Sunset Clouds...

One of the benefits of walking to and from the bus stop is the opportunity to take awesome pics of the lowcountry, and to enjoy scenes I might not notice while sitting in traffic!

On a positive note...

While the last month has been fraught with aggravation and frustration, there ARE positive aspects to riding CARTA and taking advantage of public transportation. I don't have to worry about dealing with traffic or parking, especially when I make trips downtown. When I ride during rush hour, I may have to deal with being on a crowded bus, but the traffic is somebody else's problem! While I live in the "city" of  North Charleston, walking to the bus stops both in Park Circle and now the Northwoods area gives me the opportunity to enjoy the local flora and fauna. Walking is the best free exercise available. And there are no excuses, any place I have to go involves walking at least half a mile. Costwise I'm paying $37.50 a month for an unlimited pass, and an occasional cab fare. Weigh that against a car payment, insurance, gas, repairs and maintenance!


Over the past year I have seen acts of kindness and generosity I don't believe you'll see in many larger cities: a bus driver who actually parked the bus to walk an elderly passenger across a busy intersection, a young man who picked up a woman's full shopping cart and carried it off the bus for her, passengers all pitching in to make up somebody's fare, an older woman helping a young mother get her kids and groceries off the bus. I see these random acts of kindness on a daily basis, and it makes me more aware of the people around me as well as the opportunities to pass on a small kindness whenerver I have a a chance. So yes, public transportation can be inconvenient and extremely frustrating at times. But it does have it's perks!

my response to the Mayor....

Mayor Summey,

I appreciate your response. My issue is to do with the apparent lack of policy or processes in place at CARTA, and what seems to be a total disregard for the passengers, I've just moved into this area and have no clue as to who the Northwood Estate Neighborhood Council is and who exactly they represent. Something tells me it comes back to a case of the "haves" vs. the "have nots". What process did CARTA follow to verify the issue, and what alternatives were discussed? Was there a study done? What about public hearings to address the needs and concerns of the passengers utilizing these stops, which should be CARTA's first priority? Where do I find a record of this? Why wasn't a stop put in place on Rivers and Greenridge heading towards Charleston? The first change was over a month ago and there are still no signs at the stops or on the buses to advise customers of these changes, nor is there a notice on the website. Because some of the drivers still don't know about the changes and still follow the original route, this leads to confusion for occasional passengers.

It's funny that every driver and passenger I've spoken with says the traffic issue is bogus, as do the property managers of my apartment complex. If you're driving behind a bus, you know it's going to stop. Which takes about two minutes. As to the road construction, I rode the buses every day last week (because even the drivers weren't notified of the changes) and there was no problem with the buses getting through. Peter Tecklenburg informed me when I called in about the first unannounced change that CARTA was expecting the road construction to start back in April so it shouldn't have been a surprise, and an alternative plan should have been in place.

The bottom line is the tenants of all the apartment complexes in my area, the students of the technical school, and employees of Dial America who utilize these stops are basically out of luck because we don't have a "neighborhood council" to represent us! Coming from Charleston we can get off at the convenience store and cross eight lanes of traffic at an extremely busy intersection. Going to Charleston or coming from the direction of Trident Medical Center we have the option of the stops about a mile away at either Kmart or Northwoods Mall, neither of which is easy or especially safe to walk to. In my book, a good public transportation system should be efficient, convenient, safe, dependable, affordable, and focused on it's passengers. At this point, after riding CARTA for ten months, I have to say it hits the mark when it comes to being affordable. I would be more than willing to pay double for my monthly pass if CARTA stepped up to the plate regarding the rest of those requirements!

I've already had to cut my ridership in half due to these issues, and will be cutting it even further. I feel sorry for those passengers who are stuck with substandard public transportation because they have absolutely no other choice. I would love to challenge you and the other board members to put on your walking shoes, and make the trip back and forth to work with me a few times. Maybe that would put things in perspective before any more changes are made without taking the needs of CARTA's passengers into account.

Thank you again for your response.

Kathi Dubuque

passengers left stranded by unannounced change...

