Transit Activists Prepare Community for Rapid Transit Workshops

The first of three planning workshops on Rapid Transit will be held in Charleston on Jan. 29. Meetings in Summerville will follow on Wednesday, Jan. 30;  and in N. Charleston at Trident Tech on Thursday, Jan. 31.  Our own Transit Equity day follows on Feb. 4, the birthday of Rosa Parks, with an epic bus journey from John’s Island, the Benne Breakfast hosted by State Rep. and professional Chef JA Moore; Cougar Rapid Tomorrow, a look forward into a fast future on a hot planet by a rising sea and finally the Transit Equity Town Hall at Park Circle with State Rep. Marvin Pendavis.

If these events are to amount to more than what little that has been accomplished in the last 20 years of studies and meetings, we need the public to turn out in force. Traditional media has proved incapable of arousing the public. We’ve already been to 900 households in N. Charleston, 200 in Lincolnville, 100 in Summerville and 150 businesses downtown. On Saturday we leafleted 1000 people attending the Martin Luther King Concert, 100 at the fun safety rally and on Monday, 1500 people lined up for the Martin Luther King Parade.

After we attend Wednesday’s CARTA Board Meeting in N. Charleston at 1 pm, we’ll gather at the Felix Davis Center in the middle of Park Circle to do community outreach to neighborhoods in that area including Russel dale and Liberty Hill. If you can help us we’ll be stuffing plastic doorknob bags and hanging them on doorknobs from 4 pm until dark. You can signup to help in Park Circle on Facebook.

On Saturday we’ll be working in Summerville and Sangaree from a base of operations in downtown Summerville from 10 am to 4 pm. Due to political considerations, we’ll be disclosing the actual location at 9 am Saturday morning on our facebook page or you can call (843) 870-5299. Please sign up to help in Summerville on Facebook.

On Martin Luther King Day we worked for 12 hours in Charleston, N. Charleston and Summerville. It was a work day Martin Luther King would have understood and we were tired when it was over. We know why Rosa Parks wanted to keep that seat now.

We understand that the years of studies and waiting have to end. The cost of our transit system is believed to be rising by 1.5 million dollars a month. Delay leaves our communities trapped in Gridlock and may allow costs to reach a point where our transit money might be taken to build 526. Only a public which is involved an motivated on an unprecedented scale can see this project through to actual operation in our lifetimes.

If you can help, now is the time. Downloadable notices which can be printed and distributed are linked below. Please post, share with friends and distribute to your employees or members.

Charleston Notice for Jan. 29

Summerville, Lincolnville, Sangaree & Ladson Notice for Jan. 30
North Charleston – Trident Tech Notice for Jan. 31
Flyer for Transit Equity Day on Feb. 4
Flyer for the Benne Breakfast with JA Moore on Feb. 4
Large Bus Rapid Transit Line “Gold Standard” Issues Map

Transit Equity Day 2019

Transit Equity Day Lowcountry, Feb. 4, 2019
BEST FRIENDS OF LOWCOUNTRY TRANSIT·TUESDAY, JANUARY 22, 2019

