Daniel Island Public Transit Meeting April 30

April 22, 2013 By Leave a Comment

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.

Coleman 41 Bus Side View

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

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

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Battle for Buses in Beaufort

April 18, 2013 By 1 Comment

Beaufort County Democrats will join forces with Charleston County public transportation advocates, transit union organizers, South Carolina Progressive Network members, and concerned voters to wage a “Battle for Buses in Beaufort” on Friday, Apr. 19.

“The Battle for Buses in Beaufort” is a unique project with the dual purposes of focusing attention on the need to turn out to vote in the May 7 Special 1st Congressional District Election, and of building community support for increased state and federal funding for affordable public transportation across the Lowcountry.

It’s one of a series of ”Farebox to Ballot Box

Leafleting Dorchster Express Bus Riders

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

” events being held from Apr. 15 to May 6 that range from distribution of voter information cards about 1st Congressional District candidates positions on public transit and voter outreach at bus stops to absentee voting via public transit.

“The Battle for Buses in Beaufort” will kick-off at 6 a.m., on Friday, Apr. 19, at the Palmetto Breeze Terminal in Bluffton, which is located at 25 Benton Field Rd., near the intersection of Burnt Church and Ulmer roads.

Volunteers will handout flyers about the upcoming 1st Congressional District election and 1st Congressional District public transportation funding needs to pre-dawn Palmetto Breeze riders from Beaufort, Jasper, Hampton, Colleton, and Allendale counties, who use the regional public bus system to get to their jobs in Bluffton and Hilton Head Island, according to Atty. William J. Hamilton, III, President of the Hungryneck Straphangers.

“We ride standing up–and we won’t sit down until Beaufort County has better public transportation,” says Hamilton, whose transit riders’ group is co-sponsoring Friday’s Bluffton events with Americans for Transit, the Amalgamated Transit Drivers Union, and the Charleston Chapter of the S.C. Progressive Network.

CARTA bus to Mount Pleasant Coleman Blvd. at Vistor's Center

CARTA Coleman Blvd. 41 Bus at Start of Route, Charleston Visitor’s Center, Express bus arriving from N. Charleston

Friday’s “Battle for Buses in Beaufort” events also include discussions with local businesses whose employees use or could benefit from the use of public transportation, and local residents who want to see expanded public bus service.

A lunch meeting of volunteers is also being planned for 1 p.m. at the Golden Corral, in addition to a return to the Palmetto BreezeTerminal to pass out flyers to afternoon bus riders.

“Today (Apr. 17) we reached over 5,000 voters in Charleston, and they will be turning out to vote on May 7,” Hamilton said of Wednesday’s all day “We Ride, We Care, We Will Vote” outreach to Charleston Area Regional Transit Authority bus riders at bus stops and businesses.

Public transportation advocates invited all 18 1st Congressional District candidates on the March 19 Republican and Democratic primary ballots to ride public transit, and to answer questions about their positions on public transit and funding for the proposed Passenger Intermodal Transit Center in North Charleston.

But only Democrat Elizabeth Colbert Busch, a Republicans Elizabeth Moffaly, Teddy Turner, Robert Hoffman, Ric Bryant, and Tim Larkin and Green Larry Carter Center rode the bus.

Former Gov. Mark Sanford, who’ll face off against Colbert Busch for the 1st District seat on May 7, has steadfastly declined to ride the bus–despite seven e-mail and in-person requests, according to updates and photos available at http://tinyurl.com/votetransit.

Moffley and Larken boarding the 40 Mount Pleasant Bus

Republican Candidates Moffley and Larken boarding the 40 Mount Pleasant Bus

“This is an important effort,” Beaufort County Democratic Party Chairman Blaine Lotz told Beaufort County Democrats in an e-mail urging them to support “The Battle for Buses in Beaufort.” Lotz invited Hamilton to make a presentation about the event at the Apr. 12 BCDP Executive Committee.

“Affordable public transportation is one the most crucial needs in Beaufort County–and has been for years,” says Northern Beaufort County Democratic Club President Theresa White.

