黑料社入口

Kelly Poe is a regular on the bus.

She lives a mile from her bus stop.

鈥淚 walk a mile every day, but it gets me to work on time, and it actually gets me there early. And it鈥檚 only a dollar,鈥� said Poe, who works in Carolina Forest and lives by the Walmart in Myrtle Beach.

Poe's reason for riding the bus isn't unique.

鈥淵ou can stand here [at the Myrtle Beach Transit Center] and see a fairly good cross-section of people. It鈥檚 70% getting people to work,鈥� said Brian Piascik, general manager and CEO of Coast RTA. 鈥淥ur system is very much predicated on commuters. People have a connotation of the word commuter where they think white-collar, but these are a lot of blue-collar folks that need to get to work.鈥�

It鈥檚 not the most convenient way to get to the job, though. The frequency of stops is minimal, meaning riders have to plan ahead, and sometimes arrive at work earlier than they would if they were driving.

Poe said she often looks for ways to kill time before the bus arrives. On some routes, the bus only comes every two hours.

鈥淭oday, it鈥檚 my day off. I had to come over here [to Carolina Forest]. The bus doesn鈥檛 run for two more hours, so I went to McDonald鈥檚, sat there,鈥� Poe said. 鈥淣ow I have to get back on the bus to get on another bus to get over by Conway Medical Center. Then I have to get back on that bus to go to Conway. So it takes all day to do two, three appointments.鈥�

The funding to increase routes and route frequencies just isn鈥檛 there.

Servicing Horry and Georgetown counties, Coast RTA receives about $17.2 million in annual funding, mostly from county road use fees, sales tax and federal grants. But federal grants are not guaranteed to continue as the Trump Administration makes sweeping changes across federal departments.

鈥淭he federal landscape is kind of a crapshoot right now. We have no idea how those dollars are going to flow or if they鈥檙e going to flow,鈥� Piascik said.

A new revenue source is on its way, though.

With the passage of RIDE 4, a 25-year transportation tax to fund road improvements and transportation infrastructure in Horry County, Coast RTA is set to receive an average of $12 million a year over the next quarter century. The amount Coast RTA receives per year will increase, starting at $7.5 million.

鈥淭here is about a 2-3 year build to get a higher level of funding, which is a good strategy during road construction projects, but the bell curve trends upwards for us in terms of funding in later years,鈥� said Lauren Morris, spokesperson for Coast RTA.

That funding is appreciated and will be a game changer for an organization that could have been eliminated a decade ago.

鈥淭his agency was about to get shut down when I came here in 2015. The county was fed up. There was all sorts of mismanagement,鈥� Piascik said. 鈥淲e鈥檝e gotten all past that, and I think they recognize that we鈥檙e a well-run organization, and so they鈥檝e rewarded us for that.鈥�

That reward is 1/18th of a penny for every cent collected by the RIDE 4 transportation tax 鈥� an estimated $299 million over 25 years. That influx will balloon Coast RTA鈥檚 operating budget, allowing for replacement of aging facilities, the addition of new routes, the purchase of new buses and an increase in stop frequencies.

Of all those plans, first thing鈥檚 first.

Piascik said replacing Coast RTA鈥檚 75-year-old maintenance facility is something that needs to happen as soon as possible.

鈥淚t鈥檚 falling down around us, so we can鈥檛 keep putting lipstick on the pig,鈥� Piascik said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 just not working.鈥�

So much so that the organization has resorted to leasing a temporary facility for maintenance, costing more than $250,000 a year.

In addition to the 1/18th of a penny, RIDE 4 has $25 million earmarked for Coast RTA facility upgrades.

Piascik said those funds will go toward the new maintenance facility and two $5 million transit centers, one in Myrtle Beach and one in Conway. With Coast RTA鈥檚 busiest routes along the coast, moving the maintenance facility to Myrtle Beach will save mileage for its fleet. The $58 million facility will be built on Robert Grissom Parkway and will share land with a new Myrtle Beach fire station.

黑料社入口

Coast RTA rolling forward with $58M expansion project in Myrtle Beach

• By Hannah Strong Oskin hannah.oskin@myhorrynews.com

Piascik also wants to add buses to Coast RTA鈥檚 fleet. Some of the 23 full-size buses are already reaching their midlife point. A new diesel bus costs about $600,000, but that鈥檚 just the initial cost. Each bus on the road has a continual cost of about $400,000 per year when fuel, driver salaries, maintenance expenses and other costs are taken into account, Piascik said.

Coast RTA will also expand its workforce transportation and senior transportation options including paratransit and fixed route, which use smaller vehicles like vans and cutaways rather than large, traditional buses. Coast RTA has 13 small vehicles and 3 cutaways in its fleet.

Piascik said workforce transportation allows an employer to reach out to Coast RTA and organize a ride for its employees.

鈥淲e will subsidize that van, $700 per van, per vehicle. And the employer and those riding it cover the rest of that cost. It鈥檚 essentially a rental van. We get to take credit for the ridership and they get a more reliable way to get their employees to work,鈥� Piascik said. 鈥淩ight now we have five in operation, so we鈥檒l continue to grow that program.鈥�

Don鈥檛 expect new routes to pop up immediately.

RIDE 4 tax collection begins May 1, but Piascik said Coast RTA won鈥檛 see any of those funds for months later.

鈥淲e don鈥檛 see our first check until October 15th of this year. So I鈥檓 actually going to have to borrow money to make ends meet because the road use fees end on June 30,鈥� Piascik said. 鈥淪o we have cash issues that we need to fix before we start putting more service out on the street, and we need to build some buildings,鈥� he said. 鈥淪ome of it we鈥檒l do quickly, but I don鈥檛 think there鈥檚 anything major until we get maybe three years into the plan.鈥�

With the influx in funding and a variety of needs, Coast RTA will soon be publishing its transit development plan, a five-year plan that will break down needs based on feedback and ridership for its regular bus routes.

Ride frequency for popular routes like route 17, which connects Myrtle Beach and North Myrtle Beach will eventually see increased frequencies, Piascik said.

That鈥檚 something Poe would love to see.

鈥淚 wouldn鈥檛 have to be out here as long,鈥� she said. 鈥淚 wouldn鈥檛 have to spend an entire day to do three appointments.鈥