Tues. March 26- SC Safer “Complete Streets” Lobby Day and Hearing

Join transit, cycling and pedestrian safety advocates from across South Carolina for a day of action to help pass the Complete Streets Bill,  H. 3656 which would require the State Department of Transportation to adopt and apply a complete streets policy to all new roads constructed with its funding so that they’re safer for pedestrians, transit riders and cyclists. You can check the status of H 3656 on the Legislative Website.

Do Now

Ask your Representative  to cosponsor the H. 3656- You can find out who your representative is by using the Find Your Legislator Web page.  We'll be doing State Senators later in the process. 

Reserve your seat in the van going to Columbia. Most seats are free. Riding shotgun costs $50. You can also make donations. Get your seat now. Standby spots are available.  Download a printable flyer to share with all the details.

Rep. Marvin Pendavis has issued a press release on the legislation.

Contact your friends across the state online or better yet, on the phone and ask them to join us on Tues. March 26. You can download a flyer on the effort.

On Tues., March 26

Rep. Marvin Pendarvis

• 8:00 am- Van trip from Charleston. Meet in the parking lot of the Longshoreman’s Hall at 8:00 am or in the parking lot next to CARTA Superstop at 8:20 am for Trip to Columbia. You must RSVP to ride. A $10 contribution for gas and vehicle rent is requested.
• 12:00 noon – Meet with advocates from across South Carolina  inside the Statehouse under the dome in the Lobby. We’ll have “Transit Voter Stickers” and Information sheets for all participants. We’ll meet with legislators and other activists while the House is in session.
• 2 to 4 pm,  AFTER SESSION- We’ll testify at the hearing of the House Committee which will convene after the legislative session ends.
• COFFEE- Before returning to Charleston, we’ll meet with other activists from across the state to compare notes and plan our next steps. Return trip to Charleston will follow, Time TBD.

Afterwards

If the bill gets out of committee, it will go to the house for a vote. If the house votes to approve it before “crossover day” it will to the Senate to be considered.

More information
On the Bill, Contact Rep. Marvin Pendarvis

On the Trip and Grassroots Effort, Contact Best Friends of Lowcountry Tranist Executive Director, William Hamilton (843) 870-5299 or wjhamilton29464@gmail.com

Call Now and Ask for A Hearing on Safer Complete Streets Bill H. 3656

Six pedestrians and cyclists have been killed on Charleston’s roadways since New Year’s Day. SC is one of the most dangerous places in the US to Walk, Bike or Ride the Bus. Charleston County is the most dangerous place in SC. The Lowcountry can’t operate a successful transit system if people can’t survive walking or biking to and from our transit stops. Crossing deadly roadways is one of the most common reasons elderly and disabled people cite for not riding the bus. That depresses ridership and leads to cancellation and reductions in transit service.

Bring Safer, Complete Streets to SC

Bus stop in Mt. Pleasant, SC

We need a law to require the SC Department of Transportation to adopt a statewide “Complete Streets” policy so new and improved roadways are safe for transit riders, pedestrians and cyclists with sidewalks, transit stops, bike lanes and safe road crossings. Representatives Marvin Pendavis and JA Moore have introduced H. 3656.

To help pass this bill, we need to have the House Education and Public Works Committee hold a hearing on H 3656- “A BILL TO AMEND SECTION 57-1-30, CODE OF LAWS OF SOUTH CAROLINA, 1976, RELATING TO THE FUNCTIONS AND PURPOSES OF THE DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION, SO AS TO PROVIDE THAT THE DEPARTMENT SHALL IMPLEMENT A "COMPLETE STREETS" POLICY TO PROVIDE SAFE AND EFFICIENT ACCOMMODATIONS FOR PEDESTRIANS, CYCLISTS, AND TRANSIT RIDERS.” In the next few weeks.

Unless a hearing is held soon, H. 3656 won’t pass out of the house in time to make the critical “crossover date” to be taken up by the State Senate and passed this year. Hundreds of millions of dollars’ worth of new roads will be planned before the Legislature has the opportunity to act again.