National Transit Equity Day is held on the birthday of Rosa Parks. In Charleston we also remember the contributions to the struggle for freedom to move made by Mary Bowers in 1867 when she forced desegregation of the City’s Horse Drawn Streetcars. We honor Esau Jenkins; Civil Rights Era bus system which helped break the back of racial discrimination by bringing mobility and on board education to African Americans on the Sea Islands. (Note– this is a tentative schedule, please check online for updates)
6:14  am - Transit Ride - We'll conducting a guided Transit Rides to the breakfast in North Charleston starting on Johns Is. Tri County Link, CARTA 1 Express & #11 Dorchester Airport. The trip is so long, our friends from Johns Island will be late for Breakfast, but if they make it we have Champaign Mimosas (pictured above) to greet them when they arrive.
State Rep. JA Moore, Professional Chef
7:45 am - Benne Breakfast in N Charleston - Representative JA Moore (The first Chef elected to the SC Legislature, image right) presents a fundraising breakfast for our Benne fund. Benne will work to make future transit and its associated planning and development offer a higher quality of life, more disposable income and security for the 20 thousand people working in Food, Beverage and Hospitality careers here. The Breakfast will be held at the Mellow Mushroom 4855 Tanger Outlet Blvd, North Charleston, (On the #4 Express, #11 & #104 Bus Routes) and be prepared by an all star team of F&B Leaders. Breakfast will include door prizes and presentations on proposed legislation, transit oriented community planning and using our planned rapid transit line to build a better future for the Lowcounty. Tickets are available on Eventbright $10 for a basic breakfast, $15 for deluxe breakfast ($15 for basic and $20 for deluxe at the door) $100 for a supporters package and $250 for a sponsor’s package). For tickets, see https://tinyurl.com/bennebreakfast. CARTA #11 Dorchester Airport
9:30 am -  Press Conference (Also at the Mellow Mushroom 4855 Tanger Outlet Blvd, North Charleston) - State legislators and local transit and land use planning advocates make a brief presentations on Transit postive bills pending in the SC State Legislature. Led by State Rep. David Mack. Livestreamed online.
3:00 pm Cougar Rapid Tomorrow! Stern Center, CofC- Students from the College of Charleston lead an exploration of how better transit can bring the Lowcountry together, reconnecting the region with its historic urban core in downtown Charleston and enriching lives throughout a diverse constellation of transit enabled communities with connections of transit, culture and neighborhood for all people, including those needing affordable housing. Read more detail in this post.  Carta 211 & 210 DASH.
6:00 pm Transit Equity Town Hall - Live Webcast - Focused on N. Charleston, Dorchester & Berkeley County. Felix Davis Community Center, Park Circle, N. Charleston. Led by State Representative Marvin Pendavis, image right. Will include expert guests from throughout the region and your own opportunity to speak out. CARTA #13.
For more details on this evolving event or to involve as a community partner, contact
 Best Friends of Lowcountry Transit, Inc
WWW.BFLTRANSIT.COM, wjhamilton29464@gmail.com or (843) 870-5299

Cougar Rapid Tomarrow - Feb. 4

Cougar Rapid Tomorrow Looks Forward from Historic Charleston to Life Uphill, Inland and Mobile on a Hot Planet in a young century.

Mon. Feb. 4, 3 to 5 pm, Stern Center, College of Charleston. Facebook event page online now at https://www.facebook.com/events/574421629648126/

Take a look forward towards a faster life on a hot planet at the edge of the rising sea. How will we move? Where will we live? What will we do? How will we pay for it?

A view into the Lowcountry’s Future will be opened on Monday, Feb. 4 when students at the College of Charleston present “Cougar Rapid Tomorrow” from 3 to 5 pm as part of the national Transit Equity Day observance at the Stern Student Center at 71 George Street,Charleston, SC 29424.

The Stern Center can be reached on the #211 and #210 DASH, #20 Upper King and #7 HOP Bus lines, all free. All day parking to access the event can be found at the HOP parking lot on Morrison Drive for $5. Transit trips within the City can be planned on Google Transit or by using the Transit App.

Traffic Congestion, gentrification, the loss of affordable housing, increasingly powerful hurricanes and rising sea levels make the Lowcountry’s obsession with its past unsustainable. Saving the quality of life and culture of our region requires radical change: transit enabled, data driven, inland, uphill and weather resilient. The planning for the 23.5 mile rapid transit line funded by the 2016 half penny sales tax creates the opportunity for a constellation of new connected communities where car ownership and the costs of parking will be optional while the area’s surviving historic urban core and coastal areas remains in easy reach.

Cougar Rapid Tomorrow follows three days of planning workshops by the Berkeley, Charleston, Dorchester Council of Governments on the Lowcountry Rapid Transit system on Jan. 29 to 30. It will attempt to present a vision for our future from the generation that will live in it.

There will be a general presentation regarding Bus Rapid Transit and how the implementation of such a system would benefit the future of the Charleston community through enhanced connectivity and efficiency. There will also be a model trolley exhibit depicting the history of Charleston’s transit system as well as an interactive 12 x 15 foot map of the Lowcountry on which participants can build their own regional transit model. There will also be videos related to Bus Rapid Transit available for viewing, tabling by sponsors and transit related parties and sustainable refreshments. The event is open to the public and there is no charge to attend.

The event is being planned by Emmaline Sheahan, a 20-year-old junior at the College of Charleston majoring in marine biology and philosophy and minoring in dance: emmalinesheahan@gmail.com. Also producing the event will be Quinn Moody, a 17-year-old freshman at CofC and dance major: xquinnmoody@gmail.com.

For updates on Cougar Rapid Forward see https://tinyurl.com/cougarrapidtomarrow or monitor hashtag #chstransit online.

