Archive for the ‘information’ Category

Thanks for your interest in the CARTA #401 East Cooper Connector, which serves the Medical Complex around East Cooper Hospital, the Senior Citizens Center and James B. Edwards Elementary School. We’ll be doing a people to people transit canvass with help from the Moultrie Middle School Beta Club, distributing information on local transit at the Medical complex on Friday, March 30. This page gives you links to the relevant online content and services.

Online Trip Planning- Trips on this and most other CARTA Routes connecting to locations throughout Charleston County can now be planned using Google Maps Transit which will automatically generate itineraries and maps which can be printed out or emailed to patients, customers, and family.  Here is a sample trip planned using this service from East Cooper Hospital to Downtown Charleston.  It’s easy to generate and print out a trip plan for a patient or costumer who wants to go home on the bus.

Detailed questions about the route can be answered by calling CARTA customer services.  (843) 747-0922 or William Hamilton of East Cooper CARTA Riders (843) 870-5299.  You can also see the main official CARTA Website for regional information, www.ridecarta.com.  

Bus Service to the Medical Complex- The East Cooper Connector #401 bus stops at East Cooper Hospital once an hour between 7:27 am and 7:27 pm on weekdays with stops at the Senior Center, Just north of Hospital drive near the Intersection of Von Kolnitz Rd.  and at the front entrance to the new Hospital. The bus runs 8:27 am to 7:27 pm on Saturdays. It doesn’t run on Sunday.  After stopping at the Hospital, it continues on to Whipple Road, Belle Hall, Long Point Road, Six Mile, Hungryneck Blvd. Town Centre, Trident Tech., Sea Island Shopping Center, Coleman Blvd., Waterfront Park, Wingo Way, Houston Northcutt and Mount Pleasant Town Hall.

After Town Hall it returns to the Medical Center via Coleman Blvd., Rifle Range Road, and Bowman Road. It stops at Mount Pleasant movie theaters, major shopping centers, restaurants and both major hotel clusters.  See our detailed web page on the #401 East Cooper Connector

Connections to Other Routes- The East Cooper Connector Bus connects on both Hungryneck Blvd. near BI-LO and on Houston Northcutt near Harris Teeter with the #40 trans Mount Pleasant bus which runs between Wando High School and Downtown Charleston. It connects to the #402 bus to the beach and the C203 Tri County Links Bus running to McClellenville and Awendaw.  Overview page on all East Cooper Bus Routes

This bus can assist patients and families who need to get to the medical complex or would like to leave the area for a stress free trip to their hotel, shopping, entertainment or downtown.  You can download and print this information card for customers and patients.

Discount bus passes for 3 days or a month, with huge savings for unlimited use of the system can be purchased at Kmart on Bowman Road, Sea Island Piggly Wiggley & the Visitor’s Center at Mount Pleasant Waterfront Memorial Park, all of which are on the #401 route.  Passes are also now available online.

Route Status- CARTA Bus Routes are periodically reviewed for ridership performance. The #401 is currently not meeting targets. If this route does not reach targets, it can be cancelled. If ridership increases. the route can achieve permanent status and qualify for bus stop improvements such as benches and shelters. Improved ridership also creates the opportunity to extend hours or increase frequency.  It has been put up for review by the CARTA route review board.  Action on the route may happen over the summer.

Thanks to the Moultrie Middle School Beta Club for Assisting East Cooper CARTA Riders in distributing this information at the medical comples.   Transit is a trip we make together.  Efforts like this East of the Cooper have put over 4000 more riders per month on our transit system in the past year, which an increase in ridership on our main #40 route of over 30%.  With your help we can build the #401 East Cooper Connector into a useful and used part of our growing transit system, helping patients, family, friends, and employees get to and from the care and services they need.  Please let your customers and patients know about this important transit service so it will continue to be available to the entire community.

Disclaimer- East Cooper CARTA Riders is an independent rider’s advocacy organization not associated with Charleston Area Regional Transit Authority (CARTA).  We are devoted to improving the quality of public transit services East of the Cooper.  We are independent of and do not represent CARTA and statements made on this website and in our materials  reflect the opinions of our organization.

 

After a year of long effort by Linda Page, the Town of Mt. Pleasant and Wando High School, our community’s most important institution has an improved bus stop.  It’s getting plenty of use.  As the Eastern most stop on the CARTA system, it serves both students and people in the area who are often dropped off by family to catch the bus to downtown.  The improved stop has a comfortable bench and  slab to keep everyone out of the dirt, mud weeds and ants.  Seven riders boarded during a stop there yesterday.  The students said the school is actively promoting the use of CARTA.  These students had been able to stay after school for sports, tutoring and club activities instead of immediately boarding the school bus after the last bell for a ride home.

