Bus to the Beach in the Lowcountry 2022

2022 Second Season of Service to the Sea at IOP

Boarding Shuttle at Mt. Pleasant Town Centre

This page is now out of date, Please check our Bus to the beach 2023 page for current information on our special Pirate promotion.

After a brief experimental operation in Aug. 2020, and seven years of transit advocacy by Best Friends including the 2015 March to the Sea, regular public transit bus service reached the beach in the Lowcountry on Memorial Weekend 2022. Now it returns for its second year. 

Official CARTA page on Beach Reach Shuttle. 

This year the Beach Shuttle has a direct and immediate connection to the #40 Mount Pleasant Bus. You can reach the shuttle on the #40 or just park next to the stop in Mt. Pleasant for free. The shuttle is also free. This year's stop at the beach is right next to the County Park where you can find bathrooms, showers and changing rooms.

The CARTA Board voted to run the shuttle again this year at their January 2022 meeting. 

We'll be presenting IOP City Council with their copy of the Key to the Sea on March 22 at 6 pm. 

Here is information on last years bus 2021 to beach effort.

Boarding the Shuttle on IOP

The 2021 Reach the Beach shuttle effort was moderately successful. Ridership was heavily impacted by COVID and a lot of bad weather. Ridership was building towards the end of summer with a strong Labor Day weekend finish. It was absolutely better than fighting traffic and parking on IOP. The company on the bus was pleasant. The views from the bus crossing the Dangerfield bridge are spectacular. You avoid the anger and aggression which is so prominent on the road there.  We found that brining a chair, small umbrella and small cooler got it done. So did Chole, our intensely controversial campaign to get people to pack light and enjoy the beach. Be like Chole really drove the monster truck to the beach people nuts.

On Saturday's, the transfer from the #40 Mt. Pleasant bus route, which runs from downtown Charleston at Mary Street where it connects with the rest of the CARTA system was reliable and generally immediate. On Sundays the two routes had different schedules and waits of half an hour, coming and going took place. Parking at Mt. Pleasant Town Centre was always available. A mid year change to a bus stop at IOP County Park where benches, shade and bathrooms could be found was a huge improvement. 

1. 

   The Key to the Sea

   Bus the the Beach 2021 Our main page June 2021 with updates during the season
   
2. Be Like Chole Video We thought this was just fun, big car people did not
3. Bus to the Beach Gaining Traction Report on the operating service, June 2021
4. May 2021 Making the 2022 bus fare free.  Quick action helps make the IOP bus fare free. Within two hours fare free operation was fully funded
5. July Summerville to the Sea Bus Trip Plans for a guided trip to the beach from Summerville
6. Open the Ocean for Kids Our effort to get kids to the beach. It struggled due to pandemic problems and logistical issues. We did get the summer program from Pink House to the fountain downtown. The basic problem is that the buses run on weekends and the summer programs for kids operate on weekdays. 

Why Transit Service to the Beach Matters

Best Friends of Lowcountry Transit campaigned for seven years to get public transit in Charleston returned to our beaches. We continue to believe that it is the moral obligation of a wealthy community like ours which depends on low wage service labor in it's tourism and medical sectors to make recreation at our beaches available to everyone without their having to own an automobile. We also believe reducing automobile traffic to the beach improves everyone's beach experience and promotes a more sustainable human presence on our planet. Doubling transit ridership to the beach this summer is one of our five major transit goals for 2022. 

Support us and Contact Us

• You can support our continuing efforts for better transit by making a contribution online on Act Blue
• You can reach us by emailing executive director William Hamilton at wjhamilton29464@gmail.com or by calling 843-870-5299.