Bus stop for 40 on Hungryneck adjacent to BI-LO near Town Centre.  This may not be an official stop, but it is one of the most actively used in Mount Pleasant.

Everyone interested in building a better bus stop for the CARTA 40 bus which stops between the CVS Pharmacy and Bank, near the BI-LO is asked to attend a drop in meeting at Collective Coffee on Wednesday, May 22 from 5:00 to 7:00 pm. Jessica Jurs will be here to make coffee and espresso drinks for anyone who would like to order. Collective Coffee is located in the BI-LO Plaza at 766 S Shelmore Blvd Mt Pleasant, SC 29464.

We’ll try for some structured, open group discussion about 6 pm, when hopefully we’ll have a group on hand.

We’ve been gathering community support for this effort for several months and are happy to announce we have Architects, Engineers, Masonry Suppliers, Construction Foremen, Artists and Craftsman ready to build a shelter which will be Americans with Disabilities Act Compliant, Hurricane Resistant, Durable and a comfortable waiting are for six people. It will be lit off the grid and enabled with features which will allow you to use your smart phone or internet connected device to plan your bus trip or tell when the bus is coming using CARTA’s new bus tracker system.

If you have ideas or have seen something you like, bring pictures printed off the internet.  It will really help advance the process.  If we have more good ideas than we need, there are places all over Mount Pleasant where better bus stops are needed and other communities interested in working on bus stop improvements.

We don’t have a design yet.  When we do, several stakeholders and government agencies will have to approve it. We’re hoping for an effort which not only produces a wonderful place to wait, but a model which can be replicated across the East Cooper Community. For full updates, check back here or call William Hamilton at 843-870-5299.

You can download a printable flyer for this May 22 meeting to help engage the community.

Over the past three weeks, thousands of Transit riders in Charleston, Summerville, Goose Creek and Beaufort have been given an informational flyer on the Congressional Election “We Ride Together, We Vote Together.“ (Downloadable PDF)

If you would like to help hand these flyers out on the buses to other riders, a very powerful way to encourage transit riders to vote, please call William Hamilton at (843) 870-5299.

Voters have the opportunity to choose between Elizabeth Colbert Busch (D) and Mark Sanford (R).  If you have trouble getting to the polls, either campaign will be happy to arrange a ride to the polls for you Monday (for early voting) or Tuesday.

• Colbert Busch- http://colbertbuschforcongress.com/welcome/
• Sanford- http://www.marksanford.com/home/

This is the view of Charleston thousands of train passengers passing through our derelict N. Charleston Station see.

Many riders have asked how this election is relevant to the quality of public transit we have in the Lowcountry.  The answer is that even basic services like transit are now under constant threat.  While large, well organized lobbies exist for the oil,  automotive and highway construction industry, the thirty million transit riders have only begun organizing themselves into a national political force in the past year, when Congress slashed Transit funding from 20 to 18 percent of the Federal Transportation Budget.  This triggered massive cuts in service across the United States.

What Poor Transit Systems are doing to the Lowcountry

For the people who depend on transit, a number which rose by 6% across the country last year, such cuts have drastic, even lethal effects.  Riders making long walks home form now distant transit stops get hit by cars or become victims of crime.  The elderly find themselves stranded as they age on Daniel Island.  Those who lose their car, often then lose everything.  They can’t ride the bus for a few weeks, scraping up the money for repairs while keeping their job.  I’ve met successful people in Charleston who have confided in me that when they lost their car to a run of bad luck, the bus helped them rebuild their lives.  Some are wealthy today.

Organizers from Americans for Transit and the ATU leafleted the riders going on the Dorchester Express bus in Summerville

In places like Beaufort, where the bus runs only to and from work once a day, entire lives are wasted with people left to do little more than work, wait and sleep.  Shopping, civic and cultural activities are out of reach for people living on St. Helena Island an other rural communities.  ”Going on the Bus” in Beaufort is viewed as a sort of living death in many rural communities   Younger residents would rather leave, so they take their energy and talent elsewhere.  Those who stay and ride have few options for spending their hard earned money.

Even for those who drive, the highway system has reached a point where it’s so large it can no longer be adequately maintained or further expanded with existing revenue.  Younger people are giving up on the automobile altogether in increasing numbers.  It just costs too much and takes up too much time.  Throughout our public information campaign, Republicans and Democrats have both told us they want better transit.

The Congressman elected Tuesday will be the point person for all Federal involvement with local transit issues in the district.  Fixing the problems with the long delayed intermodal center, making sure basic funding remains available, or helping replace some of our aging fleet of transit buses requires a Congressman’s support.  We asked both candidates to ride.  Colbert Busch rode the #41.  Sanford never took a ride on a bus.  We asked both candidates to answer two, relevant but simple questions.  Colbert Busch answered.  Sanford didn’t.  Five Republicans did ride the bus: Moffly, Turner, Larkin, Hoffman & Bryant.  Both candidates received phone calls from many riders asking them to ride and answer.  You can read Colbert Busch’s full answers on the Flyer PDF.  The flyer also provides contact information for the Sanford campaign so you can try to find out what his position is.