So there I was, all excited about my new move, all the great options available to me etc. I moved in on Saturday May 8th, and got busy, riding the bus all weekend to get my errands taken care of. Monday May 10th I got to the stop out of the neighborhood, to find several confused and irate passengers talking about how the stop across the street, coming into Greenridge Rd had been cancelled. Now, considering I had spoken with CARTA, ridden the buses, and discussed my options for getting to work with several of the drivers in the past few days, I was just a little perturbed. The multiple phone calls and conversations with CARTA that followed soon put me in the irate category. I posted a synopsis of those conversations on facebook and am including it here as well:


First I called CARTA's "customer service" number where I spoke with a 12 year-old who was trying to read me her turn-by-turn directions,

CSR: "bus 10 won't go down greenridge anymore. it will turn right on rivers, go all the way to kmart and turn left, then make a right on greenridge and a rght on antler."

Me: um, no, that's not possible. the kmart is past greenridge and you've just jumbled the old route and the new route together.

CSR: " wait a minute" shuffling and mumbling. "ok, bus 10 will come down rivers to greenridge and take antler to kmart."

Me: " you just said bus 10 is no longer going to come down greenridge!"

CSR: "wait a minute" horrible hold music

CSR: repeating what the voice behind her is saying, "buses 10 and 12 will go down rivers to the kmart" bus 12 won't go up greenridge anymore but will come down greenridge when it leaves the kmart."

Me: "when and why were these changes made, and why weren't the passengers notified?!" CSR: "I don't know, we were just told today"

Me: "that's really crappy customer service!"

Call #2 to CARTA was to speak with a supervisor who I've dealt with in the past. The phone was answered by the 12-year-old again.

Me: may I speak with Ms W please?"

CSR "Ok, but she's going to tell you the same thing I just did" I listened to the crappy hold music for 4 minutes

CSR 2: "CARTA, how can I help you?"

Me: I"m holding for MS WCSR 2: oh, you have to call back and put in extension 126

Me: y'all put me on hold for 4 minutes to tell me I have to call and put in an extension?!

Call 3 to CARTA,

I explained to Ms W (a supervisor for Veolia, the company that provides the drivers ) that I was standing at a bus stop w/ 6 other irate people because apparently our buses were no longer following the same route, and passengers were basically stranded. She gave me the the following explanation:

Ms W " We were just notified by CARTA on Friday that the stop was eliminated and the routes have been changed. Therefore the drivers and dispatchers weren't aware of the changes when you spoke with them, and that's why the CSR's are confused about the changes. The change was due to safety issues because when the bus stops there it holds up traffic.

Me: how do you do that without letting the passengers know? Who do we contact to complain?

Ms W: you can go to the monthly board meeting on the 3rd weds of the month, at 2pm

Me: that's great, except I, and most of your passengers WORK on weekdays at 2pm! Isn't there a person I can call, email or write to?

Ms W: you can try calling Peter, he handles the scheduling.

Me: can you please clarify where buses 10 and 12 are supposed to stop?

Ms W: 10 goes up rivers to Kmart, then continues onto Trident, so you need to get off at the convenience store on the other side of Rivers Ave (8 lanes of traffic!). 12 goes up Rivers to Kmart and will come back down Greenridge Rd and stop in front of Dial America.

I left Mr Peter a long, irate voicemail. Bus 106 then stops, and the driver informs us we need to get on and ride to the mall if we want to catch bus 10 or 12 as no other bus will stop in front of dial america.

Me: but Ms W just said bus 12 will stop here in 10 minutes.

Driver bus 106: "you can wait but it's not coming this way"

Me: "so now I get to call the supervisor and tell her she's got it wrong?

Driver bus 106: I'm not saying that, but bus 12 doesn't come down greenridge going either direction. So we all get on bus 106 to the mall.

Driver bus 12 later that day: "some of us were told late Friday, but most weren't told about the changes until this morning. Yes, we do come back down Greenridge from Kmart but we don't go up that way."

I contacted a friend who knows people, to ask if she happens to have the name of somebody higher up I can complain to. She told me to call CARTA back and ask for MR C.

CSR 3: "oh, he's at the dowtown office, you need to call this other number."

Secretary: "I can give him the message but I'm not sure he'll be back in today."

15 minutes later I get a call back from Mr Peter, who was returning my call to Mr C, because apparently Mr C was too busy to get back to me.

Mr Peter: (in charge of scheduling) "We've known about this for some time and informed the drivers. They were supposed to tell the passengers but of course some drivers aren't as friendly as others and don't talk to the passengers. and since their schedules just changed and they are new to the routes they might not know who the regulars are."

