Hill have reported ridership rebounding well in the wake of the pandemic. Now, Litchfield said, that interest is once again matched with the system’s resources.

“We are seeing the demand from the community for our full service and are confident that we can offer it now with our staffing levels,” he said. “Our team worked to improve recruitment and retention of Operators so that we could consistently offer the service. The challenge was to never bring back a suspended trip before we knew it would be reliable to our customers.”

For details on routes, live bus times, and tools to plan your trip, visit the Chapel Hill Transit webpage. Additionally, the transit system is taking community feedback on its Short-Range Transit Plan, which could update some of the routes. Those who are interested can view the interactive map and take the survey here.

Photo via Chapel Hill Transit.

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