Automated Trip Planning Using Google Maps for CARTA

Trips using all these routes and the entire CARTA system (except for the #402 Island Flex to the Beach) can now be planned automatically, online using Google Transit.  This Short video shows you how.

Trip planning can also be accessed from the www.ridecarta.com website, on smart phones and tablets. With GPS enabled devices, it will automatically plan your trip from your current location to your destination.

Trip plans generated on Google can be emailed to riders or printed out and handed to people needing help using the transit system.

Trans Mt. Pleasant – Route #40

The 40 Trans Mount Pleasant Route  links Mount Pleasant running from Wando High School  to Downtown Charleston and is the area’s longest running bus route, having been on the road East of the Cooper since at least the 1950s.  It’s experienced huge ridership growth in the past year.  It bring people into Mount Pleasant to work, allows students at Wando High School a ride home following after school activities and is popular with tourists who stay at Hotels in Mt. Pleasant along the route and use it to travel to downtown Charleston where it connects with the free DASH bus service in the historic district.

East Cooper Connector – Route #401

Mount Pleasant is a family oriented community where the #401 East Cooper Connector Route allows residents to shop, dine, visit historical and cultural sites and enjoy beautiful waterfront vistas without resorting to use of the automobile. Only ten years after Mayor Harry Hallman proudly described the town as a “bedroom” community residents came together in winter of 2011 to plan a new community bus route. This route, rolled out on April 17, 2011 is the result of the community knowledge and experience, hammered down on the map during three months of meetings, workshops and online communication. It represents the first major step taken by community leadership towards a more diverse transit system.

Beach Island Flex – Route #402

The #402 Island Flex bus runs once an hour to the Isle of Palms County Beach front Park, which has lifeguards in season, changing rooms and fresh water showers. In a rare advantage for those who are not autodependent, the park is open and free to pedestrians and bus riders. The City of Isle of Palms also operates a shower and changing facility a few hundred feet to the west of the Park, adjacent to the Hot Dog Stand and Flag Poles.  This bus also takes phoned in reservations for trips to and from other locations on Sullivans Island and the Isle of Palms.

Express Commuter to Work

The CARTA Express Bus provides commuters to and from Downtown Charleston with a swift trip to work or downtown during which they can relax, use their electronic devices or chat with friends while CARTA sweats the traffic. The wall of massive SUVs around you which makes life so miserable in a Prius, arne’t a problem in the massive busses CARTA runs for Express Service, which feature forward facing upholstered seating, climate controlled interiors and large windows.

Tel-A-Ride Paratransit

Tel A Ride Paratransit Service  is a CARTA transportation service for the disabled.  All CARTA vehicles are equipped with wheelchair lifts, but many disabled riders need door to door transportation.  A companion can ride with the disabled passenger.

Tri County Link C203

Tri County link operates a rural “flagstop” bus route Route  C203 which connects McClellenville, Awendaw & the extreme Northern parts of Mt. Pleasant to CARTA’s East Cooper Services.  This route runs all the way North to McClellenville generally along and parallel to highway 17.  The North end of the line is McCellenville Town Hall.  Service begins on weekdays at 5:15 am.  There are four runs per day in each direction, the last arriving in McClellenville at 7:42 pm.

Public Transit Elsewhere in South Carolina

See SCIway’s Public Transit page.  http://www.sciway.net/gov/sc-buses-public-transportation.html