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The Charlotte Area Transit system is holding public meetings at bus stops this week to discuss cutbacks to several routes.

The first meetings took place Tuesday morning at the park-and-ride stops in Cornelius and Davidson, where express bus service to uptown is being reduced by three trips a day.

CATS is reducing services to deal with a shortage of bus drivers. The cutbacks include 11 of its busiest routes, many of which serve primarily low-income neighborhoods. The challenges for

CATS go beyond a labor shortage. It’s lost 75% of its riders since 2014.

Lamequa Turner, 30, of Charlotte, rides the bus a few times a month.

“I feel bad for those who have to take the bus who have no other way of transportation," Turner said. "But I understand the bus drivers and how they feel."

Turner says CATS and the city of Charlotte need to do more to support its riders.

“They know they can do more and they know they should do more … it’s whether they choose to do more or not, but they know they should definitely do more,” she said.

Tim Gray, a weekly bus commuter from Fort Mill, S.C., shared how the changes and cutbacks will cause him to have to monitor the bus schedule closely — something he never did before.

Gray and Turner both ride Route 16, which currently runs every 15 minutes. However, once the cutbacks go into effect on Aug. 15th that route will run every 30 minutes.

“I’m just going to have to watch the schedule a little more closely. Before every 15 minutes, I didn’t even look at the schedule,” he said.

The next public meeting will take place Wednesday, Aug. 3, at The Charlotte Transit Center, located at 310 E. Trade St., from noon to 2 p.m. It will be followed by a second meeting from 4 to

6 p.m.

If you can't make it in-person, two virtual meetings will be held Wednesday — at noon and 6 p.m. — via CATS YouTube.