Reboot the commute!
Ask almost any resident what the two biggest problems facing Daniel Island and Cainhoy are and you’ll hear people say traffic, twice. With population growth happening every day in the Charleston region, including the Cainhoy peninsula, it can feel like the end will never be in the rearview mirror. But a new plan called “Reboot the Commute” might have a different solution to calm the morning and afternoon traffic jams caused by folks going from work to home and vice versa.
Reboot the Commute is a business-led initiative that spurs local employers to help reduce the inescapable traffic issues in Charleston. The campaign was created by the Economic Leadership Council of the Charleston Regional Development Alliance (CRDA). On April 30, 18 local businesses, including Daniel Island-based Benefitfocus, committed themselves to reducing area traffic as a part of the project. According to a press release on the subject, the combined workforce of the businesses totals 39,000 employees.
“We love the Reboot the Commute initiative,” said Benefitfocus Senior Vice President of Human Resources Debi Stafford. “Not only is it a Charleston initiative, but it also gave us the opportunity to ramp up our efforts around our personal community here at Benefitfocus.”
The business tries to equip its employees with the ability to work from home some days and be flexible with their hours, potentially subtracting cars from the road during rush hour.
“The nature of our work allows us to be able to do that fairly effectively,” Stafford said.
In a survey conducted by The Daniel Island News, residents showed a range of sentiments on commuting. Ire was the expected response, but most had suggestions on how to fix the traffic caused by morning and afternoon commutes.
“We need the HOP bus to come out to DI for the service employees and millennials,” said one Daniel Island resident.
“The main problem with my commute is the sheer volume of 18-wheel trucks that dominate the road,” said Summerville citizen Julianne Scott, who works on Daniel Island. “The Don Holt Bridge also seems to be part of the problem. But the biggest part of the problem with the commute is the irresponsible drivers. They get impatient with the trucks and try to race past subsequently causing a wreck.”
One Smythe Park resident notices the most traffic on the Mt. Pleasant side of the Ravenel Bridge.
“I don’t find morning traffic to be as bad as it is in the afternoon,” they said. “The traffic leaving downtown between 4 p.m. and 6 p.m. has increased significantly over the past 10 years.”
Most survey respondents, 32.65 percent, said that their commute is between 10 and 20 miles. Approximately 24.50 percent stated that they drive 5 to 10 miles for their commute and 20.41 percent commented that they drive more than 20 miles one way.
And, 64.58 percent said that their commute is less than a half-hour long, while 27.08 percent spend between a half-hour and one hour on the road traveling to and from work.
Public transportation advocate William Hamilton said that Reboot the Commute is “a good effort.”
“It’s clear younger people, which our area needs to recruit, want better transit and bike opportunities,” he commented. “The rising generation isn’t in love with their cars.”
“We want to do anything that will help people in their movements around the community,” said CARTA Board of Directors Chairman Mike Seekings. “Mobility is a big issue and whether it’s riding public transit, which we obviously run, or adjusting work times, or any of those things, all of that works to the benefit of our community and mobility, so CARTA is a natural supporter, and in fact an enthusiastic supporter of it.”
The Daniel Island News reported in July 2018 that a CARTA shuttle does not run on Daniel Island for several reasons.
“Past analysis has shown a low demand for public transit service, because it really needs to reach a certain threshold, and it’s been shown in the past, it has not reached that level,” representative Daniel Brock said at the time. “Also, the low [population and housing] densities on Daniel Island don’t lend themselves to traditional public transit.”
Forty-six out of the 51 respondents in The Daniel Island News survey stated that their main transportation to work is a car. No one in the survey biked, used ride-sharing services, or public transportation services to get to work. The infamous traffic snarls on the Don Holt Bridge, the Wando Bridge, and Clements Ferry Road could be a product of so many Daniel Island residents and employees driving to and from the island in the morning and evenings.
Seekings explained that CARTA will use the Reboot the Commute campaign as a launching point to talk to businesses in “densely populated employment centers,” adding that a meeting with Benefitfocus would happen this week.
“Currently we don’t service that area [Daniel Island], but we are looking for opportunities to do so,” he stated. “We are going to meet with Benefitfocus to see if we can provide some service for a commuter based rooting system to get people on and off Daniel Island to and around Benefitfocus - so again, we’re looking for all opportunities, and public-private partnerships are clearly one of them.”
One way that the CRDA attempted to shepherd the participating businesses in the right direction is with their guide of alternative commuting strategies, such as telecommuting when possible, allowing for flexible employee hours, or a shorter work week with more hours in each day. These suggestions come alongside more traditional options like carpooling.
In regards to telecommuting, 57.14 percent of residents in our survey said that their employer does not allow it and 51.06 percent stated that their business does not allow staggered work times, both methods mentioned by the CRDA to curb traffic.
“At our company, the work from home arrangements are flexible by department,” said a Goose Creek resident who works on Daniel Island. “Some departments by nature of business, have less ability to work from home. However, most are very open to it - particularly in recent years. It’s definitely an appreciated benefit.”
Deborah Jessup commutes to her job in North Charleston every day, but only sees traffic congestion about once a week. Jessup works staggered hours, as well.
While Reboot the Commute is still a young initiative and won’t fix every problem immediately, the support from local business and entities is a good sign for the future.
Local organizations that have committed to encouraging their employees to #ReboottheCommute:
Benefitfocus
Boeing South Carolina
Booz AllenHamilton
Charleston Metro Chamber of Commerce
Charleston Regional Development Alliance
Charleston Southern University
Charleston Trident Association of Realtors
The Citadel
College of Charleston
Evening Post Industries
Google South Carolina
The InterTech Group
Kiawah Island Golf Resort
MUSC
Roper St. Francis Healthcare
South Carolina Aquarium
Trident Health
Trident Technical College