Georgia Senator issues statement on CAT bus, Chatham County Board of Commissioners dispute

CHATHAM COUNTY, Ga. (WTOC) - After the Board of Commissioners of Chatham County notified the Chatham Area Transit Authority’s Board of Directors they intend to end the current agreement with CAT for public transportation within Chatham County last week, today, November 25, 2025, Georgia Senator Derek Mallow has released a statement on the situation.

I urge our community leaders to come together and work toward a comprehensive solution. The future of our city and county depends on our local leadership resolving their differences to better support the people they serve.

Public transit is essential to protect the economic development of a growing city like Savannah. Mass transit interruptions across the Savannah metro and Chatham County will make it more difficult for citizens to commute and provide for themselves.

Our tourism industry suffers, too, when we are forced to turn visitors away due to a lack of readily accessible public transportation.

Dr. King put it best: ‘All mankind is tied together, all life is interrelated, and we are all caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny.’

We may not agree on everything, but we should all affirm that the riders of CAT do not deserve to be caught in the middle of political discourse.

Recently, Commission Chairman Ellis notified the CAT board that the county will withdraw from the system at the end of the current fiscal year.

If CAT loses an important source of funding, hardworking Georgians will be left without a readily accessible mode of transportation to feed their families, commute to work and regularly attend doctors’ appointments.

We owe it to them to come to the table in good faith and find common ground to best serve our people.

Georgia Senator Derek Mallow (D-Savannah)

Chatham Area Transit’s board wrapped up an emergency meeting yesterday evening. Despite recent tension between Chatham Area Transit and Chairman Ellis, CAT’s board believes both groups can get back to working on the same page.

CAT board chairman Detric Leggett told WTOC that the two groups plan on getting together to hold a meeting, and that he believes they will work out any issues during that meeting.