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Charleston Transit | Commuter Rail, Light Rail


vicupstate

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  • 4 weeks later...

Here are some articles from the Citistates Report series about commuter rail in the region.

Summerville to Charleston: Making rail a reality

Trains in the morning could leave from Summerville, making limited stops, headed to North Charleston, then ending up in Charleston. The trip would take 29 minutes at an expected average speed of 40 miles per hour. That would beat most motorists making their way through traffic on I-26.

At other times, the trains could serve tourists, conventioneers, people headed downtown for theater or a great meal or young people enjoying a lark on metal instead of rubber wheels. Remember: Almost every transit trip means one fewer on the crowded roadways.

It was also mentioned how commuter rail would be a better option than light rail (which the Coastal Conservation League favors), since light rail costs much more and requires specialized tracks and overhead electric service.

Road Rage and the future of transit across the Lowcountry

Everyone's first thought about congestion is obvious enough: Add more roadways, or widen the ones we have. And in fact, for a year or two, in some corridors, more roadway might solve the problem.

But too much roadway, in the long run, might be a very bad idea

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Light rail would make more sense between downtown and North Charleston, Mount Pleasant, and West Ashley but I can see not running it all the way up to Summervile. Thats way too long. In reality they need to adopt a multi-modal approach to transit planning. Be it commuter rail, light rail, BRT, street cars (which would work well in Charleston, IMO), or what have you.

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  • 2 months later...

This may be a little off-topic, but there isn't really a great place to put it... This thread may be more useful as a thread for non-auto related transportation.

Charleston has implemented a progressive means of getting people across the street. Pedestrian flag programs have been around for about 10 years, mostly out west, and have only recently started making it to Southern Cities. The concept is simple- you have a container of flags on either side of the street at a cross walk. When a pedestrian wants to cross the street, they wave the flag to alert drivers of their intention to cross, thus making them more visible before and during the cross it self. This has been shown to improve safety and its pretty cheap too.

Charleston has apparently taken measures to implement this program. No word on what their plans are, as this article was more of an op-ed. The first ones have gone on Calhoun St. I'm looking forward to hearing more about this effort.

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This may be a little off-topic, but there isn't really a great place to put it... This thread may be more useful as a thread for non-auto related transportation.

Charleston has implemented a progressive means of getting people across the street. Pedestrian flag programs have been around for about 10 years, mostly out west, and have only recently started making it to Southern Cities. The concept is simple- you have a container of flags on either side of the street at a cross walk. When a pedestrian wants to cross the street, they wave the flag to alert drivers of their intention to cross, thus making them more visible before and during the cross it self. This has been shown to improve safety and its pretty cheap too.

Charleston has apparently taken measures to implement this program. No word on what their plans are, as this article was more of an op-ed. The first ones have gone on Calhoun St. I'm looking forward to hearing more about this effort.

Are walk and don't walk signs not good enough anymore?

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  • 2 weeks later...
CARTA plans to ask for less money this year so that their sales tax generated revenue will last longer, and so that they can put some money away for a rainy day, as they don't expect the tax to continue. Does anyone think Charleston is capable of renewing the sales tax revenue for transit when the day comes?
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  • 1 month later...

Rail advocates push for state funding

Latest update on the effort to get Light Rail in Charleston. Due to a tight budget year, this won't be easy to get, but having the Charleston trifecta (Governor, speaker, Senate President) in power will certainly help. Not to mention the Senate Finance chairman, Hugh Leatherman has business interests in Charleston. Hopefully, this will bear fruit.

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Hugh Leatherman is about as useless of a senator as there is. He doesn't support anything remotely progressive.

I do applaud Charleston's efforts to get rail though. I like that Summerville is also intersted, and presumably North Charleston could be sold fairly easily. Its important to understand though that Charleston is looking at commuter rail, which is a distinctly different form of rail than light rail.

Commuter rail is more like Amtrak- long distance, self powered train sets.

Light rail is more similar to a regular, local transit service that requires an external power source.

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Well, for starters he is a great example of the good ol' boy system at work in the General Assembly. He outright stated that the system of government we have (where the legislature has all the power) works fine, and that the Governor doesn't need any more. He may vote to spend money, but I have yet to see him actually come out in favor of any issue I care about.

