Chapel Hill Transit to Expand Services as UNC Campus, Towns Prepare to Reopen

After operating with limited services during the stay at home order and Phase 1 of the coronavirus pandemic, Chapel Hill Transit will begin offering more options for riders starting next month.

The transit system announced on Friday it will move to operating reduced weekday routes and schedules on Monday, June 1. Previously, Chapel Hill Transit ran its Saturday service from Monday through Saturday since March 19 to account for decreased riders and to protect the health of employees. The move means services like the G, J, NS, S, RU and U routes will begin operating again on weekdays on their normal schedules. The CM and D routes will also be reactivated, with weekend routes continuing as well. GoTriangle’s Route 420 will also start running again, with three trips each between Chapel Hill and Hillsborough. The EZ Rider service will increase from Saturday-level service to operating between 5 a.m. to 8 p.m.

Chapel Hill Transit said none of its weekday routes would be running past 8 p.m. for the time being. The reduced services allow for maintenance teams to properly clean and sanitize each vehicle, according to the transit system.

“Chapel Hill Transit is committed to safety,” said Friday’s release from the Town of Chapel Hill. “We have hired additional staff to support cleaning of vehicles and equipment and have increased our cleaning regimen so that our buses are cleaned and disinfected daily. We are adding equipment on our vehicles to help protect our operators, and we are identifying seats and placing signage on vehicles to help our customers keep distance from one another.”

The announcement comes one day after UNC announced its intentions for research operations to begin again in limited capacity starting on June 1. Chapel Hill and Orange County are also following the state government’s reopening guidelines of Phase 2, which begins Friday at 5 p.m.

Like the university and the local governments, Chapel Hill Transit is encouraging riders to still be mindful of space and other riders while using the service. The system recommends maintaining six feet of distance between each rider, wearing face coverings, entering and exiting through the rear door and refraining from riding if experiencing COVID-19 symptoms. Chapel Hill Transit also suggests riders arrive at bus stops early to allow options if a bus is at its capacity.

The transit system also provided an update about its Short Range Transit Plan in the release, saying it will move forward with the new service improvements this August. The changes aim to create more consistent schedules for many of the bus routes, as well as new Saturday and Sunday routes.

You can learn more information about Chapel Hill Transit’s operations at the Town of Chapel Hill’s web page for the system.

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