Full information about the #40 Trans Mount Pleasant route, running between Wando HS and the Mary Street Transit Center in Downtown Charleston.  This route connects to the #401 East Cooper Connector for trips to other parts of Mt. Pleasant and the #402 Island Flex for trips to the Isle of Palms and Sullivan’s Island..

Online Trip Planning Now Functional

Transit trip planning can now be done online, automatically on Google Transit.   This can be accessed through the mapping functions of most Android Phones, I phones, the Ipad mapping and navigation ap, the www.ridecarta.com website and through Google Transit.  Note that the #402 Island Flex bus has not yet been included into the system but that service is still running.  We’ve contacted both CARTA and our board members about that issue.

The system has huge advantages even for experienced riders.  If you have a smart phone or internet access, you really don’t need paper maps and schedules any longer.  they system provides walking directions to the nearest stop and multiple options for your trip.  In areas like North Charleston and Downtown where there are several routes, much faster trips may be possible than someone would plan using paper maps utilizing transfers and connections the rider might not be aware exist.  Even if you have been riding the system for years, you should check out some possible trips.  If you don’t ride the bus, this system can be of great use when friends or family need a ride since you can find a bus trip for them which brings them close to your location, then go pick them up.  In areas where this system has been deployed, ridership has increased by as much as 20%.  In addition to being a sought product online, Google offers transit directions to anywhere located in Google Places as an option.

Route Status

November is an important month for the East Cooper CARTA effort.  Both local routes, the #401 East Cooper Connector and the #402 Island Flex have not met ridership standards.  Everyone seems to recognize that more time is needed for the #401 to reach its goals considering the negative impact of road construction in Mount Pleasant on operations.  The bus simply can’t keep a reliable schedule with the roads its operating on being snarled in traffic and construction barriers.  Lots of improvements and effort is needed on the 401 but its utility and ultimate success seems to have everyone’s confidence.  It also has the backing of a community wide effort supported by neighborhoods, schools, churches and business.

The #402 Island Flex is a much different story.  It has continued to struggle with the issues which have plagued it since June.  It never really performed like most people thought it would.  There are some great new drivers on the route and major improvements in the operation of CARTA’s telephone reservation and dispatch system, but they’ve come after the busy summer season is over.  Something different is going to need to be tried, possibly a bus connecting the front beach with a limited stop route connecting N. Charleston and Mt. Pleasant to the beach.

The CARTA board voted to put both routes before the Route Review Committee, the committee which adjusts, cancels and approves routes as their own rules require them to.  There will be a hearing.  We’re going to need to be ready.

Later, Lets Have Some Fun

Nov 13- Park Pleasantly, Play Downtown with the CARTA #40

East Cooper CARTA Riders will provide a guided tour to Second Sunday Festival on King Street on Sunday, November 13.  Those interested can board the CARTA #40 bus anywhere along its route on the run beginning at Wando High School at 11:38 and arriving downtown at 12:38 or later runs.  Riders can return home on either the 2:38, 4:38 or 6:38 runs from the Visitor’s Center Downtown to any point along the #40 route.  Full information on the #40 CARTA Trans Mt. Pleasant bus route can be found at www.eastccrider.com.

In order to assist riders that day, updates from the #40 CARTA bus will be tweeted by @wjhamilton29464 or they can call 843 870-5299 for a telephone report on where the bus is between 11 am and 12:38.  Activities the entire afternoon will be tweeted with hash code #CARTA40.

Second Sunday on King transforms King Street into a walkable, car free environment from Queen Street to Calhoun with outdoor dining, shopping specials and street entertainment.  Since the event burdens the surrounding streets and parking facilities, the bus is an excellent way to access it from Mt. Pleasant.  Those who made the trip in October said it was a delightful way to go downtown, parking pleasantly in lots along the route in Mt. Pleasant and playing downtown.

Then, Let’s Make some Money and have More Fun

Nov. 25- Black Friday on the Bus CARTA #401

Mount Pleasant’s East Cooper Connector #401 bus is a fun way to enjoy the busy Black Friday shopping day after Thanksgiving while sampling the Town’s surprising array of local and second hand shopping, as well as it’s major shopping areas.  Members of East Cooper CARTA Riders will be on Board from 9 to 1 pm, sending out updates on Twitter and Facebook.  Merchants can facebook and tweet specials and sales that day using hash code #CARTA401.

