CHAPEL HILL, N.C. (WNCN) — Chapel Hill Transit says it’s cutting out stops on some of its bus routes because the town needs to hire more than 30 new drivers.

This comes after the town went through a hiring freeze during the height of the pandemic and more than a dozen drivers retired. Because of the shortage, the town says it will not run some of its trips on the weekday J route, the weekday NS route, the NU route, and the S route. This will begin Sunday.

Transit director Brian Litchfield said they don’t have a choice at this point and he knows it’ll be a big blow in this community.

“If a bus goes from operating every half hour to an hour, that’s a big difference for folks, especially if they don’t have another option,” Litchfield said.

The town said it’s contracted with a third party to take over some of the routes for now.

Chapel Hill Transit posted its new bus schedules here.