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  • 4 months later...

The P & C is doing a great series on the commuter rail idea for Charleston. Also, a PDF file has some statewide stuff too.

Great read. The cost of an Sville to DT Chas. line is very inexpensive, relatively speaking. I would love to see it built. With the density of DT and the large volume of tourist, it has the best chance of success of any such project in the state, IMO.

Besides, doesn't Charleston ALWAYS lead the way !!

Installment 1 of Commuter Rail series

Installment 2 of Commuter Rail series

Edited by vicupstate
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One article I read extolled the virtues of light rail here in Charlotte. Right now, I don't think that would be the most feasible route for Charleston. They should definitely start with commuter rail, with the option to develop light rail a little later. Perhaps once the major developments along the Neck are close to full buildout will light rail become feasible.

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I haven't had a chance to read the articles, but my initial response is that considering how much costs are escalating on building materials and that gas prices aren't going to come back down, the commuter rail option is going to be come increasingly appealing for Charleston. The major advantage that Charleston has going for it is that downtown is already a pedestrian friendly environment, you just need new ways to get people there.

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One article I read extolled the virtues of light rail here in Charlotte. Right now, I don't think that would be the most feasible route for Charleston. They should definitely start with commuter rail, with the option to develop light rail a little later. Perhaps once the major developments along the Neck are close to full buildout will light rail become feasible.

If enough funds are appropriated into a light rail system the system would flourish over time, though yes it might encounter some difficulties until the city reaches its full potential. If you figure the best corridor for light rail to be the neck area from North Charleston down to Charleston there's massive potential for that area to grow--and the light rail will help it get there.

International Blvd. development is reaching south towards Magnolia which is in close proximity to park circle and noisette. Still moving south you'll hit the upper king revitilization, and some small towers going up near the bridge (an area I like to call Underbridge-- there are a few towers that are going up over there that will have beautiful views of the harbor and bridge and if there's a light rail connection reaching further into the dowtown destination there's no telling how this area can grow). This is also an area the the Ginn company has been interested in developing in once the market turns around.

Moving downtown the system should end right behind King street behind the College of Charleston Simons center where there's currently a HUGE parking lot which would act as a fantastic end point for a light rail system. The parking lot is right behind King street's major shopping corridor and has the college and a plethora of businesses to draw ridership from.

There are two points to make about light rail in Charleston: The various developments along the neck into downtown are great for the community and if a light rail system is put in place the holes between these developments will fill in over time. Secondly the construction of a light rail system will take a very long time before it is ready--especially here in Charleston where people love to talk about things until the project passes from their minds entirely. In the time it takes to build the system more and more developement will occur until it's ready. While planning and construction are going on, developers will get a cue on where the corridor will run and where to develop. Chareleston is ripe for light rail, it's just a question of whether we'll take the initiative or not and when we do it execute it correctly and devote enough funds into a very expensive project.

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  • 7 months later...

CARTA is considering adding a new express bus route that would carry riders from the upper reaches of Dorchester Road to downtown Charleston. Nothing is set in stone, but the route would operate during the peak morning and evening rush hours. As envisioned by North Charleston mayor Keith Summey, the new route would begin near the Wal-Mart on Dorchester Road, travel through the CARTA park-and-ride lot on Montague Avenue, then head to the downtown Charleston Visitor Center.

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  • 1 month later...

CARTA is considering adding a new express bus route that would carry riders from the upper reaches of Dorchester Road to downtown Charleston. Nothing is set in stone, but the route would operate during the peak morning and evening rush hours. As envisioned by North Charleston mayor Keith Summey, the new route would begin near the Wal-Mart on Dorchester Road, travel through the CARTA park-and-ride lot on Montague Avenue, then head to the downtown Charleston Visitor Center.

This is definitely a good idea if finances allow. Dorchester Road is choked with traffic during the morning and evening rush hours. I remember when this part of Dorchester Road was expanded years ago but the problem has only gotten worse. However, a better location would be at the shopping center right between Old Trolley Road and Ladson Road. Having a park and ride lot at the Wal-Mart is a bad idea, that area is a terrible bottleneck. The shopping center has a better traffic flow pattern around it.