The East Cooper Connector links shoppers to five major shopping centers including Belle Hall, Town Centre, Sea Island Shopping Center, Patriot’s Plaza and all of Coleman Blvd.  Over 25 antique and second hand shops can be found along the route from two Goodwills to high end purveyors of treasures from centuries ago.  You’ll find plenty of your neighbors at both.

You’ll also find ECCO on the route serving the needy of our community and many small, local shops with unique gifts grown and made right here in the lowcountry.  The Sweetgrass basket pavillion at Waterfront Park offers Mount Pleasant’s signature craft, our world famous baskets made by your neighbors, an heirloom gift that returns every penny spent on it back to your community.

To shop on Black Friday or any day, get full route information at www.eastccrider.com.  The East Cooper Connector is an easy bus to use 12 hours a day, Monday through Saturday, following a lollypop shaped route around Mt. Pleasant.  Merchants can post specials on the East Cooper CARTA Riders Facebook Event Page or tweet with hashcode #CARTA401

If you want your business to be involved email wjhamilton29464@gmail.com with details on any special offers or sales your business located along the #401 route might like to offer that day and we’ll put them online here, tweet them out and let people know.  A downloadable PDF guide will be available.  Deadline for to submit offers will be Nov. 18.

 

Mount Pleasant, SC- East Cooper Residents will join their neighbors for a convenient, CARTA Transit enabled trip downtown on Sunday, October 9th. to enjoy the Second Sunday on King Street Festival, which will include a photo op and online elements for folks making the trip.

Download printable flyer on October Transit improvement events E. of the Cooper

The event will be tweeted with hashcode #CARTA40 online.  There will be a brief get together and photo op at 3:15 pm at King & Wentworth Streets.  King Street will be closed and full of activity, outdoor dining, street entertainers and special sales all afternoon.  Updated information on the planned activities and entertianment can be found at Susan’s Second Sunday on King Blog.

Riders can access the King Street Event (which stresses the downtown traffic and parking system) by using the CARTA #40 bus. Bus fare is $1.75 each way, cheaper with a prepaid pass and free for College of Charleston Students using their ID as a bus pass.

Sunday runs into the City by the #40 include 11:35 and 1:35 starting at Wando HS, with parking available stops at Oakland Market Super Walmart, BI-LO Town Center (on Hungryneck), BI-LO Shelmore & Harris Teeter Houston Northcutt.  The #40 runs every two hours on Sundays.  See the Full Official Schedule for the #40.

Inbound stops to board the #40 for the trip into the City can be found on this Piccassa Photo Map with stop times in the captions which can be accessed by clicking on the image.

Parking in Mount Pleasant and taking the bus downtown avoids the cost and hassle of Parking Garages and Meters and allows everyone to enjoy the spectacular trip over the bridge.  The #40 stops at the visitors center, where a two block walk or Free DASH bus ride will take participants to King St.

For more information see www.eastccrider.com or call W. J. Hamilton (843) 870-5299.  Official CARTA Bus Information can be obtained by calling (843) 747-0922.

CARTA offers an free and simple way for Students at the College of Charleston to get to the Beach at the Isle of Palms or Sullivan’s Island.   The #402 Island Flex Bus is not meeting ridership targets and has been targeted for review by CARTA, so it’s use it or lose it.  Fortunately doing something good for the community and environment on this occasion is a day at the beach.  With your C of C Student ID functioning as a bus pass, it is FREE.

Begin your trip downtown at the Mary Street Transit Center, between King and Meeting Streets, one block North of the Visitor’s Center.  This is an easy walk from the College or you can take the DASH bus there for free.

Please note that while Google Transit can be used to plan bus trips on the CARTA system now, the route to the beach is a Flex service and is not yet included in that system.  To make your trip work, plan a your trip on Google Transit to Mt. Pleasant Town Center and call CARTA Tel-A-Ride & Flex Dispatch  843-724-7420 at least 2 hours ahead to arrange for the Island Flex Bus to meet you after the #40 arrives.  If you call a day ahead, you can usually get an instant connection.  They do this all the time.

Please note that the Island Flex doesn’t show up if you use Google Transit to plan a CARTA trip to the beach, which will report no bus service on IOP or Sullivans.  This is supposed to be corrected soon.  You have to rely on the printed schedule for pickup times at Town Center or Call CARTA to make a reservation.   Here is the official CARTA Schedule for the #402.

