Posts Tagged ‘Public Transti’

Updated Info on the Transit Rider Voter empowerment effort can now be found at www.busec.org/vote.

Mt. Pleasant, SC- Hungryneck Straphangers has now conducted Candidate’s rides on March 7, 13 & 28 and is waiting to schedule more based on candidate’s committments.  Our practice is to obtian the first committment for a date of the campaign’s choosing, then invite everyone else.  If you want a good time for your campaign, call us first and take your pick.  Rides at various times can be worked out including early morning.  Full details can be found at www.busec.org.  You can reach organizer William Hamilton at 870-5299 or wjhamilton29464@gmail.com.

March 8 Candidates Ride- We’re offering an opportunity for candidates to schedule a ride this week on Friday at 7:00 am Starting at the Express Bus Park and Ride at Oakland Super Walmart in Mount Pleasant (out near Wando HS) into town.   Campaigns can either continue on to Citadel Mall to meet more voters or return to Mount Pleasant on the Express or the 40.  If no candidates confirm with us, we’ll cancel the ride.  Facebook Signup for March 8 Ride.

New- Hungryneck Straphangers has decided to distribute a bookmark type slip at bus stops prior to the primary which lists the candidates which did ride the bus, to recognize their interest in transit.  This will need to go to Press a week, March 9 so we can begin distribution on March 11.  The last day to ride and be listed on this bookmark slip will be Friday, March 8.   We plan to distribute several thousand bookmarks.

A Facebook photogallery of our first two trips with 5 candidates in now online at http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=oa.10151430911974824&type=1

We expect to schedule several of these trips.  We’re somewhat flexible on how many and when, but this 4 pm to 5:35 pm time slot round trip to Mount Pleasant allows candidates to meet a lot of transit voters quickly and still make their evening event.  We also do morning join voters on their way to work rides, which are very intense but allow candidates to meet many transit voters who go on to discuss their candidate contact at work..   Bus trips go rain or shine.  We’re willing to work with campaign schedules to tailor a trip which meets your needs at these or other times.  We promise you’ll meet more voters faster doing this than any other form of in person campaigning.  Most candidates over 100 voters per hour.

Information and Questions for Candidates Now Updated, Online

All 16 Republican candidates were invited to ride during the Feb. 16 Freedomworks forum in N. Charleston and given a full information package, including the four that had already taken a ride, since package materials had been updated since their ride. Listed below are the candidates in alphabetical order by party and name and who hs ridden or committed to ride.

The Democrats and Greens have been invited by phone call and email.

Candidates can review our updated information for candidates memo, now with our exact Transit issue questions we’ll be asking candidates to answer.

Transit Issues in this Election

We’ll be distributing thousands of voter information cards in April with the candidates answers to three simple questions.  Candiates will have a brief space to explain their answers and we’ll provide links to more detailed information online if they ask.

1. Have you ridden CARTA or Tri County Link Public Transit in the Lowcountry recently?  We’ll note if this has been a guided ride with a person familiar with transit issues or a self reported claim which we can’t verify.
2. As a congressman would you be willing to work to obtain Federal support to complete planning and construction of the Passenger Intermodal Transportation Center in N. Charleston which will combine a new Amtrak Train Station, Greyhound Station, Airport Shuttle, CARTA route hub and car rental services as well as offices and service businesses.  We/ve put together an Intermodal  information packet for the campaigns. Details on this Public/Private partnership project are available from CARTA.
3. As a congressman, would you support returning public transit’s share of the Federal Transportation Budget to 20% or more from it’s current reduced share of 18%?  For background on this issue see Stranded at the Station, a natinal report on public transit funding issues.
4. There will be a short space for additional comments by the candidate.

Help Get Candidates to Ride the Bus

If your candidate hasn’t been on the bus yet, please contact them and encourage them to ride.  Our community will be better for everyone when all of our leaders understand what transit is really like, by seeing it from the inside right here, on a bus and meeting the people who ride every day.  You can download printable postcards to help get more people involved in this effort.

Democrats

1. Elizabeth Colbert Busch (D)  Colbert Busch Facebook  rode with us on March 14.
2. Ben Frasier

Green Party

• Eugene Platt (G)
• Larry Carter Center (G) rode with us in the rain on Feb. 7

Republicans

1. Keith Blandford  indicates that he will not be riding, and that he is opposed to public transportation,
2. Curtis Bostic or Bostic on Facebook
3. Ric Bryant rode in the Morning on Feb. 28, North Charlston Exp.
4. ‘Larry Grooms or Larry Grooms on Facebook
5. Johnathan Hoffman rode in the rain, Feb. 7, Mt. P. Exp & 40
6. John Kuhn
7. Jeff King
8. Tim Larkin rode on Feb. 13, Mt. P. Exp & 40
9. Chip Limehouse or Chip Limehouse on Facebook
10. Peter McCoy
11. Elizabeth Moffly  rode on Feb. 13. Mt. P. Exp & 40
12. Ray Nash
13. Andy Patrick
14. Shawn Pinkston or Pinkston for Congress on Facebook
15. Mark  Sanford or  Mark Sanford on Facebook
16. Teddy Turner rode in the rain on Feb. 7, Mt. P Exp.

