Survey: Most readers want local CARTA service

(Additional reader comments not published in this week's print edition are included below.)

When it comes to offering CARTA service in the area, 64% of respondents said they wanted the option.  

“I have been requesting this for years. I’m a DI senior,” said one respondent. 

Another wrote, “As a recent transplant to the area from Atlanta, who happened to work for a local government in their transportation department, I am appalled at the traffic in the Charleston area, the lack of infrastructure, and the lack of public transportation. Too many people live here to be supported by the roadways. Transportation options, like buses and light rail, are necessary to move people around. I feel trapped in my home most of the time because of the traffic.” 

But 25% of those responding said they didn’t think it was necessary. 

“No. Daniel Island is already crowded enough; this would bring even more foot traffic and potentially a different crowd than the family environment we all invested in by buying daily homes here,” wrote a reader. 

The remaining 11% were on the fence. 

“Only if there's an express lane for these buses and available a few times daily (ideally rush hour),” observed one writer. 

“I doubt it would work financially, but a test with specific measurable goals needs to be set before undertaking,” wrote another. 

But the big question remained, who would use the CARTA services? 

While 74% said they would use the service in some format, the frequency varied. 

Twelve percent said they would use CARTA on a daily basis to commute to work or school. 

“I would use it to commute downtown for work if it made sense,” wrote a reader. “I work on Upper King Street, and parking is becoming very limited; having an alternative mode of transportation where I don’t need to pay for parking is honestly worth having a slightly longer bus commute. But I’m very skeptical of how efficient/practical it would be without major investment…” 

With 40% saying they would use it sometimes to attend downtown social and sporting events along with shopping, 11% said they would use it rarely for special events like Spoleto or SEWE. 

“Definitely social. When I have engagements downtown or friends in from out of town and we'd like to go to different places such as downtown Charleston and not have to worry about drinking and driving since you can't rely on Lyft and Uber because they cancel that last minute,” expressed a reader. 

And 11% had other thoughts. 

“In trying to hire employees over the past years working here, many have replied in interviews that they just cannot make the trip. Public transportation options could help us to keep our businesses fully staffed, easier,” reported another reader. 

There were 26% saying they would never use the CARTA service. 

“Bus service to Daniel Island will only serve to bring us crime. We've managed to avoid it for 20 years,” commented a reader. “Let's keep up the good work.” 

Here's more reader comments exclusively published online:

Question #1: Should CARTA service be offered?

• Test it to confirm but not a good option.
• Na
• Clements Ferry or the parking lot by Blackbaud.
• Low demand and clogging up roads.
• Yes - but long term, after a traffic assessment is complete and there’s a strategy for how this alleviates traffic, not adds to it.
• Let's start with Daniel Island first.
• Don’t turn DI into Queens.
• I guess we could make a transit oriented development on the corridor, but I think it would be a
better option to connect Daniel Island with Belle Hall, or the Ben Sawyer Boulevard corridor.
• Definitely a great idea and a wonderful option for those that do not feel it is safe to drive or do not care to drive on any given day or night.
• Daniel Island - no, Clements Ferry - yes.
• People here would not use it!
• Absolutely!!! We should also have a reasonable water taxi!
• Not to DI proper but yes to Clements Ferry Road.
• Only if there's an express lane for these buses and available few times daily (ideally rush hour).
• I doubt it would work financially but a test with specific measurable goals needs to be set before undertaking.

Question #2: If CARTA service was offered, how would you use it?

• The advantage of living on DI is availability of a host of commercial service providers that are
readily accessible via car, LSV, bike and even Uber. Carta ridership is notoriously low, costly
and inefficient. Extending that government transportation model to our community may make
us feel better but will not make things better.
• Probably not.
• I’d benefit only indirectly. The user survey statistics should consider people working on DI in service jobs.
• I think lots of people would love to have a bus with downtown service.
• I would definitely use it to go to/from beaches, IOP & Sullivan’s!
• Several times weekly.
• It depends on where the service connects to, how often it runs and how reliable it is.
• I had read a year or so ago that through CARTA there are subsidized rides with Uber for those
who are disabled. But this service isn't available on DI because we are not on a regular CARTA (route) and are in Berkeley County. I know people who do not drive because of sight or other age issues who could use this service. I myself may need it in the near future.
• Would be helpful for our employees and to use as a recruiting tool when hiring.
• We support PT financially and we should be able to have it available to us.
• (If it) came to DI proper I would try it to go downtown. But I don’t want it coming here.