Take the #40 Bus to Mount Pleasant Towne Centre

Board the #40 Mt. Pleasant Bus, which leaves Mary Street at 38 minutes after the hour.  This will take you over the Cooper River Bridges, past Trader Joes, Kmart, Wal-Mart/Wando Crossing Shopping Center (All of which have bus stops) to Towne Centre.   Get off the #40 in front of Verizon Cellular at Town Centre.

Take the #402 Island Flex to the Beaches

From here you have two options, the #402 Island Flex bus makes scheduled pickups every two hours at Town Center.  If you want to get to the beach faster, call CARTA at 843-724-7420, ask for Tel-A-Ride dispatch at least two hours in advance and ask for an advanced reservation to pick you and your friends up at Verizon right after the #40 drops you off.  There is no extra charge for this service.

The scheduled pickups will drop you off right at the entrance of Isle of Palms County Park, where you’ll find showers and changing rooms, as well as the shops, bars and beach front restaurants nearby.  The City of IOP also has showers, bathrooms and changing rooms at a facility next to the Hot Dog Stand and Flag poles nearby.  However with an advanced request for a reserved pickup and drop off, the #402 Island Flex Bus will take you to anywhere on the Isle of Palms of Sullivan’s Island you might like to go.  If you do request a drop off somewhere other than the County Park on IOP, make sure you reserve a trip back as well.  Don’t hesitate to check with the driver on the #402 to confirm your trip details while you are on board.  They’re happy to help.

The #40 bus can carry sixty passengers and the #402 can carry twenty-five, so consider bringing a bunch of friends for some real fun.  This gives you a safe ride to the beach without parking hassles, sand in the car or worries about partying too much before you drive.

Getting Extra Value from Your Trip

Your trip home takes you back on the #402 Island Flex Bus to Town Center where you can see a movie or shop, however the #402 can also drop you off at two nearby Grocery Stores, BI-LO on the IOP Connector and Harris Teeter on 17.  From each of those locations, there are nearby stops on the #40 for the trip back to Charleston.

For those who really want a bargain, there is a Goodwill Store at Six Mile that is also in the #402 zone with 50 linear feet of jeans and other bargains with a #40 Bus stop on the Highway nearby.

The #40 Bus stop to return downtown is across from Verizon and Carvel Ice Cream at Town Centre.  See this trip from Town Center to C of C on Google.

Another Bus route in Mt. Pleasant, the #401 East Cooper Connector, also connects with the #40 and #402 at Town Center, providing transportation to Coleman Blvd., the Old Village, Belle Hall and other areas around Mt. Pleasant.

For a quick video tour of the available East Cooper CARTA Services see It’s Gonna Be a Good Day on You Tube.

Use it or Lose It

It’s all available using your student ID as a CARTA bus pass for free.  If the bus reaches it’s ridership goals , it will continue to be available.  CARTA will evaluate the route in summer 2012 for retention, modification or cancellation.

This stop serves both the #40 Trans Mount Pleasant (Inbound to Charleston) and serves as the end of the line stop for the #401 East Cooper Connector CARTA Bus Lines.

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Mount Pleasant, SC- We’re going to begin an attempt to crowd source performance data on the new #401 East Cooper Connector Route today as an interim approach to providing real time location data on our new neighborhood bus.  Ultimately, we hope to install a GPS beacon on the bus which will give users direct, real time access to the location of the bus.  A temporary experiment doing this was deployed downtown on a DASH bus by City Slicker last winter. We’re East Cooper CARTA Riders, [... read the rest of the story at the Daily KOS ...]

Throwing Public Transit Under the Bus

Mount Pleasant, SC- Gas was $2.49 a gallon at the pump when conservative Mount Pleasant Town Councilwoman Linda Page called activist, columnist, and network member William (Jack) Hamilton at 10:45 pm on January 4th and asked him to join her in an effort to save the area’s CARTA bus service. Plans to cancel bus service in most of the area, and all of the Isle of Palms and Sullivan’s Island were being proposed as part of the systems third major round of budget cuts forced by declining sales tax revenue.

Though Hamilton was preparing to send his son Jackson, a committed activist in his own right, to Evergreen State College in Washington State, Linda’s promise of backing from Town Government and her vast array of friends and contacts in a community effort combined with the critical need persuaded Jack to help lead the effort, extending a ten year activist involvement with the transit system..
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Insert picture with lighthouse on this one

Saturday, May 7, 2011 at 10:00am
Isle of Palms Beach, Sullivans Island & Mt. Pleasant Town..