Here is the detailed Itinerary

Feb. 28 Morning ride-  Starts at Kmart Park and Ride in North Charleston at 7 am,  at 7:19 Ride Express 1 all the way to James Island, turn around and stay on Express one back to the city.  Take Rivers Ave. 10 back to North Charleston.  Candidate Ric Bryant commieted to ride all candidates welcome.  You can sign up for the Feb. 28 Ride  on Facebook.

For a full update on our current efforts to improve Public Transit East of the Cooper, see Going Somewhere Together  in 2013

This effort is a project of the Hungryneck Straphangers, an independent Rider’s Advocacy group and is not officially associated with CARTA, a government agency in any way.  Hungryneck Straphangers is associated with Americans for Transit, a national Rider’s advocacy group.

May is the time to stand up in support of functional public transit in the Charleston area and against the planned 5% cut in CARTA services.  Links are to facebook signups.   You can sign the onlne petition to stop the cuts now.

• Attend the Tuesday, May 8, City of Charleston Council meeting at City Hall at 80 Broad Street at 5 pm to present letters, signed petitions and speak during the public comment period.  Public comment is generally held later in the meeting, so don’t worry about getting there late.  Transit Directions from N. Charleston to Charleston City Hall.
• Listen to Morning Buzz on WTMA AM 1250 at 8 am for discussion segment on Fighting the CARTA cuts.
• Demonstrate at Superstop on Wednesday, May9, hand out information and collect petition signatures at the bus stops around the intersection of Rivers and Cosgrove Avenues in North Charleston, SC from 3 pm to 5:30.  This is the system’s busiest stop and we’re sure to reach hundreds of people.  Transit Directions to Superstop from Downtown for that day and time.
• Plan to attend the Wednesday, May 16 CARTA Board Meeting at 2 pm at the Lonnie Hamilton County Office Building to present petitions and letters and well as to speak during the public comment period.

Full details and links to facebook signups with access to Google Transit Trip Planning for each time and location can be found at www.eastccrider.com or be obtained by calling (843) 870-5299.

This demonstrations are planned to raise community awareness about planned 5% service cuts to the CARTA system, which has achieved record ridership of over 425,895 riders as of March 2012 (an increase of 15.84% over first quarter 2011), reflecting the growing need for functional public transit to serve people working in the region’s hospitality and medical industries where wages are often not high enough to support ownership and operation of an automobile.  A report released in March proposes cutting routes and service to reduce costs.  CARTA is already one of the most efficient transit systems in the US and charges some of the highest fares in the Southeast, recovering on of the nation’s highest percentages of the cost of operation from the farebox. 34.57% .  The system made major cuts in service in 2010 and smaller ones a year later, including loss of night bus service essential to allowing restaurant and medical workers to return home after work.

Information and reports on the first demonstration, held May 1 can be found at http://busec.org/fighting-the-carta-cuts-consolidating-resistance/

“It’s time for the Charleston region to accept the reality that our cost of living, geography and economy require us to have a functional public transit system to serve the needs of workers, students and tourists.  If we have a quarter of a billion dollars for an Expressway on Johns Island, 12 million dollars to renovate a WWII destroyer and 150 million dollars for airport improvements, it is well within our region’s capacity to find the modest amount of funds to provide reliable bus service for those who need it to make the service sector of our local economy work for everyone.”  According to William Hamilton, coordinator of the Hungryneck Straphangers, an independent public transit advocacy group from East of the Cooper.

Background Information & Documents

• Younger Americans are driving less, Taking Transit More- http://www.uspirg.org/reports/usp/transportation-and-new-generation
• Continue the Progress Proposal from East Cooper CARTA Riders https://docs.google.com/document/pub?id=10aqryEpXpgNjXKQTVBwQlFtoJrjicHLbiY2hhR2ImlI
• Much misinformation about pay for bus drivers has been circulating.  Starting pay for a CARTA Bus Driver is $9.81 per hour and increases with seniority to $17.86 and hour after over a decade of service.  Many drivers get only one day of vacation and two days of sick leave per year.  Many work “split shifts” driving during the morning, taking a forced 2-4 hour time off the clock and then driving again in the evening.  Others are required to work overtime.  Bus drives must pass tests, have a CDV license and a clean criminal record
• Proposed CARTA Five Year Plan http://www.ridecarta.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/Agenda_Board_2012_0418_Part-3-of-4.pdf
• April 2012 CARTA Ridership and Financial Report http://www.ridecarta.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/Agenda_Board_2012_0418_Part-2-of-41.pdf