Call and ask for a hearing on H. 3656 Today

• Rep.  Merita A. "Rita" Allison,  Chairman of Chairman, House Education and Public Works Committee, Legislative office - Phone (803) 734-3053
• Rep. R. Raye Felder has signed on as a cosponsor of the legislation, Please thank her and ask her to psuh for a hearing soon - Legislative phone number  (803) 212-6892
• Email- You can also email gingerlee@schouse.gov to request the committee set a hearing and attach detailed input.

Full information on the H. 3656’s current status- https://www.scstatehouse.gov/billsearch.php?billnumbers=3656&session=123&summary=B&fbclid=IwAR3XkQ7ov_jSfaSP7j9c-_szNobxxrb6eUr1dn5muqdhRs4Sp81VPB0W4Eo

Detailed information on Complete Streets Planning https://smartgrowthamerica.org/program/national-complete-streets-coalition/

Support Safer, Complete Streets for South Carolina

South Carolina, has some of the most dangerous roads in the United States for pedestrians, transit riders or cyclists. Charleston County has a rate of injuries about 3 times any other county in the state. Over the past weekend one pedestrian was killed and another critically injured on Charleston’s streets.

We can reduce this death and suffering by passing the Complete Streets Act H 3656, introduced by Representatives Marvin Pendarvis and JA Moore. Now cosponsored by Representative S. Williams, Garvin, Cogswell and Felder, its a bipartisan bill. H. 3656 which would require the State Department of Transportation to adopt and apply a complete streets policy to new roads and road improvement projects funded by the state. This would include sidewalks, transit stops and bike lanes. Attention to safe pedestrian crossings would be required. The level of facilities required would vary according to the location and type of road planned.

You can help pass this bill right now. Call the Legislative Council in Columbia at (803) 212-4500. Ask for the name of your State Representative and his phone number at the legislator. Phone their office and ask them to sign on as a cosponsor for H 3656 and ask for a call back. You can also use the Find Your SC Legislator page online and send an electronic message to your State Representative. 

While some of these deaths and injuries are the legal fault of the person hit, that makes little difference in the total cost of the injury. The injured still arrive at a local ER, often without insurance for treatment at a potential cost of hundreds or thousands or even millions of dollar with treatment and disability payments extending far into the future. Families lose a breadwinner. Employers lose the help they need for their businesses to function.

For the elderly person or disabled person who can’t cross a dangerous, busy street to get to the bus stop, it’s lost income to CARTA and the risk that bus service may be reduced or ended due to inadequate ridership.  Such Barriers llimit the ability of many  to get to work, senior citizens centers or medical treatment. Money which might support local business goes to Amazon.

Over 50 years after they were constructed, parts of Sam Rittenberg Blvd., Rivers Ave and Dorchester Road where there are no sidewalks. Hundreds of bus stops lack shelters, subjecting transit riders to humiliating waits for the bus in the rain and blistering heat in the summer. Bike lanes are absent throughout the state.

For a tourism focused economy like Charleston’s, the Grand Strand or Beaufort the cost in injury and death can be very high. The people who make our restaurants and hotels operate 24 hours a day are walking, biking and taking transit to work. They’re often out in the dark, in bad weather or in traffic full of frustrated visitors unaccustomed to our road networks. It’s a lethal combination. It places a cruel premium charged for working here on top of the modest wages they accept.

Please contact your State Representative today.

Information on H 3656 and four other bills to improve transit, increase road safety and make affordable housing more available in areas served by transit can be found at https://tinyurl/transitSC2019 online.

Additional Information.

Smart Growth America- Complete Streets Coalition, Plans and Policies
City Paper Editorial - How many people have to die before Charleston becomes safer for pedestrians and cyclists?
Post and Courier Report on Charleston's unsafe Streets.
City Paper Article on three of the Pedestrian & Cyclists Deaths in Charleston this year