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CARTA is considering adding a new express bus route that would carry riders from the upper reaches of Dorchester Road to downtown Charleston. Nothing is set in stone, but the route would operate during the peak morning and evening rush hours. As envisioned by North Charleston mayor Keith Summey, the new route would begin near the Wal-Mart on Dorchester Road, travel through the CARTA park-and-ride lot on Montague Avenue, then head to the downtown Charleston Visitor Center.

Geesh, don't let the tourists get on the wrong bus and head to Dorchester Road!

Seriously, I wonder why Dorchester Road? Is this primarily to serve as a commute for downtown's support workers? If so, then that is great. I suppose they surveyed them first to see where the center of population is for them? I can think of no other reason to locate it on Dorchester Road. Like an earlier post said, it isn't exactly easy to get around in that area.

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I am not sure if this is a city comparison question or one based in metrowide employment. Here are the largest employers in the Metro. These are 2008 numbers. I suspect there hasn't been a lot of change given the nature of these businesses. Charleston's economy would seem to be highly dependent upon governmental spending.

  • US Navy C/O Naval Weapons Station Area Naval Commands/Weapons 10,800
  • Medical University Of South Carolina (MUSC) Hospital, post-secondary education, research 10,000
  • Charleston Air Force Base US Air Force Base; 437th Airlift Wing (military shipping) 6,150
  • Charleston County School District Education/public schools 5,400
  • Berkeley County School District Education/public schools 3,650
  • Roper St. Francis Healthcare Roper and Bon Secours St Francis Hospitals 3,400
  • Piggly Wiggly Carolina Co Inc. Grocery wholesaler/retailer HQ, distribution ctr. 2,500
  • Robert Bosch Corporation Antilock brake systems, fuel injection 2,450 <-Located on Dorchester Rd. In trouble, significant downsizing.
  • Dorchester County School District II Education/public schools 2,350
  • Wal-Mart Retail merchandise 2,300
  • Charleston County Local government 2,100
  • Trident Medical Center (Trident Health System) Hospital system 2,000
  • Force Protection Inc. Mine-protected vehicles, military class vehicles 1,800
  • Santee Cooper Electric utility 1,750
  • City of Charleston Local government 1,700
  • MeadWestvaco Corporation* Paper, packaging, forest products 1,500
  • Bi-Lo Stores 16 Charleston area retail grocery stores (don't think Bi-Lo has 1 HQ in Greenville now) 1,350
  • College Of Charleston Post secondary education 1,200
  • US Postal Service Postal Service 1,200
  • Blackbaud, Inc. Specialty computer software development & design 1,100
  • Eagan, McAllister Associates, Inc. Engineering, Applied Technology 1,100
  • Giant Cement Co. Manufacture portland and masonry cements 1,100
  • Ralph H. Johnson VA Medical Center Medical care for eligible veterans 1,050
  • Verizon Wireless Inbound/outbound call center 1,050
  • South Carolina Electric And Gas Co./SCANA Electrical & Natural Gas Utility 1,000
  • City of North Charleston Local government 950

If the question is about the old city, I would suspect that much of this employment is not located there. However the pennisula is a bit larger than this. The Charleston metro's biggest problem with transit isn't in getting people into the old part of the city, but rather the long routes of irresponsible development that surround it. Given the layout, Charleston is probably the best city in SC to try for some sort of alternative transit system, but I am not sure there is the local political will to do it.

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^^

Thanks for posting this--it's interesting. These are individual employers, but if you measure by industry, the hospitality industry downtown employs thousands collectively at hotels, inns, restaurants, etc. Those support staff workers often can't afford to live downtown where they work, as is true of many cities, especially with tourist-driven economies like Charleston. The hospital workers, too, often fall in that category. I suspect many of these industries workers commute from areas such as the Dorchester Road area of North Charleston.

When I lived in downtown Charleston in '03 to '05, I worked in North Charleston near the airport. This was the opposite of most people commuting in and out each day, but of course I was happy of that when it was time for the daily commute! It was even worse, of course, headed north of 526. That was madness! If there is anyone living in North Charleston lucky enough to commute to Summerville or Goose Creek to work, then they would be going against traffic as I was. As a rule, then, most workers in the Charleston area seem to live north of where they work, regardless of socioeconomic status. I was just lucky to have it the other way around.

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