Additional comments :

• It would like an easy way to get to and from downtown or even Park Circle for social events. There are so many great neighborhood bars and dining options that have very little parking. It would also be nice as we talk about the Riverdogs parking lot going away.
• Public transportation options are usually only economically viable (or taxpayer justifiable) in urban areas and even there under limited circumstances. BTW, I’m not certain any amount of our taxes support CARTA (we live in Berkeley County).
• None.
• More often bus transit and stops in Daniel Island, especially to the ferry. More often and reduced rate ferry between Daniel island and downtown.
• Public transportation is welcome for DI & Clements Ferry now that the population has grown dramatically – help streamline traffic & provide transportation for seniors and others that can not drive themselves to broader local areas/events/medical appts etc.
• Ferry service to downtown will grow especially if the service expands its services.
• Public transportation would help alleviate some of the congestion on CF. Many people travel from Downtown to the Cainhoy peninsula to MTP. All for it!
• I love buses. Please help me use buses. A bus to the airport would be amazing. And one to downtown Charleston.
• I’d love to see DI to downtown and also DI to Point Hope!
• I would like to see the CARTA senior discount for Uber rides extended to Daniel Island. Also I would use any form of public transportation to and from downtown, as long as I have flexibility in the timing (e.g., more flexibility than the DI water taxi currently provides).
• Bus seems like the only realistic option. A stop around the Publix area would be ideal to support local businesses and help workers come and go from the island.
• There should be a test bus line run from Daniel Island to downtown Charleston with stops in Mount Pleasant. Making a few stops in Daniel Island and connecting to the free bus line downtown. It should run at least hourly.
• If DI gets CARTA, then even when the bus isn't running, there is a program for 55 and older citizens that can get a discount on Uber/Lyft. DI area citizens miss out because it's not on the "bus line." I have several friends in Mt. P that use this program.
• I think the best option is a ferry system that could be used for commuting and events downtown.
• Daily trip to downtown and back to DI.
• Charleston should have public ferries.
• Transportation for employees who don't get paid enough to work in this area.

