Join us over the next year as we celebrate 50 years of connecting our community with safe, convenient, reliable, and responsive public transportation. Discover how you can get involved in the festivities, learn about our services, and see how we're shaping the future with enhanced accessibility, improved infrastructure, and a commitment to environmental sustainability.

On Monday, February 10th we had the pleasure of hosting a Fireside Chat to hear from local leaders about our community's transportation history and its relation to civil rights. This reflective conversation featured Braxton Foushee, Carrboro Board of Alderman (1969-1981), Howard Lee, Mayor of Chapel Hill (1969-1975), Gerry Cohen, Chapel Hill Board of Alderman (1974), and Brian Litchfield, current CHT Director. 

Click here to watch the full video! A special thanks to local high schooler Braeden Wilbourn for filming this event. 

Upcoming Events

• Look out for weekly #ThrowbackThursday posts on Facebook and Instagram recapping the past 50 years.

• Surprise Bus Shelter Birthday Parties – keep an eye out for one near you

• Sealing of a time capsule – details coming soon

Chapel Hill Transit's History 

1965-66

• Proposal of a mini-bus transit service for Chapel Hill by a member of the Board of Aldermen.

1969

• A public transportation study commission was formed.
• A trial transit system was implemented with seven buses leased from Raleigh City Coach Lines Inc.

1970

• Howard Lee makes public transit a top priority in the mayoral campaign.

1971

• The trial system's operation ceased due to exhausted funds.
• The referendum to authorize tax-based support for transit failed by one vote.

1973

• A second referendum approved $350,000 in bonding capacity and property taxes for operational subsidies, passing the popular vote in Chapel Hill.

1974

• Chapel Hill Community Transit service began operations with 22 used 45-passenger buses purchased from the Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority (MARTA).
• Operations begin on August 1.

1986

• CHT sees a 17% increase in ridership in a single year after adding the L and S routes and investing in new marketing techniques.

2002

• CHT becomes fare-free.

2005

• Automated Vehicle Locator System begins working to provide vehicle location status and arrival information to transit users.

2006

• Millhouse Rd. Transit Facility opens.

2019

• CHT begins purchasing electric buses.

2023

• Bus Rapid Transit project gets federal funding outlined in President Biden’s annual budget.

Photos

 723 eastbound on Franklin St. to Henderson in Spring, 1975.

 Ribbon Cutting aboard bus 547 from MARTA on July 31, 1974. 

Interior of GM 723 at Public Works Yard in Spring, 1975.

Bus system inauguration ceremony on July 31, 1974. Presiding is Mayor Howard Lee. 

Two of the 22 GM buses purchased from MARTA. Public works yard in Spring, 1975. 

Rear view of Twin Coach 702 heading South on Colombia in August, 1976.