Black Rides Matter- Together We Go Forward!

Fighting for Better Transit on Folly Rd.

Fight for Better Lowcountry Transit before July 10.

In 2016, black voters in Charleston County delivered the margin of victory in the vote for the half penny sales tax. They were promised a rapid transit system to serve their communities in our urban core and improved bus service all the way to area beaches. They agreed to pay for this with a regressive sales tax, the burden of which falls most heavily upon the poor, disabled and elderly. Four years later, the promised improvements to bus service made in the half million dollar 2015 I26 alt study haven’t materialized. Over 40 million dollars of current transit funding has been diverted to a “Pay Go” plan for road construction, an interest free loan from transit riders to privileged drivers.

Six miles of the planned rapid transit line on highway 78 have been downgraded to in traffic operation. In Charleston a 1.5 mile abandoned railroad line will be wasted on a yuppie puppie partially privatized dog walking park with café’s for tourists and the rich while transit struggles to move on Meeting street. A Lincolnville resident will lose an hour a day sitting on a system which wasn’t what they were promised, voted for, or have paid for. The resulting system will be a waste of over 300 million dollars, not rapid, not a system and barely transit.

We have until July 10. Join us in the fight for transit which liberates us from the suffocating oppression of the automobile. Force our leaders to build a safe, reliable, fast transit system from Summerville to the Sea.

Summerville, Ladson, Lincolnville and Sangaree should Demand:

See our detailed Memo on BRT issues in this area- Summerville to the Sea

1. Rapid transit operation in dedicated lanes on Highway 78 from River’s Ave to Downtown Summerville.

2. Safe, comfortable, lighted stops which can be reached safely from the side of the road.

3. A system which can complete the trip from Line Street in downtown Charleston to downtown Summerville in 59 minutes.

4. Service all the way to Hutchison Square in Downtown Summerville with a sheltered stop in the business district near there.

5. Connecting Service in downtown Charleston at a safe, comfortable station hub on Line Street which connects to Folly Beach and the Isle of Palms.

North Charleston Should Demand:

Children in N. Charleston building a model transit system.

1. Affordable housing walkable connected to major stops in and around the old Navy Hospital and other locations.

2.  Improved bus service throughout N. Charleston, including half hour frequencies on major routes as called for by the Charleston Area Justice Ministry.

3. Build “Complete streets” through N. Charleston so riders can reach transit safely on foot, by connecting bus or by bike. Delay construction of a wider I-526 until after improved transit is constructed and operating.

Charleston, James Island, Mt. Pleasant and West Ashley should demand:

1. The BRT should operate on the abandoned railroad line into the city out of congested traffic to Line Street, through and as part of the Lowline Park System and include space therein for high quality stops and a regional transit hub at Line Street. Read our position on how the Lowline park system should be built to accommodate and be more successful with transit. 

2. Reliable and efficient service on the BRT and regular bus lines to allow the working people of Charleston to access employment without having to pay the city’s exploitive rents or struggle with downtown’s declining quality of ordinary life for working people.

3. Transit service prioritized over car traffic be established and maintained to the beaches at both Folly and Isle of Palms.

4. A memorial to Civil Rights and Transit Hero Mary Bowers and others who forced integration of Charleston’s streetcars in 1867. Read our Reconstruction Transit Equity history.

5. Planning for a coastal transit line along Highway 17 to begin immediately with operations to commence no later than June 1, 2025 from Awendaw to Red Top.

Act Now, Before July 10

· Go to our online version of this page for links, background and organizing tools at .

1- Contact us: 
www.blfltransit.com; 
wjhamilton29464@gmail.com or
Phone (843) 870-5299

2- Make your priorities known during the BCD COG’s Online Meeting until July 10, 2020. 

3- Copy your statements to our public blog post comment pages, this page is best. See below.

4- Join us on our Zoom Conferences Monday, July 6 and Wednesday, July 8 at 9 pm

Monday, July 6 at 9 pm.

Join Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/82740021976?pwd=YkM0L0J2bCtQYTJPNUJ3SWx6dWVMZz09

Meeting ID: 827 4002 1976
Password: 666375
One tap mobile
+16465588656,,82740021976#,,,,0#,,666375# US (New York)
+13017158592,,82740021976#,,,,0#,,666375# US (Germantown)

Dial by your location
        +1 646 558 8656 US (New York)
        +1 301 715 8592 US (Germantown)
        +1 312 626 6799 US (Chicago)
        +1 669 900 9128 US (San Jose)
        +1 253 215 8782 US (Tacoma)
        +1 346 248 7799 US (Houston)
Meeting ID: 827 4002 1976
Password: 666375
Find your local number: https://us02web.zoom.us/u/ksGCRCcmo

Topic: Black Rides Matter Together We Go Forward CHS Wed. July 8

Time: Jul 8, 2020 09:00 PM Eastern Time (US and Canada)

Join Zoom Meeting

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/87506790673

Meeting ID: 875 0679 0673

One tap mobile

+16465588656,,87506790673# US (New York)

+13017158592,,87506790673# US (Germantown)

Dial by your location

        +1 646 558 8656 US (New York)

        +1 301 715 8592 US (Germantown)

        +1 312 626 6799 US (Chicago)

        +1 669 900 9128 US (San Jose)

        +1 253 215 8782 US (Tacoma)

        +1 346 248 7799 US (Houston)

Meeting ID: 875 0679 0673

Find your local number: https://us02web.zoom.us/u/kYCxOnft3