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Facebook event page online now at https://www.facebook.com/events/574421629648126/

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Rapid Transit for N. Charleston

North Charleston is the center of the Lowcountry, but our community is often overlooked as a place to drive through. Upgrading our transit can support new connected neighborhoods with affordable housing and more opportunity where better jobs, shopping choices and opportunity are a quick rapid transit ride from home.

Engineers are now working on a 4.7 million dollar design contract to plan a system which can connect our communities in under an hour, reduce traffic congestion, and open opportunities for affordable housing and restoration of a connected Low-country. 250 million dollars in your half penny sales tax funding has been allocated to build the rapid transit system. Collection of those taxes began in May 2017.

Critical Planning Meeting on Jan. 31 in N. Charleston

Please sign up to join us at the Jan. 31, 6 pm COG planning meeting at Trident Tech (on the #10 bus line) to give your input on how the system should work in N. Charleston. Facebook Meeting signup for Jan. 31. We have a downloadable meeting notice you can print out and share with neighbors.

On Jan. 19, on Martin Luther King weekend, we're asking for help from community volunteers to get the word out to over 1600 households and businesses in N. Charleston, including Chicora, Park Circle, Liberty Hill and Renyolds Ave.  We're calling this neighborhood Canvass Rise With Rosa in honor or Transit Hero Rosa Parks. You can signup to help Rise with Rosa online.

State Representative Marvin Pendarvis has proposed building a new neighborhood around the old Navy Hospital which will bring transit, affordable housing and opportunity together in an economically diverse walk-able neighborhood.  Read his Op Ed article in the Charleston Chronicle.

Transit Equity Day (Feb. 4) in N. Charleston

We're planning two events in N. Charleston to make better transit happen and to make it happen sooner as part of the National Transit Equity Day on Mon. Feb. 4. That morning professional Chef and State Representative JA Moore (who represents part of N. Charleston, image left) will hold the Benne Breakfast at the Mellow Mushroom near Tanger Outlets to fund the Benne Fund, an initiative to build a better quality of life for people working in our Food, Beverage and Hospitality Industry through improved Transit and affordable housing.  You can buy tickets for a breakfast made by a team of the Lowcountry's best Chefs for as little as $10.  

Rep. Marvin R. Pendavis, riding the #11 Dorchester Airport

That evening, State Representative Marvin Pendarvis will hold a Transit Equity Town Hall at the Felix Davis Center in the center of Park Circle starting at 6 pm. You'll hear about proposed legislation to improve transit in N. Charleston and from experts on planning here. After that, you'll have your chance to stand up and be heard by everyone in the room and anyone listening on the live webcast.  You can signup for a free ticket to the Town Hall now.

It only works if you show up and demand the best: a route connecting downtown Summerville with high quality, community connected stations in N. Charleston and downtown Charleston. Local elected officials will be attending and listening to you.

Rapid Transit for Summerville, Lincolnville, Ladson & Sangaree

Reconnect Lincolnville, Ladson, Summerville & Sangaree)

Mayor Duberry, Lincolnville

This page will gather updates and detailed information to help prepare the residents of Summerville, Lincolnville, Ladson & Sangaree for the upcoming Bus Rapid Transit line planning process.

We'll update this page regularly as the Jan. 30 meeting date approaches.

We're seeking voluneers to do community outreach in the four communities on Sat. Jan. 12 starting at 1 pm at Lincolnville Town Hall.  You can signup to help on Jan. 12 Facebook.

You can download this printable PDF flyer on the Jan. 30 Workshop to help get your neighbors to the critical meeting.

Spanish Language Materials on BRT- Juntos Hacia Adelante!

Want to know more about how Bus Rapid Transit Works. This short video is a great introduction on how BRT has been implemented in four cities. The new Pulse system in Richmond, VA is exceeding ridership exceptions since starting operation last summer.

Students plan an ideal Lowcountry Transit system.

We would like to thank our L&S Advisory committee for their assistance in this effort: Daniel Dewald (Former BART planner, Sangaree); Charles Duberry (Mayor of Lincolnville & Rep. Marvin R. Pendarvis, SC State House of Representatives, Dist. 113, representing parts of Summerville, Lincolnville, Ladson & N. Charleston.

The Mayor of Summerville wants to talk to people about Transit. You can view this video he recorded on their town square last fall.