“Not having reliable transportation keeps too many people from getting the jobs and education that would improve their quality of life,” explained White, who plans to attend all the “Battle for Buses in Beaufort” events.

Contact: Theresa White, President

The Northern Beaufort County Democratic Club
Atty. William J. Hamilton, III, President
Hungryneck Stephangers
www.busec.org/vote - #busvotesc1
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Bostic, Sanford Please Get on the Bus

March 21, 2013 By 4 Comments
Colbert Busch with other riders at bus stop

Bipartisan on the Bus, Republican Linda Page (CARTA Board Vice Chairman and member of Mt. Pleasant Town Council joined Democratic Congressional Candidate Elizabeth Colbert Bush to discuss transit issues on board the Coleman Blvd. #41 Bus on March 14, 2013..

Update- We’ll be meeting with the press at 11:15 am on Monday, March 25, at the Mary Street Transit center in Charleston (71 Mary Street, across the Street from Hughes Lumber) to urge the remaining Republican candidates to ride CARTA with us this week.  Everyone is welcome.  Facebook Event Signup, details.

Charleston, SC- On March 19,2013 Hungryneck Straphangers was happy to see Elizabeth Colbert Busch, who took a CARTA public transit ride with us on March 14 aboard the new 41 Coleman Blvd. Route with several other transit advocates receive the Democratic Nomination for SC’s First Congressional district. Colbert Busch has indicated a clear support for public transit in person and online. Her opponent Ben Frasier did not ride.

Unfortunately none of the five Republicans who rode CARTA with us made the run off. Teddy Turner, Elizabeth Moffley, Ric Bryant, Johnathan Hoffman & Tim Larkin. We would like to thank all of them for taking the time to ride and talk with transit riders. Every one of them said it was a rewarding experience for them. We felt so too.

Colbert Busch’s bi partisan transit discussion with Republican Linda Page while roaring over the breathtaking Ravenel Bridge on a bright spring day was an example of democracy at work, reaching across the aisle on the bus. The ride in the freezing rain which began the effort exposed three candidates to US Congress to transit at it’s worst and the wait for the return trip on the bus in the driving rain at an unsheltered, bench-less stop was fiercely educational.

Moffley and Larken boarding the 40 Mount Pleasant Bus

Moffley and Larken boarding the 40 Mount Pleasant Bus

For those of us who ride transit regularly, it was frightening to realize that some of thes candidates had never been on a public transit bus. They didn’t understand how to work the farebox or pull the stop cord. We’re proud that they overcame their qualms and got on board, sitting down to talk to sometimes wet and surly people with real problems. I remember clearly Republican Mathew Hoffman’s attempts to connect with the cold wet riders on the 40. He felt it was hopeless, but I encouraged him to stick at it pointing out that the country was falling apart because people aren’t talking across their differences. He went back to the rear of the bus, sat down with a group of African Americans and bravely asked, “What pisses you off?” Unsurprisingly, a lot of things did.After a little hesitation, a conversation started.

Please join our effort to get the surviving two Republicans to take a ride on the bus with us before the runoff. Just ask them to ride the bus with us. If they prefer, we can arrange for a Republican involved with public transit to be their companion and rides can be scheduled any day, Monday through Saturday between 6 am and 7 pm. We’ll try to accommodate their needs and goals, meeting voters, a good time for them, learning about how the system works or whatever their priorities are.

Mark Sanford asked to Ride the Bus at Campaign Office

We visited the campaign offices of Mark Sanford on March 23 to deliver our transit issues briefing book and to ask him to ride the bus.

The Surviving Republican Candidates are:

We’re now preparing an April effort which will empower informed transit rider voting by thousands of riders on systems in the Lowcounty by distributing thousands of transit voter information cards in an effort we’re calling Farebox to Ballot Box.  We’ll be supported in this effort by the Charleston Forum of the SC Progressive Network, Americans for Transit and the Amalgamated Transit Union.  to volunteer for the effort, contact Hungryneck Straphangers.

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