• As much as I would like those who can’t drive or do not have an access to a car be able to go
somewhere, public buses are rarely used nowadays. The other aspect is it will give a rise to
transients going or moving to the area. If the city can assure more police visibility & proper
management of transients, i.e. no encampments, loitering, petty theft, etc., then it can be tested.
• Would only be interested in very limited and particular destinations. Not meant for on the island itself. Too big for our roads and could actually cause more backup waiting behind, unable to get around the vehicle, etc. If need transportation due to drinking, most use Uber.
• I don’t know why public transportation wouldn’t be offered on Daniel Island/CFR when taxes pay for it and it is a useful amenity for MANY people. Cities all over the world thrive with public transportation.
• Some kind of public transportation is necessary on a regular basis for the people who come to work on the island, and I would use it regularly to get back and forth downtown to beat the traffic, or to have a few drinks.
• I would like to see public transportation for the entire Lowcountry. It will benefit everyone in the long term.
• A bus system that is D.I. to downtown (without 20 stops in Mt. Pleasant on the way) would be great. Even limited to rush hour service with one or two mid-day runs would be great. Evening service would also be great.
• I've seen what happens to other cities when public transportation is introduced. Clements Ferry is too busy and dangerous to be adding bus stops!
• A route to the airport would be really helpful and well used.
• We have only 1 car so we need public transportation
• Beach route; IOP & Sullivan’s.
• More beach shuttles
• While I work fully remote and would not use CARTA daily, it should absolutely be offered (long term) as a relief valve for Clements Ferry. However – before initializing bus routes, we need to
think about dedicated lanes, peak time avoidance, or other routing. Otherwise, underutilized buses add congestion and slow driving to already impacted routes. A clear traffic assessment and bus utilization strategy is needed before this option is part of the equation.
• I would like to see a bus to provide transportation around Daniel Island as well as to points beyond Daniel Island. We pay for it. We should get it.
• I completely agree. I wrote to CARTA years ago requesting a DI Bus Route. Perhaps now with a larger population they would consider it. Public transportation needs to become a priority in the greater Charleston area.
• Sidewalks and bike paths
• I am BIG believer in the absolute necessity of a transition to mass transit, especially in cities like Charleston that have limits to their infrastructure! I would whole heartedly support a public transit option from DI to downtown! I do not work downtown but would like the option as a means to better access downtown events, shopping and dining. Limited parking downtown keeps me from going as often as I would like.
• At least three days a week transportation
• It's crazy that in 2026 we don't have it.
• The only way the Charleston Area survives the incoming growth is if we begin to govern and build like a real city. Buses becoming successful will only open up more public transit options in the future, like a light rail.
• This would be a horrible idea. Someone has lived in a bubble for too long to even suggest this.
• Definitely need service to downtown.
• I am a 78 yr old DI senior resident who has been requesting this for five years and even spoke to Nancy Mace and her assistant about the need. I wrote a letter to the city council. I am unable to get to city council meetings. We also have low income housing on the island and how can we have not provided the island with transportation that’s available to every other community, eg. Mt Pleasant, West Ashley, North Charleston, Summerville.
• Absent a person needing public transportation due to lack of a personal vehicle or a legal or physical inability to drive, a key draw for public transportation is efficiency of moving from one place to the next. Given the obscene congestion along 526, there is minimal perceived gained efficiency as compared to the need to be bound by the bus schedule. The highway situation, which can't realistically be fixed in this lifetime, makes public transportation on 526 from the Don Holt to route 17 impossible.
• Regular service to and from Charleston. Service to NC PAC for events.
• 1) Back and forth to Downtown Charleston - regular scheduling we could count on 2) Back and forth to the NCPAC during concerts and events 3) Back and forth to CreditOne stadium during concerts - For the people in Charleston.
• Not just Daniel Island, but the entire Charleston area needs more options for travel. Roadways are terribly inefficient; traffic exceeds capacity at this point and the continued growth will only make this worse. The number of fatal accidents is scary. In my opinion, too much focus is spent on landscaping and low signage, which reduces the ability to see what you need to see while driving. Effective public transportation could definitely help eliminate distracted drivers and improve traffic flow. It seems like the Charleston area and SC in general are years behind what other cities in the SE region have done to accommodate growth.
• Either we should have the same services provided to the rest of the City of Charleston or we should not be paying into it. Daniel Island and Cainhoy area get the short side of the stick on most of the services provided by the city. And the ones I hear about bringing will be 10+ years out which is unacceptable given the population.
• Moved in the area a year ago from Europe and I miss the public transportation. So it would be amazing to have here. That will cut a little bit the traffic.
• I think that we need to have something other than car ownership or Uber as an option. DI, and Clements Ferry specifically, are undergoing massive development and people already complain so much about traffic. We need to have other efficient options of transportation that grow with housing development to help ease congestion. I’d love to see something like the LCRT bus line along Clements Ferry. If there is a test of a bus line, the city has to think about frequency, a bus that only comes once an hour will not be used. 30 minute frequency is the bare minimum for a viable transit option, and even that is a tough sell for riders. Another benefit would be during concerts on DI, a bus line would allow us to get more people on the island with fewer cars. Although I think it is important to give buses some sort of priority over vehicles to make them more appealing to riders.