You can reach Best Friends of Lowcountry Transit, Inc. by calling William Hamilton at (843) 870-5299. We update our Facebook page with the most current information several times a day.

Johns Island Organizing for Better Transit Mon. Dec. 17

Millicent Traeye Middleton has called  a meeting on Monday, Dec. 17 at 4 PM at the John's Island Regional Library at 3531 Maybank Highway.  The meeting will included presentations by Best Friends of Lowcountry Transit and Tri County Link after which they’ll answer the public's questions and listen to public comments. Also attending will be representatives of the Charleston Area Justice Ministry, a 25 church association which has adopted improved public transit as their action goal for this year. You can find out more about this event online by going to www.BFLTransit.com.

if you have ideas or questions, you can call  Millicent Traeye Middleton (pictured right)  at 954-825-8438

Over a half century ago Civil Rights leader Esau Jenkins (pictured above) organized a bus system for the people of the Sea Islands so they could reach education and employment opportunities denied them by segregationist laws and put a fleet of VW buses like the one pictured above on the road. Today the back window hatch of one of those buses hangs in the Smithsonian's African American History museum. it's a mighty heritage and an example of how the people of our sea islands don't wait for change, the make it. On Monday, they'll start an effort which will go into high gear next year. Join us and Together, We'll go forward.

Transit Planning for SC Lowcountry About to Begin

North Charleston, SC - Rapid Transit may finally come to the Lowcountry and South Carolina if local authorities move on planning this Fall for the long promised Bus Rapid System approved and funded by voters in the 2016 Half Penny Sales Tax referendum. Best Friends of Lowcountry Transit is planning to reach 10 thousand people with face to face conversations and information this fall to help prepare them for the upcoming meetings.

County Council will consider the issue at their Finance Committee meeting on Thursday, November 18 at 5 pm at the Lonnie Hamilton County Services Building. The public can attend this meeting or watch the online stream webcast. You can read the agenda at https://www.charlestoncounty.org/departments/county-council/packets/2018/10-18-18-Finance.pdf

On Wednesday, October 25, the CARTA Board of Directors will meet at 1 pm, at the Lonnie Hamilton County Services Building. The public can attend and make comments during the meeting. There is a facebook signup for those would would like to attend as part of a demonstration of support for better transit. https://www.facebook.com/events/482075578965019/

It has now been almost two years since Charleston County voters approved the half penny sales tax after County Council promised to devote 600 million dollars of the total to be collected for better transit in the Lowcountry. (Billions of dollars will be spent on roads as part of a program funded from multiple sources.) In the past two years, more studies have been conducted. Collection of the half penny tax began in May 2017.

We’ve been informed by CARTA representatives that,”(T)he BRT is moving forward. Engineering firm signed. Team kickoff meeting has taken place. Public involvement plan being developed. Stakeholder outreach begins soon."

Earlier this fall, they Mayor of Summerville recorded a video asking for input on the plan.

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Bus Rapid Transit Station

The 23 mile transit line connecting Charleston, N. Charleston, Ladson, Lincolnville and Summerville will put high tech hybrid electric buses in dedicated lanes with service running as often as every 10 minutes during peak hours. You can see a detailed diagram of what the system might look like in this Gold Standard BRT PDF.

In September a new Tri County link bus service connected Summerville with Charleston, but the current trip takes between 1 hour and Twenty Minutes with no stops in N. Charleston in either direction except the transfer in Otranto using the Tri county link CS2 route and the CARTA Express #1 route. Completing the same trip on the #10 CARTA bus with 53 stops along the line in N. Charleston takes a total of 2 hours and 33 minutes. Plans for the Rapid Transit system promise a trip with 16 stops along the line in 59 minutes.

Transit outreach in Mt. Pleasant

A rapid transit line like the one planned would enable revitalization of Rivers Ave and accommodate tens of thousands of new residents and affordable housing with those people finding the automobile optional in their day to day lives. Employment, shopping, healthcare and community can all be found within easy walking distance of the stations planned along the line, including Northwoods Mall, Downtown Summerville, the rapidly developing high tech Charleston Neck and Line Street in Downtown Charleston. Passengers choosing to leave their cars at homes near the line or choosing to live without owning a car will relieve pressure on overburdened roads like I26, Dorchester Road and Rivers Ave.

To help make sure the public has the opportunity to participate in creating this new system this fall, please see the Best Friends of Lowcountry Transit at www.BFLTransit.com or call William Hamilton at (843) 870-5299.

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