‘What are we supposed to do?’: Dozens express concerns about Wave’s future

WILMINGTON, NC (WWAY) — Wave Public Transit’s Board of Directors held a public hearing Thursday.

Riders candidly expressed their concerns about proposed changes.

“I want to know why the city commissioners along with my government haven’t done a damn thing but take, take, take,” one Wilmington resident said.

Taking away hours, reducing routes, were a part of a conversation about the future of Wave.

“Now you’re trying to take away the only transportation I have…wave,” the same resident said.

Wave’s Board of Directors heard what their customers think about their proposed new hours of operation.

If these are approved, many will have to find a new way to get around.

“I’m not happy with the idea of taking Uber,” another resident said. “I’m not comfortable with that.”

Speakers today said many of those who depend on Wave Transit are low income or have disabilities and this is their only option.

“He wants more than anything to go out and do things and live a normal life,” a helper to a resident with autism said. “He feels like he’s isolated at home because he can’t get around.”

The riders are not the only ones who could suffer from the changes. The bus drivers could as well.

“If you cut some of these hours from some of them, how are they going to make it?” a female resident said.

The same resident attempted to give the board a new perspective on the changes.

“Those of y’all voting against this … you’re not walking in my shoes,” she said. “How would you feel if it was one of y’all?”

All those who came to the hearing today face their own individual challenges and situations, but one message drives home the point they all wanted to make.

“This city needs wave transit,” a UNCW student said.

The board did not vote on the changes Thursday.