Please vote carefully on Tuesday.  It was only eight years ago that CARTA resumed full operations after a disastrous two year near shut down.  People died because the buses stopped running.  We can argue about art in government buildings or how much Ft. Moultrie should be open, but when transit gets cut people lose their jobs, their families and sometimes their lives.

Three US Congress Candidates stand in the rain during the “Ride in the Rain” on Feb. 7

Transit is only one of several important issues in this election, but it touches on the core controversy of our time.  Are we building a society which offers dignity and freedom to more people or are we building a society which concentrates power and wealth in the hands of a few?  Real wealth requires a shared prosperity which has to include opportunities to travel, change jobs, shop, learn and enjoy our golden years for most people.  Even those fortunate enough to be wealthy benefit from customers who can travel, employees who can get to work, patients who can access medial care before it requires an EMS trip, fellow citizens who participate in civic and cultural life and tourists who can enjoy our coast.

Free Markets, Competitive Economies

Free markets mean nothing to an elderly woman stranded on St. Helena Island who can’t get to a store.  If we don’t have transit services which meet these needs, many capable people will relocate to, travel to or invest in other places which do.  I’ve met gifted young people in Portland, Seattle and New York from South Carolina building lives which are rewarding without cars who left South Carolina and have no intention of returning. It wasn’t just about transit, but they abandoned their cars, built lives and they swear they’re not coming back. In the intensely competitive future, SC needs such talent and skill.

On Tuesday, vote like someone’s life depends on it, because it does.

On Tuesday, April 30, 6-7 pm, public transit for Daniel Island advocates will gather at the Daniel Island Library from 6 to 7 pm for a public discussion on bringing full time bus service to the community this year.  The library is located at 2301 Daniel Island Dr Daniel Island, SC 29492.  The public is welcome to attend and participate.  You can sign up for the April 30 meeting on Facebook

You can support this effort by downloading this flyer and distributing copies  inviting Daniel Island Residents to attend this meeting.  A Hungryneck Straphangers outreach team will also be working on Daniel Island prior to the meeting.  Volunteers would be appreciated.  if you need more flyers or posters to promote the meeting, the UPS Store on Daniel Island has the electronic files to print them for you.  We’re a small, volunteer organization and rely on community support like this to make our projects work.  Please help by paying to print a few and share them with your neighbors.

Transit advocates from Hungryneck Straphangers and will meet with stakeholders in the Daniel Island Community about bringing more extensive public transit services to the community there.  We’ll attempt a Skype call with Americans for Transit. After the formal meeting, we’ll gather at the Daniel Island Grill patio for dinner and more discussion.  If you can’t make the meeting, feel free to join us at the Grill for informal discussion.

An outreach team from Americans for Transit visited Daniel Island earlier in April and met for breakfast at the Honeycomb Cafe.  Afterwards two teams visited people on the island with information about transit and the Congressional election.  It became clear from the feedback the canvassers received that the Island wanted and was now able to support a transit development campaign.  Among the people participating in that canvass was Andrew Austin, Executive Director of Americans for Transit.

On April 25, William Hamilton and CARTA Driver Debbie Geise distributed door hanger bags at over one hundred homes and businesses on Daniel Island and met with residents at the Farmers Market.  Nearly all feedback was positive.  The Daniel Island News printed a story on the effort: Group Seeks to Bring Public Transit to DI

Existing Services and Planning Activities on Daniel Is. Transit

• Tri County Link has limited service through Daniel Island now   It runs from Moncks Corner to Mount Pleasant, connecting with the Express 2 and 40 Mount Pleasant at Kmart on Johnnie Dodds Blvd.
• A route connecting Daniel Island, N. Charleston and Mount Pleasant was one of four options considered in a consultant’s report prepared for CARTA in Oct. 2012,  You’ll find the Daniel Island route option on page 9 of the report.
• Last summer, Hungryneck Straphangers  included a proposal for Daniel Island which we submitted to CARTA.  It was one of several options considered and we feel the effort to improve transit connections for the community is moving closer to success.  You can view our N. Charleston to the Beach proposal as a PDF.  The Daniel Island part is on page two.
• The Berkeley, Charleston, Dorchester Council of Governments is working on a new plan for regional transportation now, and will be holding public hearings.  You can sign up for notices and look at their material at http://www.bcdcog.com/transportationPlanning.htm
• Hungryneck Straphangers began work on getting improved transit service to Daniel Island and Cainhoy over two years ago, under the leadership of DI resident Kurt Khelenbeck (who has sinced moved to Mt. Pleasant.).  At the meeting we’ll be looking for a core group of volunters to cotinue this important work.

For more information see www.busec.org/di or call William Hamilton (843) 870-5299