CARTA looks at past, to its future

Bus system more stable but still faces money issues

It's 10 years and counting.

Despite considerable route cutbacks, financial instability and changes in who drives along the way, CARTA continues to press on, with Charleston County residents hanging on for the ride.

Past and present board members of the Charleston Area Regional Transportation Authority gathered Wednesday to reflect on their accomplishments and failings from the past decade.

While many say they are glad to see that the public bus system is finally stabilizing, some concede that area mass transit still has a way to go.

"There's a lot of other things we can be doing to help improve people's lives through providing mobility to them and alternatives to the automobile," said Patterson Smith, one of CARTA's founding board members and its only chairman in the last 10 years.

"Heck, with these gasoline prices ... mass transit has a big role to play in really improving our society, and I hope that CARTA, as far as this community is concerned, is going to be an important part of that. I think it will be. It has to be."

In 1996, the city of Charleston took charge of the transit system when SCE&G no longer was required to provide public transportation after doing so for more than 100 years.

During the following year, Charleston County, the town of Mount Pleasant and the cities of North Charleston and Charleston collectively formed CARTA. Hanahan, Kiawah Island, Sullivan's Island and the Isle of Palms joined the effort months later.

Representatives from the eight member governments have been scrubbing budgets, and subsequently bumping heads, for the last decade to keep the bus system rolling.

The board of directors faced its greatest challenges from 2000 to 2004. It had hoped area residents would approve a half-percent sales tax increase to help pay for operating costs, but voters at first turned it down. Another tax proposal went before Charleston residents in November 2002 and barely received voter approval. But it was ultimately overturned by the state Supreme Court.

During that four-year period, an SCE&G subsidy also ran out, forcing CARTA's board to make several service reductions. The bus system all but shut down.

"As a result of that, our residents were impacted. People couldn't get to work, couldn't get to doctor's appointments," said Thomasena Stokes-Marshall, a Mount Pleasant councilwoman and former CARTA board member.

Executive Director Howard Chapman said CARTA has since recovered from those tough times, thanks to heavy marketing campaigns and a steady stream of sales tax funding, which was finally approved in November 2004.

Chapman said ridership levels have exceeded numbers registered since before the 2002 service cuts. The system has added more bus shelters, neighborhood shuttles and special services, such as CARTA at Night and Express, a limited-stop commuter service that operates during morning and evening rush hour.

"We're much better than we were five years ago for sure," Chapman said. "We think it can be even better."

The board still faces financial constraints, largely because of increased demand and because of federal grants that come in late in the budget year. Perhaps its biggest hurdle is the proposed Express bus service extension to Summerville.

While several board members say they want to see the Express go to Summerville, the money just isn't there to do it next year, at least for now. The transit system counted on using half-cent money to extend the service but won't get as much as planned from the county.

New board member and Charleston County Councilwoman Colleen Condon said the Summerville Express is a priority and that some lackluster routes should be looked at more closely to see if savings can be had there. "I think we need to be doing something to either increase ridership in those areas or retool and adjust," Condon said.

For now, the agency is looking to its five-year plan for guidance.

"Let's hope the day comes when CARTA has the funds to provide new services," Smith said.

Reach Tenisha Waldo at 937-5744 or twaldo@postand courier.com.