Thanks to this flyer I spotted on the bus last week, I went to the first of two public hearings held by Chapel Hill Transit this week. The second one is tomorrow (Tuesday) at Chapel Hill Town Hall.

I was running in and out of the meeting after my son who also likes buses, but isn't very patient with meetings. I did get a chance to say my piece, which included advice about making the time between buses ("headways") more consistent and supporting longer service hours. But it wasn't until chatting with Loren Hintz after the meeting that I learned that part of the purpose of the meeting is to get feedback for a major study that Chapel Hill Transit is undertaking,

The town website says that "The Comprehensive Operational Analysis (COA), a joint effort of CHT and its funding partners, Town of Chapel Hill, Town of Carrboro and University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, will lead to recommendations for service improvements for overall system efficiency and effectiveness." Apparently this includes major realignment of the routes, which is probably a good idea. Many of the routes haven't been updated for over a decade, and I think the community might be better served by rethinking how to create a web of service that includes more of a service grid (think: east-west connector along Estes Drive and linear routes on Greensboro, MLK, and Franklin, for example) and reduces the number of franken-routes like the J bus where you could ride for half an hour to go a distance that could be walked in 20 minutes.

Apparently this week's meetings are just the first in a series of events to collect and share information. If you can't make the hearing tomorrow, Chapel Hill Transit would still like your input via one of these methods: 

1. Call CHT at 919-969-4900, press 1
2. Email us at coa@townofchapelhill.org 
3. Fax to 919-968-2840 (Attn: COA)
4. Mail to CHT, Attn: COA, 6900 Millhouse Road, Chapel Hill, NC 27516-8175 

What will you tell them?