Mount Pleasant, SC- As 140 Million dollars worth of road construction in Mount Pleasant draws to a close, members of the Hungryneck Straphangers bus transit rider’s advocacy group are launching a November campaign to be sure accessible, comfortable bus stops and safer pedestrian highway crossings on Johnnie Dodds Blvd. are included as promised when the half penny sales tax referendum passed over seven years ago. A web page is now at http://tinyurl.com/... on the effort.
“We want to be sure the new highway works for everyone, including the half of the population which doesn’t have a driver’s license. We have to act before the work is done, the concrete is hard and the money is gone,” says Straphangers’ coordinator William Hamilton.
The effort began with a coordinated push to get transit riders to talk to political candidates about better bus service and vote. On Oct. 23 the organization spoke to over 900 riders waiting for buses on Calhoun Street as part of a national votetransit.org campaign which will reach reached over a million riders.
Finishing Johnnie Dodds Blvd. as the complete street promised to voters becomes the focus after election day with an online petition, outreach to local elected officials on the CARTA Board, Mount Pleasant Town Government, County Council and the State Legislative delegation. People who want the road to enable transit and use buses to reduce traffic congestion for drivers are being asked to attend the Tuesday, November 13, 2012 meeting of Mount Pleasant Town Council to speak out on the issue during the public comment period. You can sign up to participate on Facebook.
CARTA is currently in the process of planning new East Cooper bus routes. The Straphangers want to be sure a coordinated effort by all elements of government comes together to produce routes which can continue the increases in ridership seen over the past five years, which include a 74% increase in ridership on the area’s #40 primary bus route and increases on the express bus service. Both of these services have seen short term declines in ridership due to road construction disruptions and delays. Advocates want to see those a recovery in service quality and ridership become the foundation for future more efficient and cost effective service for more people. Functional stops and safe pedestrian road crossings are essential to enable that recovery and future improvement.
For more information see the Hungryneck Straphangers website at www.busec.org.
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For more information contact William Hamilton, 843 870-5299, wjhamilton29464@gmail.com