Local governments to host an open house for downtown Charleston transit

CHARLESTON, S.C. (WCBD) – Project managers in the City of Charleston are inviting people who live and work on the peninsula to discuss transit and bus routes.

A public open house on downtown Charleston’s transit system is set to begin at 4:00 p.m. Monday in the Charleston Visitors Center. The open house will give people a chance to talk about the local bus network and give their feedback ahead of improvement plans.

News 2 spoke with a project manager of the Downtown Charleston Transit Study, Megan Ross, who said Monday afternoon’s meeting is the last major step before they start drafting improvements to downtown bus routes.

Charleston Area Regional Transportation Authority (CARTA) and the Berkeley Charleston Dorchester Council of Governments are hosting this open house. This event is a part of the Downtown Charleston Transit Study, a study working towards creating a more transit-supportive infrastructure downtown.

An online survey that was held over the summer yielded more than 1,400 responses. Ross said that through the study, they received beneficial feedback that was reviewed ahead of the meeting.

She said some feedback suggests that more people would ride if they increased transit frequency and noted that responses like these from the community are crucial.

Ross said Monday’s open house will help their team pinpoint significant areas the public wants to see improvement on.

“How we can improve the service, whether it’s improving frequency, extending service hours, anyway that they feel we can improve service is what we’re looking for. Just really information from the public specifically our riders and potential riders on how we can make their traveling downtown better,” said Ross.

The open house begins at 4:00 p.m. and is expected to end around 7:00 p.m.

Organizers said anyone who lives works or visits downtown Charleston is welcome to join.