Straphangers to Speak to Mt. Pleasant Town Council on Bus Stops July 10
June 26, 2012
MT. PLEASANT, SC – July 10, 2012 – Bus Stops will be the focus of remarks directed at Mount Pleasant Town Council on Tuesday, July 10 at 6 pm, when members of the Hungryneck Straphangers attend the meeting to raise concerns about plans for bus stops along the town’s new roadways now nearing completion. Town Council will meet at Mt. Pleasant Town hall at 100 Ann Edwards Lane, a short walk from stops for the CARTA #40 & #401 buses.
For full information see www.busec.org or call (843) 870-5299
Over 100 million dollars will be spent on new road construction East of the Cooper and members want to be sure everyone it working together to be sure safe, accessible transit stops are installed along the new roadways.
When calling for interested transit riders and members of the public to Attend, William Hamilton, coordinator of the Hungryneck Straphangers said:
When the half penny sales tax for road construction was approved by voters, the public was assured the new roadways would be ‘complete streets’ usable by transit riders, pedestrians, cyclists and cars. We want to be sure that as contractors and governments rush to complete these massive projects that proper bus stops are not forgotten. Installing them later would be more expensive and disruptive to traffic.” said
As sidewalks and existing bus stop benches have been torn up during construction, ridership on the buses East of the Cooper has slumped as expected, after having reached new records earlier. Many stops have simply disappeared during construction. Walking along these roadways has become difficult and dangerous, particularly for the elderly and disabled. Since CARTA evaluates bus routes competitively, infrastructure to support a solid recovery must be in place when these roads are completed to support returning ridership on our routes to competitive levels.
We’re confident if we have comfortable places to wait for our buses and the sidewalks to reach them in place, transit ridership East of the Cooper will recover after construction and resume the rapid growth taking place earlier this year. We also want to continue to push for plans for an “East Cooperstop” centrally located to enable all East Cooper Transit services to be connected somewhere near the intersection of I526 and Highway 17.
Citizens can make short remarks during the public comment period allowed during Town Council meetings. Maps and diagrams showing the location of needed stops can also be handed up.
