People in Columbia will have their chance to voice their opinions on changes to their city’s bus system during Monday night’s council meeting.

Columbia Mayor Bob McDavid wants to replace a downtown bus route with a route that he calls FastCat.

The FastCat route would target Columbia college students.

McDavid said FastCat buses would reduce traffic congestion and provide better service to all Columbia bus riders.

The mayor said Columbia’s transit system needs some major changes because it is running at a deficit of about $1.5 million a year.

McDavid said, “We have an obligation to make it easy for them to get around town.  This FastCat initiative is a first step in what I suspect will be a complete restructuring of the transit system in Columbia.”

The public hearing on the FastCat bus route proposal begins at 7 p.m. tonight in the council chambers of Columbia city hall.