Me: "ok, I was told that there were public notices and public hearings announced to discuss the changes. Where and when? The last hearing/public notice I found in the local paper was back in November regarding changes to the route for bus 106. Doesn't it make sense to post notices on the buses and at the stop? I took a cab home and some poor lady is standing out there waiting on a bus that isn't coming. There isn't even an announcement or notice on YOUR website! In fact, some of the route information such as buses 12 and 106 is unavailable!"

Mr Peter: "we have someone new handling the website and the transition to another server is causing issues with the website for the last month or so. it's more complicated then it seems...."

All this and then when I came home from work on bus 12 two nights later, the driver came down Greenridge Road and stopped at the original stop!

Me: "I thought this wasn't a stop anymore?"

Driver bus 12: " this is the stop"

Me: I was told they changed the route

Driver, with a shrug, "I don't know"

So that was where things stood just a month ago....

the saga continues...

This blog is not intended simply as a forum to whine and complain, or to blast CARTA for it's ineptitude. Living a carfree lifestyle can be inconvenient, time consuming, and frustrating, especially when you're relying on public transportation that is unreliable (more on that later). However it can also be cost-effective and has it's own perks and benefits. At a fee of just $37.50 a month, an unlimited pass is hard to beat. Compare that to the cost of a car payment, insurance, gas, repairs and maintanence, and it's an awesome savings! In addition, I got to watch the seasons change up close and personal while enjoying my daily walks through Park Circle to the stop each morning. Took and posted tons of pics on my facebook of the trees, flowers, clouds etc that I might never have noticed during my 6 minute commute by car. Park Circle was a great area to live in, and it was great to have restaurants and a small convenience store in walking distance. Not many people can walk home after an evening with friends at 1am, and feel perfectly safe doing so! However, after months of being able to rely on my upstairs neighbors in a pinch, they moved a few blocks away. Their situation changed, and so did our schedules. I wasn't happy with my apartment itself and the landlord was horrible. I started looking elsewhere and used an apartment locating service to find a place on a better bus route.

Living in Park Circle turned out to have it's limitations when it came to riding the bus. Bus 104 only runs every hour, so if you miss it you're stuck. To get any place from Park Circle you have to make at least 1 transfer, sometimes multiple transfers. The last bus home from work runs at 8:20 pm, so if I get off the phone at work at 8, I have to take a cab home. On Sundays bus 101 doesn't run at all, and on Saturdays bus 104 starts running later. The apartment locator found me a great apartment on not one, not two, but three different bus routes that gave me multiple options for getting to and from work. Located an equal distance from walmart, kmart and the mall, it appeared to be the perfect location! I hated to move from Park Circle, but it was time for a change. Multiple closets, a garbage disposal, dishwasher, ceiling fan, swimming pool, actual maintenance, all were calling my name. As for the buses, bus 10 runs every thirty minutes, bus 12 runs every 45 minutes, and bus 106 runs hourly. It seemed to be the perfect solution.

The saga begins...

On July 2nd of last year I totalled my car and discovered myself embarking on a new endeavor - getting around Charleston via CARTA, our version of public transportation. I had actually rented my apartment in Park Circle because it was close to work and a local bus stop. As a single person who values my independence I knew there may come a time when my car might temporarily be out of service. Of course I didn't expect it to become a way of life, but as they say, "The best laid plans of mice and men..."!

The first couple of weeks I had to rely on my neighbors for transportation, until my leg healed from the accident and I could actually walk the half mile to the bus stop. Then the adventure began. My first trip should have clued me in....I called CARTA and spoke with one of their "customer service" reps who told me I needed to get on bus 104 at the corner of N. Rhett and Park Circle. I noticed when I got to the stop that the sign only indicated bus 101, so when that bus pulled up and the driver advised me bus 104 didn't run through the circle, I got on for the trip to the Super Stop. The driver then contacted her dispatcher, who informed her that I did indeed need to catch bus 104 back at the original stop. So I called into work and took an hour of leave time to make up for the fact I had to wait until bus 101 returned me to the correct stop. So began my experience of dealing with CARTA, the mecca for misinformation, confusion, and long hold times with the world's crappiest hold music.

Don't get me wrong, I have always been a proponent of public trasportation, and have made use of bus services in other cities. And I have had some great experiences with both the drivers and passengers of CARTA. I went into the situation with full expectations that dealing with public transportation has it's inconveniences and flaws, and that patience and flexibility would be required. I learned quickly that I not only needed a backup plan, but plans C and D are a necessity as well. For the many who have spent years relying on CARTA I'm sure they've earned a place in the Matyr's Hall of Fame for their patience and suffering!