SAVANNAH, Ga. — For countless residents, Chatham Area Transit (CAT) serves as a vital lifeline, providing essential transportation across the region. However, some community members are growing increasingly frustrated with the service’s reliability.

Debra Goldwire, a local resident, has voiced her dissatisfaction with CAT’s mobility paratransit service. After being left stranded multiple times, she describes her experience as both neglectful and disrespectful.

As a senior citizen living on a fixed income, Goldwire depends heavily on this service to attend crucial medical appointments and other significant engagements. The repeated service failures, she notes, have adversely impacted not only her health but also her overall quality of life.

She’s a senior citizen on a fixed income who relies on the service to get to her doctor’s appointments and other important events.

She says the situation has affected not only her health but also her quality of life.

“It’s been going too long now, they’re not dependable. And they are in a position where people actually need their service and the services were built for this reason,” said Goldwire.

To use CAT’s special services, a rider must fill out or call to make a reservation 1 to 7 days in advance to make sure they can be accommodated.

Goldwire says she’s taken the required steps but has been left several times.

She says calling an Uber isn’t an option for someone in a wheelchair who is on a fixed income.

“It might not be major to them but it’s major to me,” said Goldwire. “I’m a person who doesn’t like to be late. Being ahead of time is on time.”

Goldwire says she made a doctor’s appointment 6 months ago and called to make her reservation to be picked up a few days ago by CAT. After receiving confirmation that the bus would be there by 9:45 a.m., she went outside to wait at 7:00 a.m. but the bus never showed up.

The incident forced her to reschedule a vital appointment she says could really affect her health.

“How am I going to get my blood checked? I’m not going to go to Candler or Memorial and pay all that money,” said Goldwire. “Even though I have insurance, I try to reserve as much as I possibly can for what needs to be done.”

We reached out to Chatham Area Transit. They provided this response:

“At CAT, we take the concerns of all of our riders, including CAT mobility users, seriously. We apologize for the recent issues with transportation reliability. Please know that we are actively reviewing our technology and scheduling systems to ensure we’re providing dependable service and helping our community get where they need and want to go.”