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The Charleston Area Regional Transportation Authority (CARTA) provides area residents and visitors public transportation within parts of Charleston and Dorchester counties in the Lowcountry region of South Carolina, including the cities of Charleston, North Charleston and the surrounding communities of Mount Pleasant, Summerville, James Island, Sullivan's Island, and the Isle of Palms. CARTA presently contracts with Veolia Transportation for staffing and managing the bus drivers in addition to maintaining and scheduling the buses. CARTA began service in 1997 and operates seven days a week on each day of the year. In addition to its regular fixed routes, CARTA offers express commuter service on weekdays, a free area shuttle service in downtown Charleston, and Tel-A-Ride services for eligible residents. ==History== As with many communities across the United States, the Charleston region was served by streetcars and buses that were operated by electric companies. The bus system in Charleston was operated by SCE&G until 1997. In 1978, the popular Downtown Area Shuttle or DASH service began with the help of a federal grant. DASH service continues to this day. During the 1980s, mass transit options in Charleston were reduced. An effort to create a regional transportation authority that would operate public transportation were defeated by voters in a referendum.〔http://www.ridecarta.com/about-carta/history〕 In 1997, after learning that SCE&G intended to cease operating buses, the City of Charleston, the City of North Charleston, the Town of Mt. Pleasant and Charleston County joined together to create the Charleston Area Regional Transportation Authority (CARTA).〔 From its inception, CARTA has been hampered by insufficient funding it claimed it required to operate effectively. The transportation service provider explored many avenues to increase funding over the years but no source provided enough to keep CARTA from making substantial reductions in service. CARTA was forced to cease most of its operations in January 2004 and relied on emergency funding from state and federal funding streams to keep it from being liquidated. In early November 2004, a half-cent sales tax referendum was passed (following one instance where it failed and another overturned), providing CARTA with the revenue to relaunch many of the services that were eliminated or consolidated due to insufficient funding. CARTA even added new routes and services throughout their rebuilding phases, as was the case with the launch of #CARTA Express in January 2007. On September 1, 2010, CARTA suffered a budget problem which stranded 22,443 passengers during the day and 40,500 passengers during the night.〔http://www.postandcourier.com/news/2010/oct/18/carta-cuts-gut-wrenching/〕 Despite budgetary setbacks, CARTA ridership continues to increase and become more popular. In 2013, CARTA reported its busiest year of operations, with nearly five million riders for 2012 and a weekday average of over 15,000 riders. DASH service accounted for nearly 1.2 million rides in 2012.〔http://www.thedigitel.com/green/carta-2012-was-record-year-ridership-42072-0117 CARTA: 2012 was a record year for ridership〕 In late 2013, CARTA inaugurated its North Area Shuttle service (NASH) as a free circulator route to serve the North Charleston area, however this service was suspended in June 2014 due to low ridership. In February 2014, the NASH Express service was launched, creating an express route between Charleston International Airport and downtown Charleston. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Charleston Area Regional Transportation Authority」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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