• I go downtown at least once a week and I would definitely ride a CARTA bus if it was available.
• None, period. There is absolutely no need if you were interested additional entries and exits from the island would be useful.
• I’d love to see a ferry, bus or train that could get you from DI to Park Circle, Downtown, and Mount Pleasant. The main reason I don’t visit the beaches is because of parking issues with tourists. Also the DI ferry times are so tight it’s impossible to go downtown, have dinner and a night cap or shop a little and still make the boat back. I often pay for two ways and just Uber home. I feel like for families a bus or trolley situation would be very good.
• Many people reside here who can’t (afford) a car or are too ill to drive. They are using money, needed elsewhere for Uber. Please at least try using small buses several times a day.
• Daily service to and from downtown Charleston.
• Daniel Island is in modest need of public transportation.
• I would suggest a trial period for sure. I would however suggest a smaller size version of the CARTA buses which would be a better fit for our island, at least at first. We know what it’s like
with charter buses here with Credit One events and the mere size of them might be off putting
to the residents on a regular basis. It would also give a better indication of passenger usage.
Also I would suggest only a few stops on the route – again at first to see where residents are
interested in going. Downtown Charleston, Town Center and maybe a third like Shem
Creek, and maybe Long Point Rd. as each of these areas would accommodate most residents
interest. Scheduling should be limited at first as well as stops because I have seen many
buses half filled and less. The cost for the driver, the gas, etc. would be be more effective I
believe.
• Rode CARTA once from the airport to downtown. It was terrifying.
• Run a bus down 7 Farms Dr. and around the business district every hour or so – anyone can walk to anything on the island from there.
• I'd like (it) offered at the hours where people go to work and come home for sure, maybe during the midday a couple of times maybe 10:00 and 2:00 and then a couple of times at night maybe 7, 10, 12.
• CARTA express from CFR to MUSC Medical District. Parking in the medical district is slim, and I like to utilize the CARTA express to get work if needed, but have to drive to the Walmart on Proprietors Place in Mt P.
• This would be wonderful!
• I think they should keep it out of DI and Clements (Ferry).
• Given the distributed "Lowcountry" nature of Charleston Metro, it feels like a truly mass transit corridor, like they're doing, is the only thing that might make sense, if even that. Further, given the massive cost to likely negligible benefit to DI for a bus line, I could imagine simply subsidizing Uber, Lyft, Taxi for seniors. It would give them greater access to do enriching things,
and the cost could be low to nothing for them, and whatever CARTA would pay for this would be drastically less than standing up a bus service.
• Right now there isn’t any publication transportation that is affordable so I think this is a great idea!
• I feel this would be a waste of taxpayers money and a resource that could be better used elsewhere.
• Also, wouldn't it be nice for local children who are old enough to ride the bus, but too young to drive themselves, to be able to ride to Isle of Palms and enjoy Front Beach all summer? Some of my fondest memories were doing this growing up in the Old Village in Mt. Pleasant.
• Not enough space on the island.
• We should have a safe and climate friendly way to get downtown other than the ferry which only operates on weekends on certain times. Some DI residents don’t have cars or prefer to not deal with traffic. Also, one can read or answer emails on public transportation. At the very least, we should have a ferry that runs more often.
• None.
• Can you offer a route from James Island to Daniel Island?
• Would be helpful for our employees and to use as a recruiting tool when hiring.
• Water taxi and bus
• Service within DI as well as service to Mt. Pleasant and Clements Ferry Road would be ideal.
There used to be cute trolleys all over downtown CHS – if there was even a reasonable, reliable option to use I would use it!! And the water taxi – seriously fun but not affordable for regular transport or commuting!
• I'm concerned about low demand that would make it infeasible to run a line through DI. I think Clements Ferry will eventually need a bus rapid transit line. Given the volume, there's a lot of ways to improve DI traffic. A combination of diverting SPA Wando trucks will help the 526-26
interchange, incentivizing shipping during off hours, and moving cargo traffic to rail yard
connected docks. Then ultimately, I'd love to see a street car that services the Daniel Island
Clements Ferry corridor but I think that's a lower priority. Downtown Charleston is such an
awesome walkable city, I would love to see more regular ferry service to downtown. Perhaps
the city could invest in that versus a bus to DI.
• No to public transportation.
• Parking in downtown Charleston can be expensive and Ubers are great for a night out but are hard to find back to DI. The ferry is nice but not many options. Needs to be more like a water taxi to be useful. A bus with a few stops through the peninsula would be great; especially in the evenings and night.
• Any public transportation. We pay taxes.
• I do not want to make it easier for burglars and thieves to get to DI. Yes that is elitist but it is one of the things I liked about moving here. Less criminal element.
• I'm a professor at the Citadel and would take public transit that got me anywhere close to campus.
• I'd rather Uber.
• We need more water taxis that are affordable and run a few times daily.
• Truck lane on I-526
• Public transportation should be a safe and accessible right for all who pay taxes for it.
• I have been wanting bus or ferry transportation from DI to downtown.
• I don't want it here.
• We do not need more commercial traffic or any traffic really on this tiny island.