BATON ROUGE - Changes to CATS routes will start December 6th, and that will include the elimination of two following a vote by Metro Council Tuesday.

The bus company asked city leaders to let them cut the under performing routes: O’Neal Park and Ride and the Downtown to Mall of Louisiana Express. With the two lines cut, express services to those locations will end but service will still be available through local routes.

“These route eliminations are the next step in improving how we serve our riders and we thank the Metro Council for approving our request. We will be working to educate our current riders on the changes before they go into effect on December 6," CATS CEO Bob Mirabito said in a prepared statement.

With the elimination, CATS said it will reallocate resources to other routes. Additional bus hours or vehicles will be added to Route 12 – Government Street/Jefferson Hwy, Route 17 – Perkins Road/Mall of Louisiana, Route 47 – Highland Rd., and Route 54 – Airline Highway North/Southern University. The Downtown Airport Express will expand its hours to 6 a.m. to 10 p.m.

In other places, bus frequency will be increased. The Capitol Park Shuttle will run every 30 minutes instead of every 40. The Florida Boulevard route will be updated to shorten trip times on both Route 44 and Route 72.

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