MOUNT PLEASANT — The free seaside shuttle to the Isle of Palms that CARTA operates will return for a fifth 12 months.
Parking charges on Isle of Palms are going up for the primary time in 5 years — now costing up to $25 during peak beach season — however beachgoers will nonetheless have a free solution to get to the seaside. CARTA’s Seashore Attain route begins from the Mount Nice Towne Centre to Ocean Boulevard — proper outdoors the doorway of Isle of Palms County Park.
This 12 months, the shuttle will likely be on a trolley bus the Berkeley-Charleston-Dorchester Council of Governments bought in late 2024.
The shuttle route was first accredited in 2021 after the state Division of Transportation instructed metropolis officers to roll again plans eliminating free beach parking for nonresidents. CARTA’s technique to move folks from Towne Centre to Isle of Palms helps alleviate the parking problem.
The CARTA board unanimously voted at their March 19 assembly to proceed the Seashore Attain.
In 2024, Seashore Attain carried 703 riders, a slight lower from the 795 riders in 2023. CARTA board Chair Mike Seekings instructed The Put up and Courier ridership can differ all through the summer season due to the climate.
He added he is glad to see the route return for “season 5,” and known as it a pure selection for CARTA to implement the shuttle so folks have free entry to a seaside.
“In at this time’s day and age, the place parking is dear the nearer you get to the shoreline and attending to and from (the seaside) is usually a problem, having somebody drive you … drop you proper off on the entrance to the county park with the seaside nothing however 100 yards away?” Seekings stated. “It’s actually an important useful resource for folks.”
CARTA board member Daniel Brownstein helps the Seashore Attain, and has pushed for a further cease to Sullivan’s Island for the previous 12 months.
“I believe that’s the lacking piece of the puzzle,” Brownstein instructed The Put up and Courier.
Brownstein stated the route may very well be a circle, beginning in Mount Nice Towne Centre to Isle of Palms then to Sullivan’s Island and again. He believes it will not solely improve ridership but in addition remedy parking challenges on Sullivan’s Island.
Seekings stated he’d help a Sullivan’s Island cease so long as the shuttle stays “as fast and straightforward as attainable” for riders.
Isle of Palms wasn’t all the time the one seaside route for CARTA. In line with Seekings, there was a path to Folly Seashore a number of years in the past however the ridership was lower than anticipated. Though it was a daily route and never only for summer season months, the route was discontinued as a result of lack of success.
Seekings stated the board will control the state of affairs and see if a shuttle to Folly Seashore is viable sooner or later.
The Seashore Attain will begin on Memorial Day and run each weekend till Labor Day, operating on each Memorial Day and Labor Day. The primary journey on Saturdays is at 9:15 a.m. and final at 5:15 p.m., and the primary journey on Sundays is at 9:40 a.m. and final at 5:40 p.m.
